Wednesday, March 6, 2019

South Hobart get off the mark with win over Lions


Photo:  Kingborough's Jake Brennan (left) battles with South Hobart's Jack Bowman [PlessPix]

(NPL Tasmania, Lightwood Park, Wednesday, 6 March 2019)

Kingborough Lions United 1 (C Downes 6)
South Hobart 2 (N Morton 10, J Turner63)

HT:  1-1   Att:  150   Ref:  S Plomaritis

Kingborough Lions United:  Stalker  -  Douce, Cuthbertson, Schuth, Zammit  -  Brennan, Downes, Easton, Gutierrez  -  Hall (Davis 35), Kantzos (Muir 78)  (Subs not used:  Bastock, Biggar, Smithies-Sharples)

South Hobart:  K Brown  -  Gorrie, Ludford, Thomas, Bowman  -  Desouza, Feral, Herwynen (Berezansky 46)  -  Turner, Morton, Leszczynski (Lakoseljac 78)  (Subs not used: Philipsen, Tooze, Wright)

Photo:  Chris Downes is mobbed by team-mates after opening the scoring for the Lions [PlessPix]

South Hobart were given an early shock when Chris Downes put Kingborough Lions United ahead in their NPL Tasmania clash at Lightwood Park on Wednesday night.

But, Nick Morton equalised within a few minutes and Jack Turner gave the visitors the winning edge just past the hour mark.

Kingborough were dealt a mortal blow when Joel Schuth was sent off 6 minutes from the end, thus ensuring South Hobart of their first points of the season after two games.

Sloppy defending saw South Hobart go behind in the 6th minute.  Downes gained possession after a poor clearance and, looking up, he saw keeper Kieran Brown way off his line and the goal beckoning.  Downes sent in a long shot that was a goal all the way and Brown and Hugh Ludford could only look on helplessly as the ball hit the back of the unguarded net.

Photo:  Kingborough keeper Mitch Stalker saves Adam Gorrie's penalty [PlessPix]

The visitors were level in the 10th minute.  Adam Gorrie, in his usual and most effective position of right-fullback, sent over a dangerous cross from the right.  Kingborough keeper Mitch Stalker could only parry the ball and it fell for Nick Morton to rifle home with his left foot.

South should have gone further ahead in the 35th minute when Dominic Easton lost possession in the box and, in trying to recover, felled Gilly Desouza to concede a penalty.  But Stalker dived to his right and kept out Gorrie’s spot-kick.

The game was fast and physical throughout the opening half and Kingborough’s Nick Zammit and South’s Tobias Herweynen both required treatment after strong tackles.

Photo:  South Hobart's Loic Feral heads over the bar [PlessPix]

Kingborough coach Greg Calvert was in a serious and determined mood and he replaced striker James Hall after just half an hour, bringing on Joe Davis and rearranging his formation slightly.

Herweynen did not reappear for the second half and was replaced by Sam Berezansky, who had two good chances before the end.

In the 63rd minute, Gorrie went on one of his trademark runs down the right and crossed from the byeline towards the far post, where Berezansky forced the ball into the six-yard box.  Turner’s first attempt was parried by Stalker and ricocheted off Schuth and back to Turner, who slammed the ball into the net for the winner.

Kingborough managed to pose the occasional threat and new American signing Horacio Gutierrez Jr should probably have scored, but his shot was smothered.

Photo:  Kingborough's Horacio Gutierrez Jr tackles South Hobart's Jack Turner [PlessPix]

Gutierrez showed good technical qualities, a strong physical presence, and his reading of the game was excellent.  He put in a lot of work and he will be a key driver of this team once he acclimatises and reaches peak fitness.

Schuth’s lack of discipline cost his side dearly.  He had just been shown a yellow card when he transgressed again within a minute by fouling Bradley Lakoseljac and was shown the red card by Mr Plomaritis.

South Hobart deserved to win this game on the chances,a nd they showed they are quick learners.  They rearranged their line-up from last Friday’s defeat to Olympia Warriors.  They brought in Oscar Thomas at the back to partner Hugh Ludford in the centre of the defence, and they dropped defender Rasmus Philipsen.  Jack Bowman was moved to left-back.

Photo:  Kingborough's Dominic Easton (right) tackles South Hobart's Loic Feral [PlessPix]

They basically employed a 4-3-3 system with the front-three being Turner, Morton and Alex Leszczynski.  Kingborough were always under pressure against this trio and two of them scored the goals.

Kingborough showed a lot of heart and determination, but they need to be more accurate in their passing and more composed at the back.

They rely a lot on set-pieces and long balls from Chris Downes, but this is often akin to clutching at straws rather than on building intelligent attacks through accurate passing and penetrating runs.

They certainly missed striker and captain Danny Cowen, who was laid low by food poisoning.  His presence may have made the difference.

Photo:  South Hobart's Jack Turner traps the ball as Kingborough's Dominic Easton watches [PlessPix]

Photo:  There was plenty of peripheral action, too.  Here, the cruise ship QUEEN ELIZABETH passes Kingston on her way to sea after a day's visit to Hobart.  And, late in the match, the International Space Station was clearly visible in the night sky passing overhead.  I wonder if the crew watched any of the game? [PlessPix]

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes can only see Boro scoring through set pieces.struggled when kept trying to play through congested areas.as south would stretch them open either side in attack

Anonymous said...

Wasn't the Boro goal scored through open play? Also hit the post late through open play again and Horacio's shot Walter mentioned also through open play!

Anonymous said...

Kingborough didn’t have enough players capable of playing in it out of tight areas. They need to be more aggressive in their play and I don’t mean aggressive by pulling shirts , giving away silly fouls and kicking people.
They don’t seem to have any urgency when they win the ball . They struggle to keep the ball and give up possession easily and often.
South were not their best but should have had the game down up before half time

Anonymous said...

Anon 7.21 you obviously haven’t watched many games in recent years. The majority of their goals do come from sets pieces. Open your eyes.