South Hobart on the front foot already

Photo:  Clarence Zebras coach David Smith [PlessPix]

South Hobart beat Clarence Zebras 4-2 at Wentworth Park today in an NPL Tasmania pre-season friendly.

Nick Morton scored for South Hobart in his second appearance since badly breaking a leg last season.

Morton also played in Friday’s night’s 6-0 win over Taroona at KGV Park.

Tom Walpole netted twice for South Hobart, while Samson Juju scored the remaining goal.

Lachie Burt and Matthew Pace were Clarence Zebras’ marksmen.

Photo:  South Hobart coach Ken Morton [PlessPix]

“It was a pretty good second game for us against good opposition,” said South Hobart coach, Ken Morton.

“I felt that our young lads acquitted themselves well.  We knocked the ball around quite smartly in the opening 20 minutes.

“Overall, I was very pleased with the intensity with which we played.

“Nick Morton did well.  He just has to get his rhythm back in his play but he’s passing well and he had some good moments and scored a good goal today.  His work-rate, which is never in doubt, was good.  He’s coming back well.

“The midfield is a good unit.  Kobe Kemp is one of the best players in the league and Bradley Lakoseljac is not far behind as well, so the three of them are quite tidy in there.”

South Hobart will play Kingborough Lions United at Lightwood Park on Thursday night and Beachside at South Hobart Oval next Saturday.

Clarence Zebras coach, David Smith said:  “To be honest, I was quite happy with the first 65 or 70 minutes.  It was a good introduction after being away for 13 weeks.  That’s probably the best way of putting it.

“We had to restructure a bit as we lost a few players.  We have to put a few things back in and see how we go.

“At the end of the day, we saw a few things that we liked and lots of things we need to work on.

“But, it wasn’t too bad, realistically, in our first game after such a long break.

“It’s a short re-start time and that was our first competitive game that we’ve had.

“It was just a numbers game for us.  Both teams were lacking numbers and from what I saw we’re probably not as far off the pace as I thought we might be.

“We’re probably a fair way behind a couple of the top teams, but maybe we might be a little bit more competitive than what I saw.  I mean, we lost our imports and we had a few out (Cook, Price) that makes a fair difference.

“We’ll just have to move forward and see how we go.”

Squads:

Clarence Zebras:  Jimmy Ackerley, Lachie Burt, Olaf Conforti, Kane Hatcher, Riley Dillon, Jayden Hey, Sam Hills, Luke Huigsloot, Nick O’Connell, Matt Pace, Nathan Reid, Ed Reynolds, Noah Smithies-Sharples, Adam McKeown, Jake Thompson, Dwayne Walsh.

South Hobart:  Mark Moncur, Ewan Larby, Reilly Morton, Patrick Kibler, Tobias Herweynen, Nick Morton, Kobe Kemp, Bradley Lakoseljac, Kasper Hallam, Sam Tooze, Sam Berezansky, Tae Evans, Lachlan Semmler, Samson Juju, Tom Walpole.

In the Championship curtain-raiser, South Hobart were 4-1 victors over Clarence Zebras.

Josh Divin hit a hat-trick for South Hobart, while Caleb Verdouw scored the remaining goal.

Alon Coutinho replied for Clarence Zebras.

“We were a bit light on and missing a few and there are areas to work on,” David Smith said.

“We had a mixture of Championship players and Under-16s and Under-18s as we have four or five players out.

“We’ve got a policy that if you get the ‘flu you have to have a COVID test, so anyone who gets the ‘flu now has to be tested and bring in a certificate.  So, we’ve got two of those and another couple of guys out as well.

South Hobart coach Ken Morton was pleased with the result despite missing the second half as he had to prepare the senior side.  Enzo Botte is the coach of South Hobart’s Championship side and must have been delighted with the win over his former club.

“I was quite happy overall, especially since we’d had a hit-out on Friday night as well,” Morton said.

Squads:

Clarence Zebras:  Josh Jones, Sam Boscoe, Simon Stankovich, Harrison Lange, Kane Hatcher, Jeremy Price, Alex Smith, Alon Coutinho, Zane Wright-Dawes, Chris Kannegiesser, Romnolo Moynihan, Cody Snell, Zac Hall, Matthew Ditton, Toby Atwell, Matthew Dyson.

South Hobart:  Jed Schultz, Sam Cornelius, Nelson Quan, Lucas Dzalowski, Marcus Eugster, Connor Bastock, Jacob Lancaster, Declan Taylor, Josh Divin, Mason Atfield, Noah Gardner, Mitch Tarte, Caleb Verdouw, Yianni Skalkos, Jake Pullen, Sam Jones.

In another pre-season hit-out, Kingborough Lions United drew 3-3 with University at Lightwood park on Saturday.

Photo:  Glenorchy Knights coach James Sherman (left) and Olympia Warriors coach Andrew Brown [PlessPix]

Glenorchy Knights coach James Sherman was delighted with his side’s 3-0 win over Olympia Warriors in Saturday’s NPL pre-season friendly at KGV Park.

“We’re pleased to be back playing,” Sherman said.

“I was happy with patches of the game and not so pleased with some moments, but it gives me an idea on what we need to focus on.

“It was a good match against strong opposition and to get through it with no fitness concerns as well was a positive”

Olympia Warriors coach, Andrew Brown, said:  “I think we were really rusty at both ends.

“We were rusty in our finishing and a little bit rusty with our defending, but overall I was comfortable with our play.

“I was very impressed with some of the Knights boys, particularly Alex Walter.  I thought he did a super job.

“Some of the Knights boys were good and some of our boys were not so good.

“Generally, we were rusty after three months.

“We’ll play in-house during the week and try and arrange some friendlies as well.

“We thought we had one with Riverside organised but apparently they’re away at Devonport on that day.

“If anyone wants a game, we’re up for it.”

[I am indebted to Tanner Coad for the team sheets and to Ben Smith for results and scorers.  Thanks, lads.]