Taroona and Metro, the two teams relegated from the Premier League last season, meet in the first round of the Division One Summer Cup competition at Olinda Grove at 5.30pm on Saturday.
Metro have lost Shane Kent and coach Ahmed Abdaltam. Darrin Chaffey is the new coach.
“This weekend, our squad will be stretched a bit more thinly as we have a Summer Cup game on Saturday against Metro and a Steve Hudson Cup game on Sunday against Northern Rangers,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.
“Two or three guys will play in both games, probably coming off the bench on the Sunday, but, apart from that we will have different line-ups.
“The team for the game against Metro will mainly be made up of guys who started pre-season a bit later and so haven’t reached an ideal level of fitness yet, but with Summer Cup games being only 60 minutes, it shouldn’t be a problem.
“Some of the likely starters include Daniel Palmer, Stefano Flonta, Duncan Carey and Lucas Wyatt, who I expect will all be important senior players for us this season.
“No doubt Metro will be contenders for the Division One title, so it is important that we start with a good performance against them.
“Darragh Carey, Jack Elliott and Hamish Macgregor will all be back into the starting line-up for our game against Northern Rangers after missing last weekend’s win, but I was very happy with the job the new boys did against Launceston United.
“Mark Gates played a big part in our first goal and Mike Haslewood did well with the limited time he had on the park, which was great for two guys making their senior debuts.
“Alex Edwards will keep his place on the bench after coming on and creating a lot of scoring opportunities against Launceston United with his strength and passing range in midfield.
“Our numbers at training have been really good and the players have shown a real willingness to work hard to make up for last season, so, hopefully, that will show in our performances this year.”
Last season’s Division One champions Hobart United take on a new-look Beachside at 2.30pm.
Beachside have signed Colin Shepherd from University, Luke Atkin and Colin Wain from South Hobart, Karl Mathieson from Melbourne University, Kurt De Jong, Jason Szoka and Alex Bigg from Taroona, and Damien Lowe from St Virgil’s.
The new player-coach is Nathan Robinson, from South Hobart.
“There are some existing Beachside players still involved,” said Robinson.
“And, Kurt, Alex and Jason all transferred from Beachside to Taroona when promoted in 2008.
“We are looking forward to playing the Division One champions from last season.”
Pedro Ramirez, of Hobart United, said: “This year we go in with a new squad as a few players have opted to play premier league.
“The squad is based on a mix of senior and reserve players, which will be a challenge for the boys, but one they are eager to have.
“Beachside have always provided a good game and they will come at us with everything they have.
“For Hobart United Football Club, the Summer Cup will be a selection criteria for the rostered season.
“Alex Bellini will be out for the Summer Cup, but Ian Walker will be in our defence.
“Nathan Grandin will be on the field and this gives Chris Cooper a try-out as goalkeeper.
“We will play a very defensive game and try to come out with an element of surprise.
“Hobart United Football Club is in high spirits and the team will play the best they can against a very respected team.”
DOSA meet New Town Eagles at 1pm.
“The Eagles squad is depleted with regular starters Damien Bones and Tom Fotak transferring to other clubs, Sam Calvert with a long-term injury, Matthew Fennell suspended, and David Page and Bob Hadfield unable to be contacted,” said Eagles coach, Marty Nidorfer.
“Keepers Damien Crowle, Allan Wisby and Brian Sutherland have hung up the boots, meaning we have recruited renowned shot stopper Liam Donohue from the Huon Valley.
“Captain Steve Louden is back after a broken wrist which ruled him out of most of last season, and the team will rely on a host of up-and-coming under 19s in this campaign.
“We have lost a lot of guys from last year, but I think the youth we will put out there against DOSA will bring a new dimension to the team.
“It has been hard to retain players due to the fact we have been relegated to Division Two.”
The remaining match is between Nelson Eastern Suburbs and Christian United at 4pm.
16 comments:
the dorf is always good for a chuckle
top notch Dorf.
Walter, is it possible to get periodic updates on NTE's now Div 2 team from Marty's pre-match report?
The Saturday Mercury will not be the same ever again!
anonymus,great to see a coach causing a chuckle.he must be the only coach in the world who narrowly misses a premiership in a first division and gets rewarded with relegation to a second division.maybe goofy should get a chance to run tasmanian football instead of donald duck
better still.eagles should take a year off and then simply nominate for division one.if dosa can do it,why should eagles not do it and it saves the hassle of actually earning your place,after all earning your place on the park might show up your weaknesses.no it is safer just to nominate
What's going on with the Div 1 Summer Cup Walter? Eagles in but no Huon Valley... Is it a combined Div/Div 2 Cup?
jerry - you're not too quick on the uptake are you -
you can't have the same club backing in on itself where there is promotion/relegation -
the farce is in the very fact that Soccer Tas allowed eagles to have a team in div 1 in the first place.
could you imagine man united reserves playing in the championship...i don't think so - imagine 2 man united squads playign in the EPL
they could call them, Man U Blue, and Man U Red - that sounds bloody sensible to me!
Young Aaron Marney is looking very good at training since he has been giveing a free role up front for metro. His speed is going to be hard to cope with for div 1 defences. While Metros leading goalscorer last year Jason Dawes has been moved to a midfield role and seems more confortable there.
well anonymus,since we are a small population that cant afford too many clubs and many clubs barely managing to stay afloat,it stands to reason that we must make the most of the resources we have.surely the whole object of the competition is that we must facilitate the best players we have playing now to compete at their appropriate level.dont forget that the players that are playing at this moment are the ones that are keeping the fft and the clubs afloat.they are the only true asset we have in hand.how can oyou ever get a true picture of how high or low the standard of football is in tasmania if you dont freely let the best players play against eachother,anonymus it is not hard to regulate things in such a way that should 2 teams of the same club ened up in the same league to stop them interchanging players,but force them to go to their lower league teams to getreplacements in case of injury or formloss.the clubs are only the framework that put teams on the park,but in the end it is the players that make the club.without them there would not be a club.i know it is important to make plans for the future and facilitate new blood it is vital to keep expanding.however we must deal with the asset we in hand today and that asset is the players that are playing at this moment.a good player who is capable of playing division one should not be restricted to playing mickey mouse football in a lower league because his team has not got the means yet to expand and include youth.after all he pays the same amount of money as the plasyer from the premier league,surely he is entitled to the same oppurtunity.teams should be awarded a place in their leagues on their merit and football prowess not around a boardroom table
its a pity aaron marney and jason dawes are both poor performers and lack the all round discipline that is expected in division 1
Tips:
Metro
Beachside
Dosa
Nelson
sorry jery but you are way off the mark.
suggest you get over the fact that no premier league club can field a team in Div One - the better players are free to move clubs anytime they like so NOTHING is stopping them from competing for a spot in premier league team.
great solution anonymus.so you prefer the better players all go to south hobart or any other club only to be locked away in a reserve league.what an absolute waste of talent.why not use them to inspire the lesser clubs to rise to higher standards?or better still let them go to the lesser clubs and help those teams to gain promotion.since it is an amateursport here surely winning a premiership and promotion is the only prize these guys are playing for.anonymus it all depends on whether you love reue competition or prefer to be a big fish in a very small pond
Jerrie
Eagles good div one players from last year could play Premier or reserves at Eagles as they have those teams already. As far as I am aware Eagles did not win Premier or Premier Reserves and therefore these amazing div one players should be able to push into the senior ranks at this club should they desire to do so.
Will be interesting to see how relegated teams perform , and players who are still around, beachside remind me of dads army the old masters team , sure they will be competetive but for how long !!
lol anonymus i never called them amazing.to cut to the chase all i want is football to grow and i honestly believe that it will grow if we free up the competition.i personally dont want to see a lot of disgruntled players leaving the lesser clubs because they dont really have anything to play for.a succesfull club is in my opinion not a club who won saeveral state championships but a club that has a large loyal playerbase,like metro and clarence and several others.maybe some of the struggling clubs would be better off merging with another to make them viable.however struggling clubs like huon valley should be supported in every way simply because of their location,the huon valley could be a potential goldmine if football could get a hold there,new norfolk is another area that should be looked at and sorell. i honestly believe fft and the clubbs should make more use of the offseason to try and recruit potential players no matter what standard they are the more players we can attract and pay fees the more viable football becomes.anonymus we have to agree to disagree but i still think i am right lol nice talking to you
No Huon Valley competing in Div one this season sadly, moved down to div 2.
Don't think there are restrictions on summer cup, probably why you see NTE in Div one.
I think they are trying hard to get into div one for this season though.
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