South Hobart begin their trophy hunt for 2009 at South Hobart at 3.30 pm on Saturday, 14 February, against New Town Eagles.
South will have new signing Gary Upton in midfield, but will be without strikers Billy Gasparinatos and Julius Ross.
Igor, signed from Glenorchy Knights, may take his place in midfield for South, but some reports have him out of the State and in Brisbane.
Coach Ken Morton said his players had benefited from their pre-season trip to Melbourne and should be ready for this encounter.
New Town Eagles will miss State representative goalkeeper Nathan Pitchford, who sustained a knee injury in a recent practice match.
Andrew Savage has come out of retirement and will be in goal, while Cormac Collins is available again after studying in Launceston last season and should play in attack.
Jacob Kavanagh, the former Beachside forward, will also be in the Eagles line-up and he has impressed coach George Krambousanos.
The experienced Richard Delara will be in midfield to counter Upton and their tussle should cause sparks.
Former South Hobart striker Alex Gordon has also joined Eagles but will miss this game because of injury.
Krambousanos, who is in his second stint as Eagles coach, said he has a young and enthusiastic team, which will give a good account of itself.
Glenorchy Knights and University commence the day’s program at 11am and the Knights should repeat their success of last weekend, when they beat University 4-3 in a practice game.
They had half their team missing in that game, but all will be back for this competitive match.
The Knights have also recruited well. They have Shane Kent from Metro, Nektar Vavloulas from Olympic, William Roberts and Tom Sherman from Taroona, Jackson Marsh from Nelson, and Mnyonge Kamba from Clarence.
University’s Julian Proud netted a hat-trick in the practice match and he is obviously the man the Knights defence will have to watch.
Hobart Olympic will have Akuel Guot from Hobart United in their ranks for the match against cup-holders Tilford Zebras at 2pm.
Guot scored goals galore last season and this is his first crack at the top flight, but having scored more than a goal a game for United, he should be up to it, even against sterner defences.
Olympic, who also have a new midfielder from Greece, will be competitive against a Zebras outfit that will unveil new signing Dwayne Walsh, a State representative striker from Clarence United.
Clarence United take on Kingborough Lions United at 12.30 pm and, with both teams evenly matched, a penalty shoot-out could be the method that decides the points.
Both sides will be young, so this should be an energetic, fast and keenly contested match.
8 comments:
Walter my memory must be bad, but didn't zebras win the summer cup last season?
just seen that you have caught on!!
Did Walter's article mention who won the Cup last year???
Hi Guys
Yes, Zebras won it 3-2 against South.
I almost fluffed it but changed it quickly.
Some of you guys are quick and read stuff in between frantic editing!
That's good to see. Don't be afraid to point out errors.
South - narrowly with a thinly spread squad and < 100% commitment for this comp.
Knights easily - a resurrgence this year???
Zebras easy - Liam Scott???
Understrength Clarence to Draw with Kingborough
Knights should account for Uni with some ease, although you never know what Uni will have. One thing is certain they don't have an U19 team so effectively should not be there if FFT enforce their own benchmarking assessment. Maybe the TIS team will be rolled out in today's match?
Kingborough and Clarence will be a tight affair as both teams will have a young squad on show. It makes me wonder why we have a 'cup tie' rule as it makes it near impossible to try new combinations and formations which should be the goal of a preseason competition. It might even be better to scrap the reserve comp (replaced by something completely informal) and at the same time scrap the cup tie rule.
Zebras should retain bragging rights over Olympic but the question remains will Crosswell & Walsh be able to play together? Olympic's squad possibly weakened by the loss of Grillas & Vavoulas. Guot will do ok but needs to be given time to settle in to a high level of intensity required in Premier League.
South to easily account for Eagles. George would like to think his charges would give a good account of themselves but George is an optomist.
Good luck to all teams.
Yeah, real nice summary BJ, except have a look at the Uni Reserves tomorrow - drawn from a squad of 16 Under 19 players with one or two older players to guide 'em.
If Uni can help out the development of young players from the TIS by facilitating them to play weekly competitive matches, then all the better.
Have a nice day
Well here's a scenario for your Rich. My club can't get together the required teams for Premier League status. I request from FFT the State Under 23 team, who also require "development" should this youth league happen, to play for us. Sounds fair to me!
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