Friday, March 20, 2009

Second round of Premier League should start to sort the Zebras from the Lions, Eagles and...

The second round of the Forestry Tasmania Premier League is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

South Hobart top the table after the first round with 3 points, level with Glenorchy Knights, who have an inferior goal-difference.

Third on goal-difference are Tilford Zebras and Kingborough Lions United, followed by Clarence United and Hobart Olympic. All four sides have one point each.

The bottom two, in order of goal-difference, are New Town Eagles and University.

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KINGBOROUGH LIONS UNITED V NEW TOWN EAGLES
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The Lions host the Eagles at Lightwood Park at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Eagles coach George Krambousanos has also coached the Lions in the past and will be very familiar with the venue.

“I reckon we’ll do well,” said Krambousanos. “We respect them.

“They did very, very well on Sunday [against Zebras].

“I think we’ll do very well against them.

“I reckon it’ll be a really good game. If they perform the same way as they did on Sunday, it’ll be a good game.”

Eagles will miss defender Andrew Clark, who has the flu, and midfielder Jacob Kavanagh, who is unavailable.

Barry Pope will play in the reserves, while defender Wade Savage is still injured and is restricted to simple running at training.

“Our boys who study and train up north have done well,” said Krambousanos. “They’ll be down and they’ll be ready to go.”

Greg Freeman is in doubt for the Lions, which means Tom McDonald and Marcus Bremner may get a start.

“We’re looking to build on a good first-up performance,” said Lions coach, Geoff Freeman.

“If we don’t turn out a better performance against Eagles, we might struggle.

“You don’t go into these first few games thinking of relegation.

“But, the first priority for the club is safety and so you’ve got to win games like these, especially at home.”

Prediction: Draw

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UNIVERSITY V CLARENCE UNITED
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University host Clarence United at Olinda Grove at 2.30pm on Saturday in a contest for premiership points as well as for the Andrew Hoppitt Memorial Trophy, named after the late University goalkeeper.

University are almost back to full strength.

Alexis Bull and Aaron Hindmarsh played for the first time this season last weekend, while Nigel Blundell is back in training.

Goalkeeper Rory McCallum should be back after going off injured last weekend.

James Wilkinson suffered an ankle injury at training but hopes to be fit.

“We’re getting back to the full lot,” said University team manager, Hume Moase.

“Ben Hewson, from Sydney University, impressed in the reserves last week.

“He looked very comfortable in a defensive role and coach Scott Gallacher is keen to get him registered.”

Clarence striker Luke Cripps is out because of a hamstring injury, which he has been carrying for a few games.

“He’s been running the gauntlet for a few weeks and not getting any fitter,” said Clarence coach, Andrew Brown.

“I’ve decided to give him a rest this week.

“David Hoppitt is in the squad and there’s no rocket science in that. We’re playing for the Andrew Hoppitt shield.

“Everyone else is fit and well and all our niggles appear to be over, although as soon as you say that, someone will keel over tomorrow.

“Julian McMahon has a sore foot, but he’s a strong boy and should play.

“I think if we play well and to our potential, that we’ll get whatever we deserve.

“Bear in mind, it’s a different Uni side now. They’ve got good players back and it’s always hard at Olinda Grove.

“To be fair, though, as a coach, I do have a good record at Olinda Grove.”

Prediction: Draw

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HOBART OLYMPIC V TILFORD ZEBRAS
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Tilford Zebras will be without Ben Crosswell for their match against Hobart Olympic at KGV Park at 6pm on Saturday.

Crosswell was sent off in last week’s 4-4 draw with Kingborough Lions United and is suspended, which also means he cannot retain the Vic Tuting Silver Medal this year.

“We’ve appealed against it, but there’s a stupid clause in there that says even if you’re successful in appealing, the applicant must still serve a one-week suspension,” said Zebras coach, Nick Lapolla.

“So, he’s been given a three-week ban.

“All you can appeal is the two- and three- week portion of the ban. The one-week ban must stand.

“I find that unbelievable, incomprehensible.”

Zebras were hoping to use video footage of the incident to support their case, but with no regular and extensive Aurora TV coverage this year, there was no film of the incident.

WIN TV did have a cameraman there, but only for a brief period.

“They didn’t even get the goals,” said Lapolla. “They were only there for a couple of minutes.”

Daniel Lapolla is also out because of a back injury.

“It’s a big game for both sides,” said Nick Lapolla.

“The side that loses is going to go five points behind.

“They beat us twice last year. They’ll be hard to beat.

“The boys have had a good run on the training track this week and we’ve worked on a few things and we’ll change things to suit us with the two players out.”

Olympic must improve in the scoring department and, if they do, they could win this traditional derby.

Olympic should be at full strength.

Prediction: Hobart Olympic

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SOUTH HOBART V GLENORCHY KNIGHTS
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Reigning champions South Hobart will be without captain and key midfielder Bart Beecroft for Sunday’s game at 2.30pm at South Hobart against Glenorchy Knights.

Beecroft will have surgery on a nose injury on Monday and may also require treatment on his eye. He suffered the injuries against University last weekend.

David Abbott is still out because of a hamstring injury, while Matthew Brown is overseas.

Josh Heerey should have recovered from the flu, while experienced midfielder Gary Upton also returns.

Julius Ross and Ricky Eaves come into contention for places in the starting line-up.

“I watched Knights against Eagles and they’ve got a bit of pace in the team,” said South Hobart coach, Ken Morton.

“Tom Sherman is also now settling in a little bit with Amadu Koroma.

“We’re ready for a hard game, but we’re confident in our own ability.”

Knights will have Jayden Wiggins back from injury, while James Hope, signed from Metro, should start.

“The debate is about who will miss out,” said Knights coach, Eamonn Kelly.

“There weren’t too many people who went missing last week, apart from the last 15 minutes.

“We’ll have a final training session on Friday night.”

Knights are hoping to import a couple of Brazilian players soon.

“It’s looking brighter and brighter every day, so I’m led to believe at this point of time,” said Kelly.

“Apparently a couple of resumes came through.

“I know there’s definitely one coming, possibly two, but I haven’t seen the resumes yet.

“Against South, it’s not necessarily a case of putting your best team on the park.

“It’s a case of putting the people that we know will do jobs for us on the park.

“We’ve worked hard this week and, as I said, we will have another training session on Friday.

“We’ve been concentrating on a fair few things. The boys have really put in a good effort.

“I think they realise the error of their ways last week when we let Eagles back into the game.

“This week will be another story, another chapter in the book.”

Prediction: Glenorchy Knights

15 comments:

Charlie White said...

Why was Crossa given a 3 week ban, it could not have been argued that he threw the ball with any malice or aggression. Am i reading it correct that because he appealed he received a 3 week ban, or were Zebras unsuccessful in their appeal and the 3 week ban was upheld? It seems very harsh to me, what was he actually sent off for in the end - violent conduct? That is the only way it could have been 3 weeks. It was not violent conduct.

Tommy said...

Charlie I don't think Zebras are appealing. Even if they do appeal, and are successful he still gets a one week ban. Surely a successful appeal denotes innocence, and that should be reflected in no ban at all. Seriously there are some wierd thinking hats at FFT.

George Kokkoris said...

I tend to agree with both Charlie & Tommy the decisions as it was described by Charlie (played in that game) involving Crossa was a harsh decision by an overzealous official. To overcome these decisions I believe that the FFT should have Technical director group who is present at games to review & report on the referees performance if we wish our game to improve and move forward. This report can then be used in an appeal process to review the decision and overturned accordingly. I know that referees are human and do make mistakes and don't have eyes for all incidents which do happen on the park. Official do need assistance and errors pointed out to them to improve their ability and build confidence. This should make everyone accountable for decisions and incidents which do happen from time to time.

Football devotee said...

Charlie / Tommy - the automatic one week ban is a FIFA directive.

Throwing a ball at an opponent is violent conduct.

George - Charlies description does not match others at the match (including the referee and assistants).

Technical Director group - 8 people statewide every week reviewing matches - without the assistance of video footage means they have to watch every aspect fully - they still may not see a particular incident - or not see it fully. Where would the 8 people come from?

Inspections/Assessments are done on referees but funding for, and availability of, inspectors is somewhat inadequate at present.

Charlie White said...

I wasn't trying to disagree with the referee as I was 30 metres or so away and did not hear what was said, just giving my opinion. I understand the week automatic suspension and don't have an issue with it, I was just a little confused with the 3 weeks, whether or not it was the initial punishment, I would have thought Zebras would have wanted him in one week rather than in 3, so an appeal would have seemed reasonable. But I have not read the report and perhaps the actual report is quite clear and the appeal is a waste of time?

Krauser said...

He didnt look threw a ball hits the player and gets sent off banned for 3 weeks ?
pretty harsh and poor to say the least...
BTW charlies assessment is SPOT ON to what happened.

Sir Mix a Lot said...

Dont think ive seen many players throw the ball back to the opposition. Usually you just leave it where it was or just drop it and either stand over it so oppostion can't take a quick one or just move away.
I reckon the ref was spot on, regardless if he meant it or not if you are careless enough to throw a ball back in a players direction especially if he or the opposition players wasn't looking then you deserve a red card.
As for Nick's comments re the appeal, they have been the rules for quite a while now, isn't he aware of them or just doesn't like them?
Re the footage, FFT obviously couldnt budget for Aurora TV, maybe Nick and his fellow coaches could push their clubs to get together and foot the bill so these incidents can be captured?

ginger said...

Charlie,
3 weeks was the original ban handed down by FFT.
Zebras hope to appeal the severity of the sentence i believe.

I agree it was a silly thing to do, but no serious injury was ever going to occur from that incident. So why does it get so heavily punished compared to late, crude tackles which could seriously harm players and often only get given a yellow by the ref, let alone 3 weeks. That to me is what i find hard to understand.

Surely common sense should prevail, but we are talking about FFT...

Stick said...

Football devote, have you ever played the gamed? or are you a ref or FFT member. In more then 30 years of playing at a lot of levels I have never heard of a straight red for an unintentional act. Charlies/Ziggy's and the kingbourgh clubs president account were all the same so they all must be making it up to suit the Zebras???.. At any cost one goose of an official has potentially cost the Zebras the season!! not that Charlie didn't help on the field re that!! I wonder if the ref used to play for south??

Anonymous said...

Boof predicts kingro, clarence, zebras, sth.

Anonymous said...

Ginger and stick

If a player picks up a ball when there is no need and then throws it away it is more times than not a yellow card. Therefore if you throw the ball and hit a player in the face, whether that was the intent or not, then a red card seems logical. Maybe next time Ben should just leave the ball where it is.

And stick, you sound like a Zebras supporter yet you dont seem to have much faith in the rest of the team. Season over just because you wont have 1 player for 3 weeks????

Anonymous said...

I have played the game, and yes for 30 odd years. State League in the 80's you name it, I have played it. I have done the same thing, and coped the same penalty. OMG are the ref's in tassie starting to become consistant. You throw the ball at a opponent it is classed as violent conduct. You may be right, it may well cost zebras another championship. But they will recover. Very good side.

Charlie White said...

Stick - I may have been reminded of that a few times by my team mates! lol

Anonymous said...

Walter whats this about Knights predicted to overcome south????

Anonymous said...

because everyone wants them to...give the public what they want! great write up walter as usual