Kingborough involved in yet another goal feast

Photos (Top to Bottom): Kingborough's Charles White clears ahead of Knights' Josh Fielding; Match officials Simon Natoli, Sean Collins and Richard McAllister; Glenorchy Knights starting XI; Knights' Will Roberts heads wide at a corner; Kingborough's Charles White heads a corner to safety; Kingborough keeper Jason Wass clears, watched anxiously by team-mate Michael Wells, who knows what can happen if you are not watching; Kingborough's Marc Iseli (left)m and Knights' Amadu Koroma battle for the ball as Kingborough keeper Jason Voss comes off his line; A midfield confrontation involving Kingborough's Joel Schuth (No. 5), Charles White and Knights' Corey Smith.

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League, KGV Park, Saturday, 11 April 2009
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Glenorchy Knights 5 (Smith 1, 16 pen, Fielding 34, Koroma 46, Marsh 49)
Kingborough Lions United 3 (Bevan 47, 79, Freeman 67)

HT: 3-0 Att: 100 Ref: S Collins
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Glenorchy Knights (1-3-4-2): Peter - Vavoulas, Grundy, Dzelalija, Marsh - Clay, Fielding, Hope (Kamba 63), Roberts - Smith (Paite 69), Koroma (Sherman 53) [Substitute not used: Tatnell] [Coach: E Kelly]

Kingborough Lions United (4-4-2): Voss - Wells, Pearce, Iseli, Palmer - Bevan, White (Andrews 79), Marchioli, Schuth - Greg Freeman, McDonald [Substitutes not used: Bremner, R Hinkley, Leamey] [Coach: Geoff Freeman]
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Kingborough Lions United have featured in some goal feasts this season and this game was no different.

They were, however, at the receiving end of this one, going down 5-3 to Glenorchy Knights, who moved into third spot as a result of the win and dumped the Lions to fourth place.

The visitors fell behind to a sucker punch in less than a minute as Josh Fielding released Corey Smith down the left.

Smith, playing as a striker instead of in defence, beat one man and then, as goalkeeper Jason Voss went down early, ran around him and fired into an empty net to give the Knights the lead.

Kingborough had a good chance shortly after when Ben Peter missed the ball as he went to clear and was caught out of position, but the Knights defenders smothered the ball and eventually cleared.

In the 16th minute, disaster really struck the Lions as Marcello Marchioli was sent off for deliberate handball as he tried to prevent a goal.

Smith sent Voss the wrong way with the spot-kick and it was 2-0.

In the 23rd minute, the Lions were unlucky as Ryan Bevan, who was playing superbly in midfield, smashed a shot against the Knights woodwork.

There was a touch of comedy moments later as Voss, whose clearances were absolutely terrible, virtually knocked out team-mate Damien Pearce with a clearance that hit the defender in the back of the head.

The ball fell to a surprised Smith, who, with the goal at his mercy, shot over the bar when he could have merely rolled the ball into the net.

Eamonn Kelly’s eyes, as well as those of the unfortunate and groggy Pearce, must have been rolling.

In the 34th minute, the Knights were awarded a free-kick just outside the box and dead in front after a foul on Smith.

The wall was positioned centrally, prompting Peter, who had a clear view of the situation at the other end of the field, to rush out of his penalty area and yell out to Fielding that the wall was in the middle and that Voss could not see.

Fielding took the cue and curled a delightful free-kick around the wall and inside Voss’s left-hand post to make it 3-0.

The second half was but seconds old when Amadu Koroma cut inside from the right and slotted the ball inside Voss’s left-hand post yet again to make it 4-0 for the home side.

A minute later, Bevan continued his fine performance by pulling a goal back for the Lions, side-footing a volley past Peter from Joel Schuth’s left-wing cross to make it 4-1.

In the 49th minute came the third goal in the first four minutes of the second half.

A Knights corner from the left by Jade Clay was touched on at the near post by Koroma to Jackson Marsh, who forced it over the line from point-blank range to give the Knights a 5-1 lead.

Kingborough were looking much better at this stage, however, and they were, at times, cutting through the Knights defence with remarkable ease.

In the 55th minute, McDonald’s low cross from the right eluded Tony Dzelalija, but Greg Freeman failed to connect properly with his shot and the chance went begging.

In the 66th minute, McDonald’s shot took a deflection and the ball looped high into the air and towards goal, but Freeman headed tamely high and wide of the target.

A minute later, Freeman showed how easy it could be when he skilfully glided past several defenders and scored a fine individual goal to make it 5-2.

In the next minute, Smith badly fouled Voss, who had gained possession after Dzelalija’s long through ball had been headed into the air by Pearce, and was shown the yellow card by Mr Collins.

It had the Kingborough fans and bench fuming and one spectator came down from the stands and stormed along the touch-line in the direction of the Knights bench, where a heated exchange took place.

Voss required treatment but managed to play on, although an ambulance arrived after the game to attend to the goalkeeper as Kingborough’s first-aid staff feared a spinal injury.

Smith was immediately substituted after the incident, his replacement being Cosmos Paite. He combined well with the other substitute, Mynonge Kamba, but the Knights were unable to increase their lead.

Indeed, it was Kingborough who scored again as Bevan grabbed his second goal of the match after a great run and pass by Marc Iseli created the chance.

Iseli cut the ball back from the left and Bevan finished with a blistering shot that gave Peter no chance.

Kingborough have now been involved in a 4-4 draw with Tilford Zebras, a 6-3 win over New Town Eagles, a 5-1 triumph against University, and this 5-3 loss to the Knights.

Amidst all these results, of course, was the uncharacteristic 0-0 draw with reining champions South Hobart.

It looks like a good year for the Lions, and if people want to see goals, the Lions are probably the team to watch.

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• Glenorchy Knights coach, Eamonn Kelly, said:

“I was disgusted with it.

“Seriously, to be four nil up at half-time and then to put on a display like that in the second half was absolutely atrocious.

“And it all started from one incident, you know, and then the incident got worse and then we relaxed and let them back into the game.

“And we knew they were going to come at us. If they got one, they were going to get four or five.

“It’s just so frustrating, you know, as a team, and Fishy is in there…he’s nearly crying.

“And you can understand why, because you work so hard as much as you can on the track and then, just because, you get knuckleheads that have got their own agenda and just desecrates everything we’ve done.

“So, disappointed. It’s a result, but disappointed.”

• Kingborough Lions United coach, Geoff Freeman, said:

“To be fair to them, they came out and they hit us hard to start with, and we were very, very slow in starting.

“I’m disappointed from that point of view.

“And then, to go down to ten men, made it very hard for us from there.

“They took their chances and sort of buried the game.

“We managed to battle on and we sort of got back into it, but, yes, we just started too flat.

“We didn’t come out ready to play, and they did.

“If we’d managed to keep eleven players, it may well have been an opportunity for us to get back into it.

“Disappointed with the performance but not with the result. They deserved their victory.”
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STATISTICS

GLENORCHY KNIGHTS KINGBOROUGH LIONS
14 Goal Attempts 11
7 Shots on Target 7
10 Corners 0
9 Fouls Committed 8
4 Off-Sides 0
2 (Hope 11, Smith 68) Yellow Cards 0
0 Red Cards 1 (Marchioli 31)

Glenorchy Knights:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Smith 3 2
Roberts 1 1
Fielding 3 1
Clay 1 0
Koroma 2 2
Vavoulas 2 0
Sherman 1 0
Marsh 1 1

Kingborough Lions United:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
McDonald 2 1
Bevan 3 3
Palmer 1 1
Freeman 3 1
Schuth 2 1