Beachside and Metro draw in fiery encounter

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BEACHSIDE 1-1 METRO
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Metro could not be satisfied with this draw as Taroona won earlier in the day and moved to the top of the Division One ladder with a 2-point lead over them.

It was a hard, physical encounter, which saw three send-offs and four other bookings.

The small ground was even more crowded as neither side tried to use width and both teams sometimes occupied only one quadrant of the pitch.

With space at a premium, players had little time to control the ball and, if their technique was slightly deficient, they were caught in possession.

Consequently, the ball was often punted upfield anywhere, and there were some mad chases for the ball and crunching tackles.

Orr’s late tackle on Robinson earned the Scotsman a yellow card and this would prove crucial later in the match.

How Davis stayed on the pitch for as long as he did (an hour) is anyone’s guess. He appeared to strike Orr early on and then conceded a penalty later as he brought Orr down.

He and Orr were finally given their marching orders after an hour following a goalmouth scramble that saw Orr just fail to put Metro ahead.

All hell broke loose after the dismissals and players, coaches and officials had to intervene to restore order.

Beachside supporters standing near the dressing rooms were very vocal as the game wore on and there were quite a few verbal exchanges between them and Metro players who were substituted and were making their way back to the change rooms.

Beachside attacked strongly in the opening stages of the match and only a fine save by Metro keeper Simon Land denied Bernhard Klasen.

Beachside forced a couple of corner in quick succession, but the visitors held out.

The penalty came in the 14th minute and Orr tucked it away with ease to give Metro the lead.

Ten minutes before the break, Davis rose at the far side of the box at a corner and nodded home the equaliser. His gestures towards the Metro bench as he ran back for the restart were less than complimentary.

Neither side could break the stalemate in the second half, although Beachside keeper Alex Bigg was the busier of the two custodians and produced two fine saves to deny Metro a winner near the end.

The referee had his hands full once he blew the final whistle, which, incidentally, came about 70 seconds before the 45 minutes were up.

He had also refereed the reserve curtain-raiser.

He was surrounded by players and supporters before he left the field. Orr was out there questioning him, and the referee also threatened to report one club if one particular individual did not move away.

FFT should clearly have ensured that there were three fresh officials available for a match of such importance.

It was, after all, the only game in town at that time of the evening.

The referees’ ‘room’ is part of the Beachside dressing room and only separated from the players by a small partition, which is hardly an appropriate arrangement.

Metro's latest Scottish signing was at the game, having arrived in Tasmania only that morning. I wonder what he thought of it all?

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• Beachside coach, Nathan Robinson, said:

“I thought we were magnificent.

“We had a late withdrawal in Colin Shepherd, who has a virus, but who was here tonight.

“Sebastian Milford was out and he normally scored a few goals for us.

“We had to change tactically with a player sent off, but I just thought it was a terrific game.

“It still is two points we’ve lost and the onus was on us as the home team to get forward and score a goal.

“We couldn’t quite manage that in the second half, but saying that, I couldn’t fault the players.

“They were superb and they’re improving all the time. Those games, those crucial games in the Cup against the Northern Premier League team and against Zebras, and our practice game against South Hobart, are slowly starting to get us up to Premier League standard, because that’s what Metro are with their Scottish boys.

“So, I thought it was a good result and it keeps us alive for the season.”

• Metro coach, Darrin Chaffey, said:

“Pretty disappointing. I’m not disappointed with the result because I don’t think we deserved to win.

“We didn’t play better, not that I thought Beachside did as well.

“It’s a pretty even result.

“It was a pretty important game for us and to have one of our strikers and myself sent off in the latter stages of the game, it’s going to affect for us a couple of weeks.”
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Beachside: A Bigg; P Bigg (Howarth 25), McDonald, Lowe, Robinson, Wain, Szoka, Klasen, Atkin, Douglas (Reason 85), Davis (Substitute not used: Ryan)

Booked: Douglas, Davis

Sent-off: Davis

Goals: Davis 35

Metro: Land; Rahni, Gasparin, Malcolm, Sweeney, Dawes, Orr, Jackson (McQueen 80), Hawkins, Marney, Hunt (Chaffey 70) (Substitute not used: T Kent)

Booked: Orr, Dawes, Jackson, McQueen

Sent-off: Orr, Chaffey

Att: 100

Ref: C Ware

South create record against Olympic

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SOUTH HOBART 6-0 HOBART OLYMPIC
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This was South Hobart’s biggest ever defeat of Hobart Olympic.

The previous biggest winning margin was in 1996, when South Hobart won 5-1.

Olympic defended bravely for the opening half-hour, with Chris Tsimiklis prominent at the centre of the defence, but their wayward passing made it impossible for them to launch any effective attacks.

South Hobart pushed Liam Scott forward on the left and he presented some danger to the visitors.

Julius Ross, who went on to score two goals, also produced some glaring misses, the first as early as the 2nd minute.

South almost hit the front in the 28th minute when Dmitri Nester had to claw a ball out of the goal before it crossed the line following a free-kick from wide on the right by Jim Pennicott and a close-range header.

In the 34th minute, Scott bent a nice shot against the far right-hand post and the rebound was bundled over the line, but the effort was disallowed for off-side.

A minute later, David Abbott was presented with a good opening, but he drove the ball into the side-netting.

Seconds later, South went ahead when Jonathon Ladic floated a free-kick from the left towards the far post and Kostas Kanakaris, the former Olympic striker, nodded the ball across the face of goal for Scott to score.

Lee Mason, one of Olympic’s best performers, had to leave the field after the goal through injury and was replaced by Youssef Mohamad, who was himself to be substituted later in the match.

Kanakaris made it 2-0 in the 38th minute when he raced onto a ball down the left from Scott and beat Chris Tsimiklis before cutting inside and shooting past a hesitant Chris Tsakiris and inside Nester’s right-hand post.

It should have been game over in the 40th minute when Chris Tsakiris inexplicably gave the ball away in midfield to Kanakaris and he slipped it through to Ross, who advanced on goal, only to miscue his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

The second half was one-way traffic as Julius Ross added South’s third in the 55th minute with a rocket into the roof of the net from Kanakaris’s cross.

Ladic made it 4-0 from another Kanakaris cross after good initial work down the left by Abbott, but Ross then missed another sitter after being set up by Abbott.

Ross did add his second, and South’s fifth, 8 minutes from the end following Shae Hickey’s dangerous chip to the far post. Nester could only palm the ball down to Ross’s feet, and the striker scored into an empty net.

In the 78th minute, Ladic cut the ball back from the right and Abbott laid it into the path of Heerey, but he blazed wildly over the bar.

With two minutes remaining, Hickey put Abbott through and he nut-megged goalkeeper Nester for South’s sixth.

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• South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:

“Well, happy in the end. A little bit of relief.

“I don’t know when the first goal came, but we battled away and had some chances in the 6-yard box and missed them, so I thought it was going to be another one of those days.

“But, we got a fullback forward into the 6-yard box and he scored and after that we played some good football and got in behind them.

“There were some good crosses today and we got two or three people in the box, which we hadn’t been doing, so that was quite pleasing.

• Hobart Olympic coach, Farrell Shaw, said:

“They were always going to win this game.

“They had a lot of pressure in the first half and we did a lot of defending in the first half and it was quite pleasing to see that we defended quite well.

“Ten minutes before the first half ended, they got two easy goals.

“In the second half, again, we started off really well and we had another ten minutes of down play and they scored two and from then it was all over.

“It’s disappointing for the lads. Some of the lads really out in there, but, it’s frustrating when you get a team that’s there to be taken and you don’t take them.”
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South Hobart: Moncur - Pennicott, Ludford, Heerey (Bladel 74), Scott - Abbott, Ladic, Hickey, Cooper - Kanakaris, Ross (Substitutes not used: Upton, Hill, Eaves)

Goals: Scott 35, Kanakaris 38, Ross 55, Ladic 56, Ross 82, Abbott 88

Hobart Olympic: Nester - Lebski, Tsimiklis, C Tsakiris, Kaproulias (E Tsakris 70) - Saric, Mason [(Mohamad 36) Banks 83], Richardson, Larzabal - Bulis, Kunwar (Substitute not used: Plomaritis)

Booked: Larzabal 51

Att: 113

Ref: C Phillips

Taroona the new leaders in Division One

Taroona became the new leaders of the Division One competition when they beat Northern Suburbs DOSA 2-1 away at the Showgrounds this afternoon.

The result put them two points ahead of previous leaders Metro, who were held to a 1-1 draw by third-placed Beachside in a fiery encounter at Sandown Park last night.

Fourth-placed Nelson Eastern Suburbs had to be content with a 2-2 draw with sixth-ranked Christian United.

Luke Wallace and Joe Vanderslink netted for Nelson, while Matthew Sly netted both goals for Christian.

Beachside began strongly against Metro and only a fine save by Simon Land prevented the hosts from taking an early lead in a match that saw three players sent off and four others cautioned.

Beachside’s Ben Davis, and Metro’s Ricky Orr and Darrin Chaffey, were sent off, while Beachside’s Andrew Douglas and Metro’s Jason Dawes, Wayne Jackson and Kye McQueen were cautioned.

Orr gave Metro the lead with a penalty in the 14th minute after a foul by Davis, but Davis headed Beachside level in the 35th minute.

Davis was fortunate to still be on the pitch at that stage as his behaviour had probably warranted several yellow cards.

Beachside goalkeeper Alex Bigg produced two good saves in the closing minutes to deny Metro a win.

First, he saved bravely at the feet of Aaron Marney, and then he turned another fierce shot over the bar for a fruitless corner.

With this match being the only one on at that time of the day, it is a mystery why FFT could only allocate one official to handle it.

The official had to call on two club persons as his assistants, which is hardly satisfactory for such an important fixture.

There was at least one other referee in attendance as a spectator.

Things got very heated by the end of the match and the referee was even confronted by spectators and players at the end of the match and had to walk unescorted from the field.

The incident where Orr and Davis were sent off threatened to erupt into an all-out brawl and it was only the timely and level-headed actions of officials and some players from both clubs that prevented the situation from getting completely out of hand.

How FFT can expect one referee to handle such a situation is beyond belief, especially with no other games on at that time.

It is no wonder that the referee appeared ashen-faced as he sat behind a small partition - which acts as the referees’ changing room - in the Beachside dressing room after the game.

I must emphasise that no Beachside players did anything to make the referee uncomfortable in that situation after the game, but such a set-up surely cannot be tolerated as referees should not have to share dressing rooms with either team.

The door was locked at half-time as Beachside had their break and, at first, the referee could not even get in to have a breather.

And, one other point - the referee had already handled the reserves game before he officiated in the senior match.

Another interesting point was that the game ended just short of the 44th minute of the second half. Given the send-offs and the mayhem that followed, as well as several substitutions, this seems odd.

Tilford Zebras lose ground slightly after draw with Eagles

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League leaders Tilford Zebras were held to a 3-3 draw by sixth-placed New Town Eagles at Clare Street this afternoon.

Second-placed Glenorchy Knights closed the gap on Zebras to 5 points with a 3-1 win over fifth-placed Clarence United at KGV Park on Friday night.

Third-placed South Hobart halted their run of three consecutive losses by trouncing Hobart Olympic 6-0 at South Hobart today, their biggest ever victory over Olympic.

And, bottom-side University collected only their second point of the league campaign by holding fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United to a 1-1 draw at home at Olinda Grove this afternoon.

Two goals by Ricky Self and one by second-half substitute Ben Crosswell near the end appeared to have given Zebras a 3-2 win over Eagles, but Adam McKeown ensured the home side of a draw with an equaliser with the last kick of the match.

McKeown and Nick Ferrall scored the other goals for Eagles.

Terrible defending was at the heart of Clarence’s loss to Knights, who took the lead through Amadu Koroma in the 29th minute.

Luke Cripps equalised in the 54th minute, but late goals by Alex Holmes, in the 85th minute, and Corey Smith, in the 87th minute, gave Knights the three points.

South Hobart squandered several easy opportunities before Liam Scott put them ahead in the 35th minute, scoring from close range after Kostas Kanakaris had nodded Jonathon Ladic’s free-kick into the 6-yard box.

Former Olympic player Kanakaris made it 2-0 three minutes later when he raced onto a ball down the left from Scott and beat Chris Tsimiklis before cutting inside and shooting past a hesitant Chris Tsakiris and inside Dmitri Nester’s right-hand post.

The second half was one-way traffic as Julius Ross added South’s third in the 55th minute with a rocket into the roof of the net from Kanakaris’s cross.

Ladic made it 4-0 in the 56th minute from another Kanakaris cross, while Ross added his second, and South’s fifth, 8 minutes from the end following Shae Hickey’s chip to the far post, which seemed to confuse Nester, who could only palm it down into Ross’s path.

David Abbott nut-megged goalkeeper Nester for South’s sixth after being put through by Hickey’s pass.

South’s previous best win against Olympic was in 1996, when they won 5-1 against a far better Olympic side than this one.

Saturday results

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League

South Hobart 6 (Scott 35, Kanakaris 38, Ross 55, 82, Ladic 56, Abbott 88) b Hobart Olympic 0
New Town Eagles 3 (Ferrall, McKeown 2) dw Tilford Zebras 3 (Self 2, Crosswell)
University 1 dw Kingborough Lions United 1

Reserves

South Hobart 3-0 Hobart Olympic
New Town Eagles 4-2 Tilford Zebras

Under-19s

New Town Eagles 3-2 Tilford Zebras
South Hobart 3-2 Hobart Olympic

Division One

DOSA 1-2 Taroona
Nelson Eastern Suburbs 2-2 Christian United
Beachside 1-1 Metro

Reserves

Beachside 6-1 Metro

Under-19s

Beachside 1-7 Metro



Forestry Tasmania Northern Premier League

Devonport City 1 (McKenna pen) dw Northern Rangers (Ambrose)
Burnie United 0-4 Ulverstone
Riverside Olympic 2-0 Launceston City
Launceston Unuited 1-3 Prospect Knights

Knights move to within 4 points of Zebras with win over Clarence

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GLENORCHY KNIGHTS 3-1 CLARENCE UNITED
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This win for second-placed Glenorchy Knights took them to within four points of Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League leaders Tilford Zebras, who have a game in hand.

Clarence United stay fifth, also with a game in hand.

Goalkeeper Michael Moschogianis was missing from the Clarence line-up, not because of any legacy of last week’s collision with team-mate Sam McIntyre, but because he dislocated a thumb at training on Thursday.

Ben Parker and Luke Cripps both suffered nose bleeds during the game and had to change into fresh shirts and wear bandages across their noses.

Tom Sherman was missing from the Knights team.

Clarence’s defending was atrocious and the Knights could have tripled their score had they been clinical in their finishing.

Twice Amadu Koroma rounded goalkeeper Sam Sweetten, only to shoot across the face of goal with an empty net beckoning.

On the second occasion, substitute Corey Smith got to the ball beyond the far post and also had a shot at goal, but the ball again went across the face of goal and straight into the arms of Sweetten, who was desperately trying to get back into the goalmouth.

The 16-year-old McIntyre had a promising game for Clarence. This lad seems a star of the future.

He was generally reliable in defence and frequently pushed forward and joined in the attack. He saved what appeared to be a certain goal in the first half when he managed to thwart James Hope and concede a corner, while he made the goal for Luke Cripps.

In the second half, he should have scored one himself, but he volleyed wide when a goal beckoned. He was clearly annoyed with himself.

McIntyre is tall, has an air of confidence and good technical ability, and he reads the game well.

Alex Tatnell, a former Clarence goalkeeper, was brilliant for the Knights. His reflex save from Parker’s header, following a free-kick awarded against Jade Clay and taken from deep on the left by Mattias Toghill, was outstanding.

Clarence’s first defensive error came in the 18th minute. Adrian Lawler crossed the ball to the edge of the box from deep on the left and Hope eluded the defenders and raced at goal. Before he could shoot, however, McIntyre got a vital tackle in and deflected the ball for a corner.

In the 21st minute came the second error. Matt Lewis literally gave the ball to Koroma, who rounded the advancing keeper but rolled the ball across the goalmouth instead of scoring.

Jacob Huigsloot was lucky to stay on the park in the 28th minute after an awful tackle on Clay, which left the Knights player limping. Six minutes later, Huigsloot was substituted by Andy Barron as coach Andrew Brown obviously wanted to finish the game with 11 players.

Knights took the lead in the 29th minute when a poor clearance by Sweetten fell to Hope, who immediately played Koroma through and he rounded the keeper and stroked the ball into an empty net.

In the 38th minute, Tatnell produced his superb save from Parker’s header, but within two minutes, the Knights should have increased their lead.

A long ball forward by Will Roberts found Josh Fielding, who put Hope away on the right, but his rising shot from a good position cleared the bar.

The half ended with Parker’s flicked header releasing Cripps down the inside-right channel, but his powerful shot was directed straight at Tatnell.

Three minutes after the resumption, Cripps’s shot from an acute angle on the right glanced the crossbar and stayed in play, but the Knights cleared.

In the 54th minute, the excellent McIntyre, venturing forward once more, chipped a delightful ball into the box and Cripps steered an accurate header beyond Tatnell and inside the keeper’s right-hand post to make it 1-1.

Clarence were lucky in the 76th minute when George Stevens, positioned at the near post for a corner, sliced Clay’s corner back towards his own goal and straight into the arms of a grateful Sweetten.

A minute later, Koroma and Smith combined for their near misses at the open goal, but in the 85th minute, the Knights did go ahead again.

Julian McMahon’s foul on Lawler was punished with a free-kick deep on the left. Fielding floated the ball into the box and Alex Holmes rose above a pack of players to beat Sweetten with a firm header to make it 2-1 for the Knights.

Two minutes later, an amazing passage of play by the Knights, reminiscent of a pack of seals playing with a ball, led to their third goal. They worked the ball forward from defence and through the midfield without it touching the ground through a series of headers by Jackson Marsh, Hope, Fielding and Koroma.

Koroma’s final header put Smith through on goal. Smith nodded the ball down and then stroked it past the advancing Sweetten to make it 3-1.

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• Glenorchy Knights coach, Eamonn Kelly, said:

“It was a good game of football, the second-best game of football we’ve played all year.

“We played football like we know we can play football. You know, ball on the ground.

“We were a bit shaky in the first half, but in the second half we came out and I think we dominated,

“I think Amadu [Koroma] had a great game, and James Hope had a good game and [Alex] Tatnell had a brilliant game.

“The back-four did well. We’ve been working on the back-four pivoting and I think we’ve got the stability there now and we’ve got the right formation there.

“We most probably need to settle on what we’re going to do up front and who we’re going to play up front.

“Amadu is definitely there, but it’s a question of who is going to work alongside him and who we’re happy with.

“We were a little bit light this week not having [Tom] Sherman there, but you know, he’ll be back next week.

“The boys enjoyed it tonight. There was some good constructive football and we kept possession in the second half.

“I think Alex Holmes and Alex Tatnell have been the finds of the year for me. They’ve been very good. We put these young lads on and we told them if they do the right thing and persevere, we’ll do the right thing and persevere and have confidence in them.

“And that’s what the aim is. You know, take each game as it comes each week. We’re not worried about, and we’ve got no aspirations about, winning premierships.

“All we want to do is keep winning games. The rest will look after itself.”

• Clarence United coach, Andrew Brown, said:

“I thought Knights were thoroughly deserving of the victory today.

“We weren’t at our best. Even so, the quality of the football wasn’t great, but it was still entertaining for the crowd.

“There were plenty of opportunities. We were never going to win the game, from the first minute, really.

“And, in the end, it was a matter of who capitalised on the mistakes, and there were plenty out there.

“We weren’t good enough to capitalise on theirs, and they were more than good enough to capitalise on ours and the score really flattered us.”

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Glenorchy Knights: Tatnell - Wiggins, Green (Vavoulas 90), Holmes, Lawler (Paite 85) - Clay, Fielding, Marsh, Roberts (Smith 70) - Koroma, Hope (Substitute not used: Peter)

Booked: Clay 37, Roberts 59

Goals: Koroma 29, Holmes 85, Smith 87

Clarence United: Sweetten - J Huigsloot (Barron 34), Lewis, McIntyre, Toghill - Stevens (Knapek 80), Parker, Cannamela, McMahon, Hunt - Cripps (Substitutes not used: Phillips, T Hamlett)

Booked: Huigsloot 28, Cripps 88

Goals: Cripps 54

Att: 143

Ref: I Jozeljic

Friday night results

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League

Glenorchy Knights 3 (Koroma 29, Holmes 85, Smith 87) b Clarence United 1 (Cripps 54)

Reserves

Glenorchy Knights 1 (Bolonja 45 pen) B Clarence United 0

Top-of-the-table clash at Valley Road should be a classic

The game of the round in the Forestry Tasmania Northern Premier League is undoubtedly the one between second-placed Devonport City and league-leaders Northern Rangers at Valley Road on Saturday at 2.30pm.

The winner will be a clear leader at the top, so there is everything to play for.

Devonport will miss Kurt Howard, who is unavailable, but everyone else is fit and coach Tom McGinn will keep faith with a largely unchanged squad from past weeks.

Ben Pizzirani, Jordan Douce, Connor Lizotte and Miles Barnard have all impressed in the reserves and may be added to the squad in Howard’s absence.

“It’s important that we have a good crowd this week as this game is shaping up as the match of the season so far with first against second,” said Devonport City coach, Tom McGinn.

“Both teams are scoring plenty of goals, so it should be an exciting match to watch.

“Rangers are certainly a quality team with some very good individual players.

“Sean Howe and Kamil Douglas will have to win the midfield battle.

“The experienced Chris McKenna is starting to find last season’s form now he is over early season injuries and is striking a good partnership with Paul Scicluna, but we would like to see some more goals.

“Defensively, we have been a lot more solid with Simon Wilson and Nathan Gratton being solid at the back.

“And, it’s great to have the versatile Scott Wilson back from long-term injury.”

Northern Rangers will have virtually the same side that started against Ulverstone.

“We are going into this game with the under-dog tag and we will be very happy with a draw away from home,” said Rangers coach, Roslan Saad.

“We always struggle playing Devonport and would like to do one better than last season, that is, to get some points from them.

“I’m really looking forward to playing a well-organised team and I believe our team this year has what it takes to match Devonport.”

Fifth-placed Riverside Olympic entertain second-last Launceston City at Windsor Park at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Riverside coach Troy Scott has been in Sydney most of the week but was certain of one definite change to his side.

Scott Hansen is out because of a hamstring strain, but Scott said he would not make a decision about a replacement until Friday.

Seventh-placed Burnie United faces sixth-ranked Ulverstone at Montello at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Burnie will be without influential centre-back Johnson, who is unavailable, while his brother, Ayston Johnson, one of the club’s main strikers, is still out injured.

“Hopefully, we will have Jason Mole back from his university studies,” said Burnie United coach, Ray Parke.

“We have also signed a youngster from Somerset, Sam Phillips Croule and, barring any hold-ups, he will go straight into the seniors.

“Even with home advantage, we are expecting a real tough game, but to get our season back on track, we need a result this week.”

The final match of the round is at Birch Avenue at 2.30pm on Saturday, when bottom-side Launceston United host fourth-placed Prospect Knights.

“We have the same regard for Launceston as we do for every team in our league, and there are no easy games,” said Prospect Knights coach, Dane Hudson.

“We will work hard to commit to our structures and look to play good football.

“We have Atherton, Pickering, Harris and Young all unavailable, so I will be looking to our younger players to fill those positions and gain some further experience.”

Launceston United coach, Brian Dracup, said some of the Prospect players are former Launceston United players and this would add interest to the match.

“Some of their team are ex-United, and so are well known to us,” said Dracup.

“In terms of our team selection, we have gone for stability and will have nine starters from last week, together with Nick Bean from last week’s bench, plus Dave Loy, promoted from the reserves after having played well in their drawn game against Devonport.

“We anticipate a hard game and expect our players to put in well against familiar faces.”

The big news out of Somerset, even though they have the bye, is a change of coach, with Kevin Considine making way for Nick Reed and Sam Cocks.

“I have been forced to resign as senior and club coach due to ongoing problems with my right knee and leg resulting in several major operations over the past two years,” said Considine.

“I have now been off work for the last six weeks and have relied on my assistant, Sam Cocks, along with Jonathon Lo, Bobby Eaves and Tom Roach to take the majority of our training sessions, while I basically have been bench coach during this time.

“Unfortunately, the latest operation has caused immense pain and I am basically now bed-ridden for another six to twelve weeks before I can even return to work.

“The pain and discomfort has become that unbearable over the past few weeks so, unfortunately, I cannot continue, even on Saturdays, which is very disappointing considering the great bunch of guys we have at Somerset.

“Nick Reed has been appointed as senior coach for the remainder of the season, with Sam Cocks continuing as his assistant, and I am sure that the guys will continue to improve and they will form another great partnership.”

Tilford Zebras aim for eighth straight victory

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League soccer leaders Tilford Zebras should make it eight wins in a row when they take on sixth-placed New Town Eagles away at Clare Street on Saturday at 2.30pm.

A victory could even extend Zebras’ lead at the top to 8 points, with half the league season gone.

Zebras may be without striker Ben Crosswell because of work commitments, but they should still have too much firepower for an Eagles side that will be missing the suspended Alex Leszczynski and the unavailable Jacob Malakoff.

Crosswell is trying to change his shift so that he can play.

Zebras goalkeeper Troy Kaden and defender Henry Fagg have been dropped for 'disciplinary reasons', according to coach Nick Lapolla, which means Frank Mainella takes over in goal.

The 'disciplinary reasons' turn out to be a 21st birthday party in Melbourne which they will be attending.

Eagles’ coach, George Krambousanos, is away in Melbourne for family reasons and Peter Wass will be in charge of the team.

Second-placed Glenorchy Knights entertain fifth-ranked Clarence United at KGV Park on Friday at 8pm and the Knights will be going for their fourth consecutive league win, and fifth win in a row overall.

James Hope may be fit to return for the Knights, but Clarence have several injury concerns, including goalkeeper Michael Moschogianis, defender Mattias Toghill, and strikers Andy Barron and Chris Hunt.

Ben Hamlett is unavailable and Toby Ling is injured, so there is a chance that Adam Knapek, Ben Phillips and David Hoppitt will get a run.

Knights coach, Eamonn Kelly, is aware that Clarence’s Luke Cripps scored his third hat-trick of the season last weekend, but he is adamant that Cripps will not be assigned a marker.

Third-placed and reigning champions South Hobart host second-last Hobart Olympic at South Hobart on Saturday at 2.30pm and will be seeking to end a run of three league losses and one cup defeat in succession.

South’s Liam Scott, Ricki Eaves and Daniel Brown missed training during the week because of injury.

It has almost become a cliché that South dominate possession but do not turn this into goals, but that is the stark fact facing coach Ken Morton and he must find a solution if South are to return to winning ways.

Morton is wary of an Olympic side that he says is starting to bounce back and whose fighting spirit is exemplified by striker Michael Bulis.

Olympic did not play well against Eagles last weekend but still won with clinical counter-attacks, and this scenario is exactly the one that has undone South Hobart in their past four games.

Bottom-side University entertain fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United at Olinda Grove at 2.30pm on Saturday and the Students face a difficult task with two key players missing.

Jonathon Merry and Julian Proud are injured, but Alexis Bull may have recovered from illness and may be ready to resume.

Nigel Blundell has returned from the USA, while Damien Bones and Oliver Venettacci have recovered from injury but must pass fitness tests before being considered.

“We feel that we are happy to be playing Kingborough Lions at home this week as they are one of the toughest teams to beat at their home ground, and their result last week against South Hobart is evidence of this,” said University’s president, Julian Proud.

Kingborough’s Damian Pearce and Charles White are doubtful after suffering knocks last weekend and will be replaced, if necessary, by Trent Pearce and Andrew Kerr.

“This is a dangerous game against University and we need more consistency in our play,” said Lions coach, Geoff Freeman.

Metro may have a fourth Scotsman on view against Beachside

Division One leaders Metro may have a fourth Scottish import in their line-up for Saturday’s clash with third-placed Beachside at Sandown Park at 6.30pm.

The Scotsman is due to arrive in Hobart on Saturday morning, but he may not be cleared and signed in time to join his three countrymen, whose acquisition at the beginning of the season has played a huge part in Metro’s success this year.

Aaron Marney and Mathew Gasparin are also available for Metro this weekend, but Danny Cowen is interstate and player-coach Darrin Chaffey will play in the reserves.

Goalkeeper Michael McKenna has recovered from a dislocated thumb and may play.

Beachside will add Andrew Reason to its squad, and everyone else is fit.

“Being four points behind Metro before this game makes it a crucial game for us to win,” said Beachside coach, Nathan Robinson.

“With an improved performance last week, we are confident of a good showing this Saturday night.

“Bernhard Klasen is in good form in front of goal for us, but it will require a strong defensive performance if we are going to keep Metro at bay for the 90 minutes.

“They have scored freely and have had contributions from, not only their strikers, but midfielders, which is what make them a such dangerous opposition.”

Second-placed Taroona are away to fifth-placed Northern Suburbs DOSA at the Showgrounds at 2.30pm on Saturday.

Only goal-difference keeps Taroona behind Metro and in second place and if Metro falter, Taroona could take over the leadership by winning.

Steve Swift is unavailable for DOSA, but John Visentin returns after being unavailable last weekend.

“Taroona won the first encounter this season at Taroona 7-0 and we were flat in last week’s 4-0 loss to Beachside, which showed only playing one game in the last month has been disruptive,” said DOSA defender, Richard Korn.

“We will have to work hard to try and regain some momentum, but these things take time.”

Taroona will miss Cian Carey, who is unavailable, and he will be replaced at centre-back by either Will Darling or Ben Schaap.

“DOSA seem to have improved quite a bit since we played them in the first game of the season and I expect they will be much tougher opposition this time around,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.

“We’re really starting to get some competition for places in the senior squad, with midfielders Lucas Wyatt and Ruaidhri Carey in good form in the reserves over the last couple of weeks and veteran striker Daniel Palmer scoring a hat-trick last weekend.

“One or more of those players may be included in the senior squad to give us some options off the bench.”

Fourth-placed Nelson Eastern Suburbs meet second-last Christian United at North Warrane on Saturday at 2.30pm.

Christian United striker Matthew Sly is suspended, but Leno Taglieri has recovered from a rib injury and should start.

Scott Nicholson is back from Brisbane and will be in goal, while John Manasseh has completed a massive 6-week suspension - incurred, ironically, against Nelson in the first round.

“Due to byes, unexplained gaps in the fixtures and cup weekends, Manasseh has spent over two months watching from the sidelines,” said Christian United’s Jesse Arnold.

“Still, John has been at every training session bar one and he is looking fitter and better than ever.”

Ben De Hoog is unavailable, Dave Nettlefold has a calf injury, and Dave Noble may have to make his way back to the seniors via the reserves.

Beachside susperior to DOSA at Sandown

Photos (Top to Bottom): Beachside's Sam Howarth (left) confronts DOSA's Nick Radovanovic; Bernhard Klasen nets from the spot; Beachside's Ben Davis (left) tackles DOSA's Stephen Swift; Colin Wain gets in a cross before Mark Wakefield (right) can intervene; Beachsides' Colin Wain; Beachside's hat-trick hero, Bernhard Klasen;, Beachside's Colin Shepherd; DOSA keeper Justin Farrugia can only watch as David Visentin retrieves the ball from the net; Andrew Douglas gets the final touch to put Beachside in front; A Beachside corner has DOSA on the defensive

Division One, Sandown Park, Sunday, 24 May 2009
_____________________________________________________

Beachside 4 (Douglas 14, Klasen 30 pen, 39, 78)
Northern Suburbs DOSA 0

HT: 3-0 Att: 54 Ref: C Ware
______________________________________________________

Beachside: A Bigg - Atkin (McDonald 30), Davis, Robinson, Howarth - Douglas, Shepherd, Lowe (Szoka 79) Wain - P Bigg, Klasen [Substitute not used: Ryan] [Player-Coach: N Robinson]

Northern Suburbs DOSA: Farrugia - Korn, Visentin, Wakefield, Hey - Radovanovic, Frith, Durairajah [(Richardson 46) J Parry 71], Maccrum - Swift, Parry [Substitute not used: Chisholm] [Coach: J O’Hea]
________________________________________________________

Beachside moved back into third place on the Division One ladder with a comfortable 4-0 win over fifth-ranked Northern Suburbs DOSA on this picturesque little ground at Sandy Bay called Sandown Park.

Beachside made all the going in the opening half, but it took them quite a while to get on top in terms of goals.

To DOSA’s credit, they never gave in, put in the hard yards, and restricted their opponents to just one goal in the second half.

Fifteen-year-old Jayden Hey had a fine senior debut for DOSA. He had a good effort saved and deflected for a corner in the second half as DOSA forced three corners in quick succession.

After several wild shots at the DOSA goal, Beachside took the lead in the 14th minute after a cross from the right, Andrew Douglas getting the last touch.

On the half-hour, it was 2-0 from the penalty spot, Bernhard Klasen converting the spot-kick, awarded after a defender’s push on an attacker.

With 6 minutes of the half remaining, Klasen made it 3-0 with a powerful shot that went in off the far left-hand post.

Klasen should have completed his hat-trick in the 50th minute when he got on to the end of a Pat Bigg left-wing cross, but he steered his header over the bar.

In the 78th minute, Bigg slammed a shot against the crossbar and, when DOSA failed to clear the ball properly, Klasen did grab his third goal, firing home from close range.

Colin Wain had a fine game for Beachside. How South Hobart could use him now!

Some of Beachside’s build-ups, usually involving Colin Shepherd at the heart of the action, were superb.

Nathan Robinson also frequently pushed forward, but his sights were not aligned properly and he always blazed over the bar.

Simon Natoli, a qualified referee, must be commended for taking over on a line during the second half. This is no disrespect to the enthusiastic young lad who was running the line until then, but Natoli, a DOSA player, brought that extra bit of learning and experience to the task.

_________________________________________________________

• Beachside’s Bernhard Klasen said:

“It was a pretty messy game out there today.

“We’re going to have to make sure that next week we’re a little bit sharper with our tackling, especially in the middle.

“I think we were just a little bit lazy in the second half, wanting to get to the ball, and that’s obviously what showed in the outcome of the second half.

“The things we’re going to have to work on is being just a little bit more persistent in getting to the ball first, otherwise good teams like Metro are going to make us chase all day.

“I reckon that’s something we’re going to work on during the week.”

• Northern Suburbs DOSA coach, Joe O’Hea, said:

“It was our first game in four weeks so it was just like starting the season over again.

“The second half was much better than the first half.

“But, we’re just a little bit down on our touch.

“We got to get our confidence up and got to get our game fitness up again.

“There were a couple of promising things there, I thought.

“We’ve got plenty to work with.”
____________________________________________________________

STATISTICS

BEACHSIDE DOSA
22 Goal Attempts 4
10 Shots on Target 1
5 Corners 4
10 Fouls Committed 5
2 Off-Sides 0
2 (Davis 69, MacDonald 71) Yellow Cards 0
0 Red Cards 0

Beachside:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
P Bigg 5 3
Klasen 8 5
Robinson 3 0
Howarth 1 0
MacDonald 2 0
Wain 3 2

Northern Suburbs DOSA:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Swift 1 0
Parry 1 0
Hey 1 1
Maccrum 1 0

Tilford Zebras score last-gasp winner against Clarence

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League, Wentworth Park, Saturday, 23 May 2009
_________________________________________________

Clarence United 3 (Cripps 2, 9, 69)
Tilford Zebras 4 (Crosswell 29, 45+4, Walsh 40, Brazendale 90+4)

HT: 2-2 Att: 115 Ref: S Collins
__________________________________________________

Clarence United: Moschogianis (Sweetten 73) - J Huigsloot, Lewis, S McIntyre, Togill (Stevens 68) - Hunt, Ling (McMahon 57), Parker, Cannamela - Barron, Cripps [Substitute not used: Hamlett] [Coach: A Brown]

Tilford Zebras: Kaden - Pace, Telega, Smith, Fagg - Brazendale, Cairns, Self, Welch - Walsh, Crosswell [Substitutes not used: Thorpe, F Lapolla, Hall, Mainella] [Coach: N Lapolla]
____________________________________________________

Clarence United went for Zebras’ throats from the outset and rocked the league-leaders with two goals in the opening 9 minutes.

They had a third ruled out for off-side. If that one had counted, one would wonder if the Zebras could have come back.

As it was, the Zebras were reeling, but they maintained their faith in their own abilities and slowly but gradually worked their way back into the game.

Clarence might have snatched a late winner but were denied by the woodwork.

Given such reprieves, the Zebras never look back and they hit the winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

Clarence goalkeeper Michael Moschogianis was in the thick of the action.

Early in the second half, he wiped about the unfortunate Henry Fagg as both went for a high ball into the box.

The loose ball fell to Ben Crosswell, who slammed it into the unguarded net to give the Zebras a 3-2 lead.

Fagg, looking somewhat groggy, was able to resume after some minutes of treatment.

In the 71st minute, Moschogianis was, in turn, wiped out by his own defender, Sam McIntyre, who appeared to have been pushed into the goalkeeper by the on-rushing Zebras forward, Dwayne Walsh, a former Clarence player.

Moschogianis was down for the count and didn’t move. He was eventually stretchered off and an ambulance summoned. It was feared he had suffered a neck injury.

Later reports indicated he was all right.

Clarence took the lead after just two minutes. Mattias Toghill’s free-kick from just outside the box on the left was headed against the near post by Ben Parker, and Luke Cripps followed up to score.

In the 6th minute, McIntyre hit the bar and Cripps again had the ball in the net from the rebound, but this time the assistant referee’s flag was raised to dampen the celebrations.

It was 2-0 three minutes later, however, as Zebras failed to clear a corner and Cripps fired home through a crowded penalty area.

Crosswell pulled a goal back in the 29th minute with a sweetly struck left-footed shot.

Andy Barron almost got Clarence’s third in the 38th minute, but after racing through the defence, he fired into the side-netting.

Five minutes before the break, Moschogianis saved Crosswell’s shot and conceded a corner, from which Walsh netted to make it 2-2.

Crosswell put Zebras in front four minutes after the resumption, but in the 69th minute, Cripps completed his hat-trick and made it 3-3 when he was given acres of space on the right.

Two minutes from the end, Chris Hunt was unlucky when he outpaced the Zebras defence down the left and shot, but the ball came back into play off the inside of the far post.

Four minutes into stoppage time, lack of concentration by the Clarence defence allowed Aaron Brazendale to race through and plant the winner past substitute goalkeeper Sam Sweetten.

The win put Zebras 7 points ahead of second-placed Glenorchy Knights and 8 in front of reigning champions and third-placed South Hobart.

Clarence dropped to fifth, but with a game against bottom-side University in hand.

_____________________________________________________

• Clarence United coach, Andrew Brown, said:

“The result is disappointing, but not the way we played. I mean, it should be obvious to everyone out there we went out to try and attack Zebras.

“We did open them up, we did score goals, we did hit woodwork, but unfortunately not enough tonight.

“But, as we’ve seen through the Summer Cup final and then in the first leg encounter and then in the second leg encounter, there’s not much between the two sides.

“Maybe, Zebras just had that little bit more experience and were more clinical towards the end.

“We had two or three chances in the last three or four minutes and they could have killed the game off, and then go up the other end and they score.

“Full credit to Zebras. I think most people would say that they are the best football team in the competition at the moment.

“They are not on top of the ladder for nothing, and it’s something for us to aspire to over the next couple of years.”

• Tilford Zebras coach, Nick Lapolla, said:

“Well, in the first ten minutes and you’re two nil down, the character of the blokes was shown. They’re always fighting.

“They’ve always got that character to keep playing. It was a battle.

“The last twenty minutes, Clarence put us under heaps of pressure, but in the end we’ve scored.

“It’s three points.”
_______________________________________________________

STATISTICS

CLARENCE UNITED TILFORD ZEBRAS
12 Goal Attempts 11
9 Shots on Target 7
7 Corners 5
16 Fouls Committed 12
14 Off-Sides 7
1 (Barron 87) Yellow Cards 1 (Walsh 72)
0 Red Cards 0

Clarence United:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Parker 1 1
Cripps 3 3
McIntyre 1 1
Toghill 1 0
Hunt 4 3
Barron 1 0
Huigsloot 1 1

Tilford Zebras:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Crosswell 4 3
Walsh 2 2
Telega 2 0
Welch 1 1
Cairns 1 0
Brazendale 1 1

Beachside move back into third spot in Division One

Photos (Top to Bottom: Referee Chris Ware prepares to start play; Beachside players congratulate team-mate Bernhard Klasen (No. 17) on his hat-trick; Fifteen-year-old Jayden Hey (right) had a fine senior debut; Indian file at Sandown Park; Beachside's Ben Davis tackles DOSA's Stephen Swift (right)

Beachside moved back into third place on the Division One ladder when they scored a comfortable 4-0 home win over fifth-placed Northern Suburbs DOSA at Sandown Park today.

DOSA, who trailed 3-0 at the interval, fought hard and restricted the home side to just one goal in the second half.

Jayden Hey, a 15-year-old defender, had a fine senior debut for DOSA and he almost scored with an excellent shot in the second half that was turned wide for a corner.

Andrew Douglas opened Beachside’s account when he got the last touch to a cross in the 14th minute.

Bernhard Klasen made it 2-0 on the half-hour with a penalty, awarded for a push by a defender inside the box after a corner.

Klasen added the third in the 39th minute with a fierce shot that went in off the far post.

Klasen completed his hat-trick from close range 12 minutes from the end when Patrick Bigg’s shot struck the crossbar and the DOSA defence failed to clear.

Klasen, Bigg, Nathan Robinson and Colin Wain all had good chances in the second half as DOSA refused to buckle under intense pressure.

South Hobart lose three in a row

Photos (Top to Bottom): Match officials Kim Nino Mele, Kim Barker and Patrick Galloway; South's Jonathon Ladic passes to Shae Hickey; Kingborough's Ross Hinkley (right) about to tackle Shae Hickey; Ladic gives Kingborough's Charles White a nudge in the back; Kingborough's Damien Pearce clears ahead of South's David Cooper; Kingborough's Marc Iseli heads clear before South's Garry Upton can intervene

Forestry Tasmania Premier League, Lightwood Park, Saturday, 23 May 2009
______________________________________________________

Kingborough Lions United 3 (White 34, R Hinkley 56, Greg Freeman 90+6)
South Hobart 0

HT: 1-0 Att: 90 Ref: K Barker
______________________________________________________

Kingborough Lions United: Voss - Palmer, Iseli, D Pearce (A Kerr 83), Wells - Bevan, Andrews, Marchioli, R Hinkley - White (T Pearce 67), McDonald (Greg Freeman 63) [Substitute not used: Leamey] [Coach: Geoff Freeman]

South Hobart: Moncur - Cooper (Pennicott 60), Ludford, Heerey, Scott - Eaves (Abbott 32), Upton, Ladic, Hickey - Kanakaris (Ross 57), Brown [Substitute not used: Hill] [Coach: K Morton]
________________________________________________________

It’s been a long time since a Ken Morton side lost three games in a row.

But, that’s what has happened to reigning champions South Hobart, who as a result of this 3-0 loss to Kingborough Lions United, have dropped to third spot on the Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League ladder.

South Hobart now appear to have only a slim chance of retaining their title.

They have a lot of possession, but they lack a true spearhead as a focus of their attacks and this is costing them dearly.

They suffered a blow in this game when Ricki Eaves was injured in a tackle after only half an hour. He had to go off and was replaced by David Abbott.

In the 34th minute, an uncharacteristic error at the back by captain Hugh Ludford resulted in South falling behind.

Ludford’s ball control let him down as he tried to stop a through-ball and Charles White gained possession, advanced on goal, and calmly slotted the ball past Mark Moncur to put the home side in front.

It was almost 2-0 in the 39th minute when Tom McDonald ran on to Michael Wells’s long ball out of defence and had a dig, but Moncur saved well.

South Hobart had had several good chances before then, however, mostly from distance, but they all came to nothing.

Five minutes before the interval, Kingborough goalkeeper, Jason Voss, once again produced his almost mandatory Jekyll and Hyde act.

Voss’s atrocious clearance from the edge of the box went straight to Shae Hickey, who, seeing Voss way off his line, lobbed the ball towards an empty goal.

Voss somehow recovered his ground and, diving full length backwards, somehow clawed the ball out of the air and turned it onto the bar, whence it ricocheted harmlessly back into play.

Deep into stoppage time at the end of the first half, Voss again produced a brilliant save, denying Kanakaris, who had threatened to score with an audacious over-head scissors kick from an acute angle.

Seven minutes into the second half, Voss again did exceptionally well to deny Daniel Brown, who was given the chance after an error by the usually reliable and prominent Marc Iseli.

In the 56th minute, came the goal of the match. White and Bevan exchanged passes wide on the right and Bevan’s low cross towards the near post was turned in by Ross Hinkley to make it 2-0 for the Lions.

Then came a flurry of substitutions by both sides and, with the match going into an extended period of stoppage time, Kingborough added to their tally.

In the 96th minute, a free-kick by Hinkley came back off the bar to substitute Greg Freeman, who prodded the ball into the roof of the net before the South Hobart defence could react and made it 3-0.

Not only is a Morton team starting to lose several games in succession, they are losing comprehensively.

__________________________________________________________

• Kingborough Lions United coach, Geoff Freeman, said:

“I’m really, really happy.

“We set out with a game plan, and that was to restrict them to playing longer balls and being as compact as we could and then to try and break with a little bit of pace and a little bit of purpose.

“We were probably lucky with the first goal. They made an error and Charlie [White] did finish well.

“The second goal, I thought, was fantastic.

“The third one, yeah, time on, was one of those.

“It was our day. The boys worked really hard and thoroughly deserved the result.”

• South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:

“If you have a lot of possession like that, you’ve got to turn the possession into goals.

“Today, we never looked like turning it into goals.

“I mean, the keeper has brought off two or three good saves that might have got us back into the game.

“But, there’s not the penetration, you know, the runs off the ball when Johnny Lo was a round, the service from wide areas is not as good as last year, and these are the things we’ve got to put right.

“Our play from back to front is too slow and deliberate and we allow teams to sit deep on us, so we’re not helping ourselves.

“But, we’ve just got to keep working away and, you know, maybe get a better balance to the team so we’ve got flankers who are getting wide and are crossing, or at least the fullbacks are coming up and crossing.

“But, that just hasn’t happened in the last few games, and from that, we haven’t had the opportunities we normally create.

“But, I thought Kingborough set their stall out well, defended well. They played the counter-attack well and, you know, one chance in the first half and it’s a goal.

“Young Voss has made two or three great saves that kept them in the game and they get another good goal. But, both goals are bad defending. They came from our mistakes.

“Football matches are won and lost through what you do in penalty areas and we didn’t do enough in the attacking penalty area and we defended poorly in our own penalty area.

“End of story, really.”

____________________________________________________________

STATISTICS

KINGBOROUGH SOUTH HOBART
12 Goal Attempts 22
7 Shots on Target 10
0 Corners 3
13 Fouls Committed 13
1 Off-Sides 2
0 Yellow Cards 2 (Upton 38, Brown 60)
0 Red Cards 0

Kingborough Lions United:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Andrews 1 1
White 1 1
D Pearce 1 0
McDonald 2 2
R Hinkley 2 2
Iseli 1 0
Marchioli 1 0
T Pearce 1 0
Freeman 2 1

South Hobart:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Upton 6 3
Brown 3 2
Kanakaris 2 1
Cooper 2 0
Hickey 1 1
Heerey 3 0
Ladic 3 3
Ross 2 0

South Hobart virtually kiss Premier League title goodbye

Photos (Top to Bottom): Referee Kim Barker tosses for captains Marcello Marchioli and Hugh Ludford before the start of the Kingborough and South Hobart match; South's Shae Hickey about to be tackled by Marcello Marchioli; South's Ricki Eaves gets a pass away; South's Daniel Brown tackles Kingborough's Damien Pearce; Kingborough's Charles White shields the ball from South's David Cooper

South Hobart have only a slim chance of retaining their Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League title after going down 3-0 away to Kingborough Lions United at Lightwood Park today and dropping to third on the ladder.

It was South’s third league defeat of the season and they now trail leaders Tilford Zebras by a massive 8 points.

Zebras came back from two goals down after only 9 minutes to beat Clarence United 4-3 away at Wentworth Park tonight, the winner coming in the 4th minute of stoppage time at the end of the match.

Second-last Hobart Olympic should have been at least 4-1 down at half-time against sixth-placed New Town Eagles at KGV Park on Friday night, but Olympic won 2-1 through deadly counter-attacks.

Glenorchy Knights moved into second place on the ladder, 7 points adrift of leaders Tilford Zebras, after downing bottom-side University 4-0 away at Olinda Grove today.

An error by central defender Hugh Ludford enabled Charles White to fire the Lions ahead against South Hobart in the 34th minute.

Ross Hinkley made it 2-0 in the 56th minute when he netted from close range after a brilliant attack down the right involving White and Ryan Bevan.

Six minutes into stoppage time, the Lions netted their third, Hinkley hitting the crossbar with a free-kick and Greg Freeman forcing home the rebound.

Luke Cripps hit his third hat-trick of the season for Clarence, but a late goal by Aaron Brazendale gave the Zebras victory.

Moments earlier, Chris Hunt almost struck a winner for Clarence, his fierce shot from the left coming back into play off the inside of the far post.

Cripps grabbed his first when he slammed home the loose ball after Ben Parker had headed Mattias Toghill’s free-kick against a post, while his second came after Zebras failed to clear a corner.

Ben Crosswell pulled a goal back for the Zebras on the half-hour and Dwayne Walsh’s goal against his former club in the 40th minute made it 2-2 at the break.

Crosswell gave Zebras the lead early in the second half, but Cripps made it 3-3 in the 69th minute before Brazendale struck Zebras’ winner in the 94th minute.

Eagles’ Alex Leszczynski had a penalty saved by Olympic’s Dmitri Nester before goals by Dipendra Kunwar and Michael Bulis gave Olympic a 2-0 lead.

Cormac Collins’s late strike for Eagles was too late to save the match, but if Adam McKeown had taken his first-half chances for Eagles, it might have been a different outcome.

Taroona drew level on points with Division One leaders Metro when they beat Christian United 7-2 away at Sherburd Park today.

Chris Cox hit a hat-trick and Hamish Macgregor scored a brace for Taroona, who led 3-1 at the break. Phil Gale and Mark Gates also got on the score-sheet for Taroona.

Nelson Eastern Suburbs sneaked home 2-1 against bottom-side Hobart United at North Warrane through first-half goals by Luke Wallace and Ben Gibson. Alex Bellini replied for United.

In the Premier League Reserves, Kingborough Lions United drew 2-2 with South Hobart, Gordon Kerr and Marcus Bremner scoring for Kingborough, and Hugo Bladel and Simon Burrett, the latter with a penalty, for South Hobart.

Tilford Zebras overcame Clarence United 5-0 through two goals by Jamon Pennicott and one each by Matt Hall, Alex Viney and Josh Thorpe.

Glenorchy Knights downed University 1-0, while Hobart Olympic and New Town Eagles drew 2-2, Dimitri Kanakaris and George Kalis netting for Olympic, and Ben Whitehall and Jason Thomas for Eagles.

In the Under-19s, University trounced Glenorchy Knights 7-0, South Hobart easily accounted for Kingborough Lions United 6-0, and Clarence United beat Tilford Zebras 3-1.

In Division Two, New Town Eagles White drew 1-1 with Huon Valley.

In the Division One reserves, Hobart United drew 1-1 with Nelson Eastern Suburbs. In the Under-19s, Hobart United downed Nelson 4-3, while in the Under-13s, Hobart United trounced Nelson 11-4.

In the Forestry Tasmania Northern Premier League, Northern Rangers stayed top of the table with a 3-0 away win over Ulverstone at the Ulverstone Showgrounds.

Rangers' marksmen were Andrew Nicholson, Paul Bremner and Rhys Prestidge.

Rangers' Chad Honey and Ulverstone's Ben Foote were sent off.

Somerset won 2-1 away against Riverside Olympic, while Prospect Knights beat Launceston City 4-2 away at Mitsubishi Park.

Somerset fell behind to a 17th strike by Todd Mitchell, but James Nettleton equalised in the 29th minute.

Gary Hamilton then missed a couple of one-on-ones for Somerset, but Sam Cocks popped up with the winner in the 87th minute.

Devonport City easily disposed of bottom-side Launceston United 6-0 at home at Valley Road.

Kieren Mulraney hit a hat-trick for Devonport, while Paul Scicluna, Sean Howe and Scott Wilson completed the scoring.

Hobart Olympic score much-needed win

Photos (Top to Bottom): Eagles' Alex Leszczynski (left) missed a penalty; Dipendra Kunwar...scored first for Olympic; Michael Bulis scored a brilliant goal for Olympic

Forestry Tasmania Premier League, KGV Park, Friday, 22 May 2009
__________________________________________________

Hobart Olympic 2 (Kunwar 44, Bulis 60)
New Town Eagles 1 (Collins 87)

HT: 1-0 Att: 100 Ref: I Jozeljic
___________________________________________________

Hobart Olympic: Nester - Lebski, Saric, C Tsakiris, Kaproulias - E Tsakiris (A Hedge 55), Richardson, Mason, Larzabal - Kunwar (Percy 81), Bulis [Substitutes not used: Banks, Plomaritis] [Coach: F Shaw]

New Town Eagles: Soszynski - Page, Wass, Savage, Clark - Malakoff, Kent, Leszczynski, Kavanagh (Collins 46) - McKeown, Gordon (Quan 63) [Substitutes not used: Fennell, Ferrall] [Coach: G Krambousanos]
___________________________________________________

New Town Eagle should have had this game wrapped up in the first half.

But, they squandered a penalty and missed at least three good chances.

Eagles did little in the second half and, although they pulled a goal back shortly before the end, the horse had bolted by that stage.

Hobart Olympic, without the suspended Peter Tsakiris and Youssef Mohamad, made the most of their chances and scored two excellent goals to win three precious points and move 9 points clear of last-placed university.

Eagles had their first good chance in the 10th minute when Mark Page crossed from deep on the right, but Adam McKeown directed his header straight at goalkeeper Dmitri Nester.

In the 12th minute, Robert Lebski failed to cut out a through-ball and McKeown gained possession, but with only the keeper to beat, he shot straight at Nester.

Two minutes later, Chris Tsakiris brought down Jacob Malakoff and Eagles were awarded a penalty.

Nester dived to his right and beat out Alex Leszczynski’s spot-kick.

In the 33rd minute, McKeown played a marvellous ball through to Malakoff, but he slipped and fell over the ball and allowed Lebski to clear.

A minute later, McKeown raced for a through-ball and wiped out Nester in the process, thus earning himself a yellow card. Nester required treatment but was able to continue.

A minute before the break, a superb long ball out of defence by Karl Larzabal found Dipendra Kunwar in full flight and he outpaced Andrew Clark before shooting past Michael Soszynsmi to give Olympic the lead.

Eagles brought on Cormac Collins for Kavanagh at the interval. Kavanagh had been playing quite well and had gone close with one low shot just wide of the post.

It was Kavanagh’s last game for the club as he is joining the navy.

Michael Bulis made it 2-0 on the hour with a splendid goal. He made a diagonal run from left to right and, before Clark could get in a tackle, he rifled an unstoppable shot into the far top corner of the net.

Nester did well in the 70th minute to keep out McKeown’s speculative cross from the left. At full stretch, he turned the ball out from under the bar and deflected it wide, where it was knocked back into the middle, only to see McKeown head tamely wide.

Five minutes from the end, Bulis flashed a low drive centimetres wide of Soszynski’s right-hand post.

Leszczynski was fortunate not to collect a second yellow card when he careered into Nester and sent the keeper flying. It was Nester who was booked, however, for voicing his complaint.

With three minutes remaining, a deep cross from the right by Savage enabled Collins to score, but Olympic held on for an important victory.

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• Hobart Olympic coach, Farrell Shaw, said:

“It was a vast improvement tonight and it was a good committed effort.

“Some young lads came in and they held their own.

“It was a real battle for us. There was some good movement and a couple of good finishes, which is always nice to see.

“A nice finish from Michael [Bulis], which is rare these days.

“Very happy, and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season, basically.”

• New Town Eagles coach, George Krambousanos, said:

“Congratulations to Olympic. They scored two nice goals, but I thought it should have been over in the first half, when we should have scored at least four goals.

“We missed a penalty, but we fought back.

“I’m afraid it was Olympic’s day today, so I can’t say too much about that.”
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STATISTICS

HOBART OLYMPIC NEW TOWN EAGLES
9 Goal Attempts 13
3 Shots on Target 9
7 Corners 2
10 Fouls Committed 6
2 Off-Sides 2
2 (Saric 64, Nester 74) Yellow Cards 4 (Savage 12, McKeown 34, Leszczynski 42, Kent 60)
0 Red Cards 0

Hobart Olympic:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Larzabal 2 1
Bulis 2 1
Richardson 1 0
Mason 1 0
Kunwar 2 1
Lebski 1 0

New Town Eagles:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Gordon 1 0
McKeown 6 4
Leszczynski 2 2
Kavanagh 2 1
Malakoff 1 1
Kent 1 1

Friday night results

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League

Hobart Olympic 2 (Kunwar 44, Bulis 60) b New Town Eagles 1 (Collins 87)
HT: 1-0

Reserves

Hobart Olympic 2 (D Kanakaris, G Kalis) dw New Town Eagles 2 (B Whitehall, J Thomas)
HT: 1-1

Taroona can catch Division One leaders Metro, who have the bye

With Division One leaders Metro having the bye this weekend, second-placed Taroona can catch up to Metro on points by beating second-last Christian United away at Sherburd Park on Saturday.

“We came out of last week’s game against Beachside without any injury worries and everyone is a bit fitter for finally having had a run, so I don’t expect to make any changes to the starting line-up,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.

“Hugo Luttmer played last weekend, which was a surprise to everyone as we genuinely thought he’d miss at least the next three games with a broken foot, but they must breed them tough on the North-West coast.

“The under-19s’ Will Darling, a central defender, and Phil Gale, a striker, will both keep their places in the squad and, hopefully, I’ll get an opportunity to give them a good run off the bench.”

Christian United will be without Dave Noble, who is in Sydney, goalkeeper Scott Nicholson, who is in Brisbane, and Matthew Sly, who is suspended.

Leno Taglieri is also out because of a rib injury, while captain, Angus Livingston, is in Western Australia.

Munday Taban will play in goal, while Adam Van Sant, Andrew Pilgrim and Jesse Arnold will also come in to the side.

“Things are starting to turn in the right direction for us,” said Christian’s Jesse Arnold. “It was good to get our first win of the season out of the way and now we just have to forget our previous results and keep looking forward.

“Our training sessions have stepped up and we're really looking an improved side.

“Now we just need to transfer our energy and positive attitude from training over to match day and start putting in 100 per cent for the full 90 minutes.”

Third-placed Beachside entertain fourth-placed Northern Suburbs DOSA at Sandown Park on Sunday without Bernhard Klasen, who is injured, and Sebastian Milford, who is unavailable.

Damien Lowe and Colin Shepherd come into the starting line-up for Beachside.

“If we are to stay in touch with the top two, this is a must-win game against an improving DOSA outfit,” said Beachside player-coach, Nathan Robinson.

“Our defending last week was extremely poor and conceding nine goals in our last two games is a concern and something we have concentrated on in training this week.”

John Visentin returns for DOSA in place of Aaron McGurk, while Calvin Frith replaces Simon Natoli, who has coaching and refereeing commitments.

Sixteen-year-old Jayden Hey makes his debut after returning from an interstate athletics carnival.

The remaining match of the round is at North Warrane on Saturday, where fifth-placed Nelson Eastern Suburbs host bottom-side Hobart United.

Ben Gibson and Robert Brooke come into the Nelson side in place of Rowan Sakul and Dean Melville.

“We simply have to put a decent performance together for 90 minutes this Saturday against Hobart United and then concentrate on playing good football for the balance of the season,” said Nelson coach, Michael Roach.

“We have shown glimpses of what we can do, but we need to be more consistent and ruthless in all areas, and that's the challenge for us now.”