Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Polonia get a hiding at Taroona





Photos (Top to Bottom): Nick Cook...the 'enfant terrible' of Tasmanian soccer in the 1980s; Mark Leszczynski (right) being presented with a trophy by Ted Best of Cadburys [Tasmanian Soccer Federation president Roy Stoneman can be seen partly obscured at the extreme left]; Bruce Ward scored against Polonia; Polonia of Melbourne


Tasmanian state representative and club sides have a long history of playing against interstate opponents.


On 29 October 1983, a Hobart Select XI took on leading Victorian side Polonia at Taroona and scored a sensational 5-1 victory.


Hobart was on top from the start and Andrew Leszczynski smashed a ferocious shot against the Polonia post as early as the 5th minute.


Hobart led 1-0 at the break when Ian Parker scored in the 43rd minute from Perry Forster’s pass.


Lakic made it 1-1 shortly after the resumption, but within two minutes, Hobart were again ahead when Bruce Ward scored with a penalty.


Mark Leszczynski added Hobart's third from Sergio Pace’s pass on the hour, while Nick Cook made it 4-1 when he prodded home Ward’s cross in the 63rd minute.


Greg Ashwood headed the fifth to complete the scoring six minutes from the end.


The Taroona ground was good enough in those days to host such a match, which just goes to show that when there’s a will, there’s a way.


The Polonia squad was: Dzielakowski (Goalkeeper), Liparski, McCluskey, Mila, Smolarek, Czapnik, Tront, Petrov, Lakic, Marshall, Krysinski, Dachs, Lukac (Goalkeeper); Leszek Dzielakowski (Coach).


A year earlier, on 3 October 1982, Metro beat Victorian side Altona Gate 3-1, after leading 1-0 at half-time.


Metro's scorers were Paul Fone, Ian Parker and John McIntyre, while Serovski replied for the visitors.

14 comments:

Spider said...

Hi Walter

Good to see some of these older photos and reports i do not even remember most of them.In those days Polonia had a few ex Polish internationals come over and play for them and you could tell they were a class above even with all the socialising that went on.

Richard Bladel said...

Hi mate, Jeez, this football history is marvellous, it's great to see some of the great players I used to watch when I was growing up, a lot of them the fathers of todays talent, like a family photo album in that regard. Thanks a lot Walter. This is unique.

spider said...

Brings back some old memories

Captain said...

spider - nice pins mate.

Unknown said...

Nick Cook was a brat, never seen him play, though I heard he was a talent. He told me so himself

Unknown said...

Nick was a good mate of mine , so my last comment was tongue in cheek. Nick would appreciate such a comment and know it wasn't meant to be disparaging. The beauty of soccer/football is that it encompasses all kinds of characters. and Nick is/was a character

spider said...

And Captain that was before waxing was in vogue

extasplayer said...

Hi Walter,

Some great photo's, I hope to see more. Do you have any with Spider in his Newtown Eagle track suit, he wore for about 10 years straight. Would be some good viewing.

spider said...

I only wore the top,if you look on the eagles website you will find one.My wife turfed it she was sick of me wearing it, plus i got too fat for it.The bottoms were shockers.

extasplayer said...

Spider,

Your telling me they were SHOCKERS.

But you entertained us each week. At training and games. Miss the good old days. I have even seen you wear them in a pub.

spider said...

You see i was their for the entertainment value as well.Unfortunatley i do not know who you are extasplayer but i am glad i gave you guys a few laughs.

I even had a pair of red trousers i purchased at John Johns to wear out and my mother threw them out on me,i should have taken the hint then.

extasplayer said...

Spider, if only you knew. I am closer than you think.

Anonymous said...

hi walter its been a long time I'm the ex mrs bruce ward , christine looking throw these old picture and who should pop up but bruce looking much younger then he is now , how things down under

Walter said...

Hi Christine

Great to hear from you. I've just returned from five weeks in Europe (including London) and have often wondered where Bruce and you are now. Bruce is often mentioned in football circles here and the last we knew of him was that he was working in Germany.

Peter Brine has been in touch (he owns a restaurant called 'A Touch of Salt" in Townsville), and I caught up with Eric Young a few years back when he came down to Tasmania, but we've always wondered about Bruce.

If you'd like to contact me, my email is: walter.pless@gmail.com

If I recall correctly, were you living in Whitby? Are you still?

Hope to hear from you.

Cheers!

Walter

PS How did you hear about this blog site?