Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Only 13 years ago, all three Tasmanian regional sides were in action







Photos (Top to Bottom): Dave Evans, who was with Sarawak for eight years, and Billy Bone; Alistair Edwards, NSL player who was with Sarawak; Alan Vest and Alistair Edwards at KGV Park; The late Frank Campbell and Alistair Edwards. Vest had brought Campbell to Newcastle in the NSL in 1977 and frequently called him to Sarawak to assist (a very young Corey Smith is obscured to the right of the photo; Sarawak's assistant coach, Lucas Kallang (left) with Alan Vest, Alistair Edwards and a very young Corey Smith; Tasmania's coach, Les Bee


Malaysian side Sarawak toured Tasmania in 1997 and played four matches here - two in Hobart, one in Launceston and one in Devonport.


In the first game of the four-match tour, played at KGV park on 14 March 1997, Southern Tasmania beat Sarawak 2-1 after trailing 1-0 at the interval.


An own-goal by McNeill in the 33rd minute gave the visitors the lead, the ball leaving goalkeeper Matthew Rhodes helpless after the defender found the net while trying to clear a corner.


Rhodes was injured early in the second half and was replaced by Neil Connell.


Colin Shepherd, who was at the peak of his powers that year, equalised for Tasmania in the 58th minute after a fine build-up by Adrian Mann, Craig Nichols and Andrew Leszczynski.


Leszczynski hit the winner for Southern Tasmania three minutes from the end.


Two days later, the sides met again at KGV Park and this time Sarawak won 3-2 after leading 1-0 at half-time.


This was a fine Southern Tasmanian outfit with players such as David Stoddart, Brett Pullen, Shepherd, the Leszczynski brothers, Adrian Mann, Mark Falzon, Craig Pitt and Nick Anis.


Sarawak led 3-0 with 10 minutes remaining, but two goals in three minutes by Shepherd made the final score-line quite respectable.


Shepherd’s first came in the 82nd minute from a deft touch after Anis’s cross, while his second, in the 85th minute, was a header from Stoddart’s free-kick.


Northern Tasmania drew 1-1 with Sarawak in Launceston, David Hill putting the Tasmanians ahead on the half-hour from a pass by Roger Mies, and Alistair Edwards equalising 20 minutes from the end.


Sarawak beat North-West Tasmania 4-1 in Devonport in the final tour match.


John Compagne netted for North-West Tasmania after a corner, while Alistair Edwards hit a hat-trick for the Malaysian side, whose other goal came from Shamsurin Abdul Rahman.


Les Bee, who was back in Hobart last weekend conducting coaching courses, was the coach of the Tasmanian sides, while Alan Vest, one of the big names in Australian and South-East Asian coaching circles, was in charge of Sarawak.


Vest was with Sarawak from 1990 to 1998.


Sarawak had been relegated in 1989 but Vest took them to promotion in his first year.


They won the Malaysian FA Cup in his second year and were in the top two or three teams during the rest of Vest’s tenure.


Sarawak were the Malaysian league champions when they toured here, so Vest’s tenure was a hugely successful period in the club’s history.


Vest, who now lives in Perth, goes back to Sarawak three times a year conducting coaching courses and working with the under-21s for the Ministry of Sport.


I spoke to Vest today and he said that Sarawak used to regularly draw crowds of 40,000 and more, but they finished second-last in the second division last year and crowds are down to the hundreds.


Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Tasmania’s three regions played against top touring sides nowadays.

40 comments:

matthew rhodes said...

It was a great weekend of soccer and maccas headed own goals was a cracker .Once the local comp was that good we mixed with that side all of the state.Somehow we need to bring all these sort of games back we have the coach in ken morton we need fft to be bold have a state league .Then take one small step and possibly try to get into a preimier league on the mainland.The south of the state can only have 4 to 5 teams maxs 2 from north 2 from northwest.Then the starnard will lift as players find it harder to get into teams.Lets hope someone shows some vision and leadership .Once again walter thanks for the wonderfull memories.

matthew rhodes said...

Walter a couple of months ago i read that someone was intrested in the best goalkeepers ever to play in the state .Having watched the game on many a cold night at k.g.v and other grounds since i was eight his my list from 1 to 10
1.steve graven
2.robert.harrison
3.martin.burden
4.robert.greenwood
5.damon.youl
6.neil.connell
7.bob.smith
8.phil.kannigser
9.frank.maniella
10.mark.moncour
every one will have a diffrent ideas .But for me its a great top 10 and having been a sixteen year old kid being reserve goalkeeper to steve graven for two years i learned a lot and he was wonderful to watch in goals easily number one .Hope this creates some intrested.

Anonymous said...

I would also rate Matthew Ferguson as a top 10 goalkeeper on that list

dave auton said...

Yes Matty, Steve Craven & Phil Kannegiesser were both fine keepers. I was in Rapids reserve side the year Cravo came over & I remember the training with coach E. Kelly being very tough & competative & with Steve & Phil both looking to fill the No. 1 shirt made for a good show.

kempy said...

nice picture of corey must of been before his teeth came through, dont even put ferguson in with the others he is so soft and not a very good keeper at all, there has been so many better than him

Anonymous said...

re goalkeepers:
People are forgetting :

Eddie Puclin
Michael Roussos
Carl Jagaur
Bruno Cengia
John Howlin
Paul Jones
John Hargraves
Rodney Tattem

just to name a few.......

Anonymous said...

add 2 more to my list

Harry Alexiadis
Wally Buthcher

Zlatko (Zac)Belanic said...

Wonderful memories in my last year in Tassie,and excellent performance against quality opposition.Good players and coaching staff ,pleasure to work with.I always keep an eye on whats happening down there on your site Walter,keep up the good work.

R U Serious Ref said...

Would be great for the State to see Les Bee back here. What is he up to these days Walter?
Great Coach

Anonymous said...

kempy - Ferguson won a senior league title with uni, represented tasmania and held the number 1 spot for the zebras for some time in his early 20's before heading to the UK to play semi professional for harrow borough and in Vietnam with Ken Morton. Not a bad resume for an average keeper.

R U Serious Ref said...

Agree that Eddie Puclin was a great. There were 2 young keepers back in the 90'. One was from Olympic, Peter something (blonde hair) & Drew something. i think he played for Callies? I remember attending a clinic that Craig Johnston was running @ KGV. Drew was the keeper that was there on the day. Craig was taking penalties to show all us junior kids of how we should take them and where we should be aiming on the ball when shhoting. He put ever penalty past Drew. I remember Drew was even pointing to where he wanted Craig to put them but he still scored.
Drew was a very good young keeper. i think he may have been in the team @ the same time as Marty Collins. Now there was another great young player. I could go on for ever.

Anonymous said...

Ferguson? You are kidding? Best couple of keepers of recent time have been Mainella and Mckeena, with Pooley close behind.

Anonymous said...

people seem to be forgetting Simon Miotto who made the bench for west brom in the premier league against man utd, also forgetting alex cisak who currently plays in the championship for leicester city, and are also forgetting anthony breadon who played in the NSL for adelaide city, who had held up a proposed transfer to roda jc in the eredivise.

it's one thing to play local soccer, but these guys actually went and did it in someone else's pond, and big time.

Observer said...

Anonymous at 1.36pm.
I believe many of these comments regarding keepers relate to those who have played mostly in Tas or have come to Tas to play.
The rating of these keepers is based on actual performances witnessed locally by the bloggers. Bit hard to comment on those keepers who leave the state or country at an early age and are rarely seen play.

Anonymous said...

observer, matthew actually just listed the keepers he thought were the best from Tasmania.

he didn't specify that they had to have played their entire careers here.

all threee of the keeprs listed played senior football in tasmania and the latter 2 were senior keepers at 14

Anonymous said...

anonymous 12:50 - ferguson didn't hold the zebras #1 spot for many years, in fact the reason he moved to Uni was because zebras were playing mainella ahead of him.

a reasonable keeper, but didn't have the physical attributes

Observer said...

Anonymous, if you read Matthew's comments closely , he states "ever to play in the state"
It is a bit difficult to include someone who left the state to play elsewhere.Obviously they must have had some talent ,but if they did not play much locally due to their departure, it would be difficult to include them.The ones listed by Matthew all played in Tasmania for years and are therefore well known.
Not a big deal anyway and is all a matter of opinion.

Anonymous said...

R U Serious Ref, the Peter that was playing with Olympia back then was Peter Schwatz or somthing like that.

Anonymous said...

observer, to play at west brom, leicester, or roda jc you have to have buckets of talent.

Observer said...

Anon , you miss the point.

Brian Roberts said...

I suppose none of you remember Hardman who played for South .

At the time he was a cut above all local products

Came to Tas to wicket keep for the S H Cricket Club .

Played in the U K for Union Mills in a local Manchester League side.

Due to his brief stay when picked for Tasmania against an English touring side was 2nd choice .

Eddie Puclin was 1st choice .

Did not see out the season as his cricket committment had expired so returned to U K .

Richard Bennett said...

banging your head against the brick wall methinks observer

Anonymous said...

observer maybe you do think i miss the point, but these guys have played here, so who's to say their days down here aren't valid with regard to this topic...

out of sight out of mind i think is what is happening here. but if you think they are not worthy of being considered for this because they were/are too talented then fair enough

and thanks for your insightful input rb

Richard Bennett said...

Anon. two different points and observer was merely pointing out what matthew had posted and the opinions he put forward.

nobody is denying the bleeding obvious that these players who played interstate and overseas are not talented. matthew was clearly talking about players he had watched here only and made judgements about.

cheers big ears.

Anonymous said...

quote un quote -

matthew rhodes said...
Walter a couple of months ago i read that someone was intrested in the best goalkeepers ever to play in the state .Having watched the game on many a cold night at k.g.v and other grounds since i was eight his my list from 1 to 10



he clearly says the best goalkeepers ever to play in the state. end of debate richard and observer.

Richard Bennett said...

maybe Matthew needs to clarify because I read his comments as a keeper "watching" to be who he rates from observing them play in the flesh.

I would throw in Will Russell but he never reached his enormous potential when he stopped playing at about 20-21yo but was a great young keeper but can't really gt on the list in comparison to others.

I saw Simon Miotto when he played here after returning from Blackpool I think about 1997 before returning to UK. He played about maybe 8 times that year and I couldn't rate him on 1 match other than to say he was clearly very good. Matthew is probably in the same situation.

if your able could you clarify your list Rhodesy.

Anonymous said...

will russell would lump in with the 'rest of' pack - plenty of young guys like him who never went on to senior football

The Phoenix said...

Regardless of the semantics , I am glad to see Eddie Puclins name here , not only the best keeper I ever saw , but a true gentleman as well.I remember another bloke , played for croatia , they called him Gonzo , stefan Zalotis ,I think thats how it was spelt , he was handy as well .

Anonymous said...

for what it's worth i would say in no particular order:

puclin
youl
roussos
williams
graven
baldock
connell
breadon
cisak

and

miotto as my greatest of all, but maybe cisak will better him?

matthew rhodes said...

Its was my view of the keepers who had played for a long period of time in state .i think all keepers on there day and you do have them i had a few when i played that u save everything that comes your way .But the reason why people mike mckenna who has a lot of abilty arent on the list or simion mitto,its based on a long period of time playing league soccer in the state .Its all open to diffrent views alot of people have contacted me and said i was a bit hard on my self not putting myself on the list .And dont agree but i put it up to see every one view and its nice for us poor old goalkeepers to be talk about for once instead of those damm strikers.The sad thing is ten to twelve years ago we had up to eight to ten top keepers in the league now some preimier league sides are begging for keepers its worrying times and any coach knows when u build a side you want a top keeper.Anyway glad it bought up some great old names and great keepers and people from the past i had many a beer with eddie puchlin great man our saves got better thought after the sixth beer hope that helps guys.

Anonymous said...

fair enough matthew, although not too sure i would be using the names mckenna and miotto in the same sentence

matthew rhodes said...

dont be to hard on mike lots of preimier league coaches would love to have him in the sticks at the moment .Walter i now you like to stay fairly indpendent but i love to know your top ten list you have seen as all play and your opinion is so highly thought by all in is state .

Walter said...

Hi Matthew

I've seen many keepers over the past 50 years. I'll think about a list.

No-one has mentioned our two Australian representatives - Metro's Harry Wise in the 1950s and Olympia's Harry Alexiadis in the 1960s. I had the pleasure of knowing them both.

Wise passed away, but Alexiadis can still be seen around Hobart. Alexiadis had two careers, one as a brilliant goalkeeper and one as an outstanding centre-forward. Diminutive in stature, he was as agile as a cat and excelled in goal and later in the outfield, scoring many goals. Both were modest and fine gentlemen.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't being hard on him at all matthew. the reality is mckenna plays/played local amateur football, and is/was a servicable keeper.

Miotto played in the English Premier League.

there's a big difference between what is possibly the worst league in the world and the best league in the world.

That's all I was saying.

Walter said...

Good to hear from you Zlatko. For those of you who don't know, Zlatko Belanic came here from South Australia and was one of our best keepers.

Unfortunately, he suffered a head injury similar to Petr Cech of Chelsea and had to wear head protection when he resumed playing.

The injury was suffered against Calies, I think, at KGV Park.

You were with Croatia, Eagles and Rapid, I think, Zlatko, and then returned to South Australia.

It was great catching up with you in Adelaide a few years back.

And, no one has mentioned Nathan Puclin, son of Eddie Puclin. A chip off the old block and a fine keeper.

Rodney Tattam has been mentioned. He was brilliant.

Anonymous said...

I mentioned Alexiadis quite a few posts ago along with Wally Butcher ?? played with White Eagles in the 70's

Walter said...

Indeed you did, Anonymous. By the way, it was Wally Bucher, not Butcher. He was Swiss.

Walter said...

Zlatko, a quick flick through my notebook for 1989 tells me the story. Your injury occurred on 2 July 1989 at KGV Park in the game between Caledonians and Croatia.

Calies led 2-0 at half-time through goals by Peter Sherman and Ian Parker. Brett Pullen made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute and then, in the 60th minute, you were knocked out and an ambulance had to be called. Robbie Huigsloot took over in goal.

It sent a cold shiver through the crowd, I can tell you. Everyone was delighted when you eventually recovered and resumed your career.

All the best, Mate!

eightball said...

what about the keepers less fortunate to play a lot of premier league.
my list includes:
pedro ramirez
justin farrugia
neil biggar
the bear adam coleman
simon land
tony perger
jamie lacy
and who can forget hydraulics

Zlatko (ZAC)Belanic said...

Hey Walter,
You were always a "wealth of information",great to see...I kept personal scrap books of my playing days and beyond so my kid`s could see "dad wasn`t a bum",ha,ha and it brings back great times with so many characters.
I am still coaching GK`S ,now at Polonia Adelaide after four years at SASI with Elite Womens team .
Even pulled on the gloves for Whyalla Croatia `oldies`as a`guest` in last years Croatian Tournament in Adelaide ,and saw Glenorchy play but only some old faces-Michael Furjanic ,Steve Dejac and I.Stefanovic.
If anyone wants to catch up my mobile no. is still the same 0417591260- All welcome..