Metro will have former Hobart United goalkeeper Nathan Grandin in goal for Saturday’s Division One Summer Cup match against the Tasmanian Institute of Sport at Wellesley Park at 2.30pm.
He replaces Mikael Porter.
Nathan Daniels also comes in to the side in place of Darrin Chaffey, who has a calf injury.
The TIS started this tournament in impressive fashion last weekend with a 10-0 thrashing of Huon Valley, so Metro will have to be on their toes.
The 11.30am match at Wellesley Park on Saturday is between Nelson Eastern Suburbs and Huon Valley and the former should win at a canter.
Nelson will miss Craig Stockdale, who has work commitments, but Bill Hanley should return at last after a back injury kept him out last weekend.
Youngster Joel Dredge is doubtful because of a leg injury but may be on the bench.
“It was generally a poor performance by us last week,” said Nelson coach, Michael Roach. “Some of the defending, in particular, was awful.
“Everyone will be the better for the match, though, and some of the young defenders will have learned a lot from it.
“I’d rather have that performance in the Summer Cup than in a few weeks’ time in the league.
“We now have two matches left to play and we need to play good football, tighten up defensively and move the ball quicker going in to the front third.
“Winning our remaining games might get us the bonus of another match in the Cup, the semi-final, which is what this is all about, namely getting competitive matches under our belt to prepare for the regular season.”
On Sunday, Beachside play University at North Chigwell at 2.30pm and Hobart United meet Northern Suburbs DOSA at 11.30am.
Beachside will have Damien Lowe, Pat Dunne and Sam Howarth in the side, but Tony Ortuso is unavailable.
“We’re looking forward to playing against Uni, who had a terrific result last week,” said Beachside coach, Nathan Robinson.
“Their coach, Kevan Wright, is very experienced and will have the side set up well for this competition.”
In the northern Steve Hudson Cup competition in Launceston, Taroona play northern league champions Northern Rangers at 2.30pm, while South Hobart are up against Launceston City at 12.30pm in two north-south clashes that are a litmus test of the comparative strengths of the two leagues.
“A draw, or better, will see us through to the semi-finals the following week, but Rangers beat us twice in last year’s competition so it won’t be easy,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.
“We looked a bit flat last weekend against Ulverstone and a few guys looked a bit tired after two games in two days, so we’ll have a stronger bench and try and rotate players a bit more.
“It is all good preparation for the league, though, and the players will be fit and ready to go for our first game on the 13th March.”
South Hobart will probably use youngster Andy Brennan and possible a new young Korean left-winger against a Launceston City outfit that may introduce their two new English imports.
City may be on the verge of becoming a force again in northern football under new coach Kurt Reynolds, the former Australian youth international, and this match should be an exciting affair.
In other matches on Sunday, Riverside Olympic take on Prospect Knights at 10.30am and Launceston United host Ulverstone at 2.30pm.
In the North-West Summer Cup at Cardigan Street, Ulverstone play Burnie United and Somerset host Devonport City in what should be intriguing encounters.
30 comments:
is there any chance of having more (or even some)coverage of the premier womens competition? It is a much better standard than div 1 mens and is the top level of the sport for women. Women's soccer is the largest growth sport in the world or there abouts so why is it that there is no coverage? an example is taroona where the prem womens team only lost 2-0 to the mens prem side
"womens rights", I don't like the tone of your comment. Why don't some women give Walter information about the women's games and he might use it. How dare you ask 'why is it that there is no coverage?' He probably never gets any information. Start your own women's blog if you don't like it, or get some information to him so that he can use it.
I'm sure Brett Pullen and Colin Shepard who both play div 1 would have some real trouble against premier women.
Promote the league, but don't bag out others. Walter does a great job giving info both leagues.
there are some obvious exceptions but lets be honest, the league is average and this shows out with taroona's form so far this year! the womens league is better on the eye...
"an example is taroona where the prem womens team only lost 2-0 to the mens prem side"
lol. when the hell did that happen?
"an example is taroona where the prem womens team only lost 2-0 to the mens prem side" pretty sure you just made that up!
this is actually some pretty funny Shaart!!!
Top level of the sport for women in Tas , maybe.PPPLLLEEEAAASSSEEE do not compare to the men's game.
I think we can all agree that Walter does an exceptional job, and football in Tassie still gets shafted in the media. Walter has something pretty good here, but I bet that the majority of people don't even know about this blog. we need to be spreading the word that there is more to football than what's on the park, so let's help the game by promoting what Walter is doing, instead of leaving Mickey mouse comments that are just embarrassing. Who's going to look at the majority of comments and think that anybody of a reasonable intelligence reads this blog? Come on people, pull ur socks up.
what a load of bollocks. womens rights...pfft.
if you honestly think that it's a better standard than Div 1 I think you need either your eyes checked or you're just deluded!
Women's football is at such a poor standard in Tasmania at the moment, there's only enough good players to fill, at the most, 2 or 3 teams, plus the TIS. the rest of the players are just making up the numbers.
'the largest growth sport in the world or thereabouts' - again, crap.
where do you pull that from?
and the 2-0 result you quote is probably a sad reflection on where Taroona stand - rather than men's vs. women's football on the whole.
I'm willing to bet that most premier teams would wallop any women's team to the tune of 10+ to nil.
as for the women's league being better on the eye, I definitely wouldn't say that either! in some cases, yes, but mostly there's not much to look at :-P
Walter, keep it up. I'm personally a huge fan of your blog the way it is.
If these people want to start their own blog and see how popular it is, go for it :-) but I doubt it'll get very far!
Regards
Bearnapper
Not wanting to buy into the pointless womens v mens argument and at the risk of dignifying womnens rights misinformed comments - the score in the Taroona womens v mens game was a very long way from 2-0 and the mens team was a long way from being the premier squad.
How about we all agree that the womens comp is growing like gangbusters and the standard improving all the time. By all means help Walter by reporting scores etc but try and get your facts right first!
"the womens league is better on the eye...". That alone makes me think womens rights is unlikely to be genuinely interested in the womens game - no self respecting women's player would make such a comment. Throw in the gratuitous and untrue digs at Taroona and I suspect someone is just trying to wind everyone up.
What about juniors Walter. What about a couple of pages and a dozen photos on each junior practice match. Juniors have rights too.
Wonder what Uni U14 vs Taroona Premier Women would deliver?
Womens prem is better then div 1 mens? are you on crack womens rights? My 13 year old kid can play better then you lot, no offence, but seriously, poor statement.
There is no need to attack the women's game just because someone is asking for some coverage. There are more female players from Tas that have made the National Team and are currently playing locally, than male. And remember the Tas Vs Heildelberg games a few years ago. Women won decisively, Men in comparison were lucky not to lose by more.
In saying all of that I think Walter does a great job. But it would be nice to see some reporting on the women's game.
If one examines the coverage of women's sport in general in the media, female swimmers, hockey players, basketballers and touch footballers, gain much greater coverage. This is pertinent when one elucidates the women's football milieu in Tasmania, compared to the coverage afforded to men.
There was a sports round up on ABC radio last year. Hockey gave a women's and men's report. Football on the ABC only covered the men's game.
There would be a consensus on on this blog that football per se gets too little coverage in the media in Australia, and Tasmania in particular. Notwithstanding, women's football, given the global popularity of the sport, gets a lot less coverage in Australia compared to men.
It is interesting comparing men's and women's football in Tasmania. I've watched a number of matches of both genders in southern Tasmania. The men are more athletic, faster over the turf, more explosive and cover a lot more ground in matches.
Conversely, most men's premier league teams struggle to maintain possession for more than three passes. The teams' strengths are closing down the opposition when the other team has possession of the ball and knocking the proverbial crap out of them.
Other than Brett Pullen, when he was playing in the men's premier league, I've seen few other players with vision and game sense commensurate with the quality one would expect to find in a state's premier league. Or if they've had it, they've been unable to execute it. Young players need players of Pullen's calibre to learn from.
The lack of ability to create triangles and diamonds for easier passing lanes is of great concern when teams are in possession of the ball. Players often have to play a very good pass for the ball to find a target, because the off the ball movement is so bad.
Very few Tasmanian male players have progressed even to the VPL in the last few years. When Tasmania played Heidelberg a few years ago, they lost 3-4 but were totally outclassed.
Every time Heidelberg had the ball there were passing options everywhere. As soon as Tasmania had the ball there was nobody to pass to. Heidelberg were so much more effective in the offensive and defensive transitions than Tasmania.
They were also decidedly superior at creating effective passing lanes when they had the ball, and closing Tasmania's down when they didn't have the ball. Heidelberg were only without the ball for very short periods, because Tasmania were so inept at keeping it.
The positioning of Tasmania was very poor. Who is coaching these guys to play in the proverbial triangles and diamonds the permutations of the Dutch 4-3-3 encourages? If Heidelberg hadn't been so profligate around goal, they would have won 20 goals to 3!
There was also a chasm in the technical qualities of the players in the two teams. Heidelberg were vastly superior in first touches, passing accuracy and dribbling skills. Maybe Heidelberg's achilles heel was its shooting?
An antithetical scenario prevailed in the women's game. Heidelberg lost 3- 4 to an under strength Tasmanian women's team. Tasmania deserved to win. They were the better side. The technical qualities were similar.
When one examines the qualities of the better women's premier league teams, passing sequences of 8 to 12 are frequent. The teamwork is decidedly superior to the better teams in the men's premier league.
There is much more evidence of a continental possession game, than the ubiquitous kick and rush in the men's premier league. The speed of thought of female players is probably quicker, even if slower over the turf than the men in their premier league.
The men's game in Tasmania is a manifestation of a lot of testosterone, excessive body on body physicality and a large number of decibels in vocal chords! There is also a lot of wasted energy.
In fact if we are honest, with the evolution of Soccer Australia to Football Federation Australia, little , if anything has changed in the supposedly elite level of the men's game in Tasmania.
When we compared the Tasmanian men's and women's teams to Heidelberg, they were both about second or third on the ladder in their respective leagues in the VPL. The matches were a useful, objective criterion in which to evaluate the salient strengths and weaknesses of the best Tasmanian players of both genders against men''s and women's of equal standing in the VPL.
The women were better by the proverbial kilometre.
Whilst all football supporters in Tasmania want the standard of both genders to improve in Tasmania, it is interesting to note a past local elite coach's comments about the men's premier league.
The quality actually depressed him. He was much more complimentary about the women's premier league, even though he wanted it to improve too.
just wondering does anyone no todays scores?
metro 4-tis 1
For the moron to hide behind 'anonymous' and have a crack at my coaching abilities/qualifications/experience .....I would be happy to compare notes !
Lets be realists .....to compare men v women .....for many reasons is ridiculous !!
Having said that the womens cometition will be much more even this year with the inclusion of several former TIS players .......and credit to them for going seperate ways and not to 1 club to make an 'untouchable' team.
Obviously there is some jealousy amongst the ranks ....South Hobart didn't look after the girls so they walked ..... Taroona were happy to provide an opportuunity for the girls to find a new home.
The support of Taroona FC has been FIRST CLASS !!
I'm not going to make any bold statements.
The club has been great, the support has been excellent, we have attracted some new faces .....and we are playing good football at the moment.
I'm sure we can keep improving.
the future of the club looks very bright !
womans football lrts all get apaintbruhs and some paint .paint something and watch it dry .boring maybe start wearing something sexy u might get the recognition that you so crave .
wachting womens football, can someone wake me up in 90minutes please, ahhhhh need some sleep.
No one cares about womens football.
Anon Feb 27 2.38pm.If you have seen only B Pullen ,showing vision and game sense, you havent seen many games at all. Nothing against Brett personally.What a stupid comment. You obviously havent been around the sport very long.
Anon Feb 27 2.38pm.If you have seen only B Pullen ,showing vision and game sense, you havent seen many games at all. Nothing against Brett personally.What a stupid comment. You obviously havent been around the sport very long.
Observer, I've watched many local games over a sustained period. I watched the first games in the 1960s.
What is depressing for many of the eternal supporters of men's football in Tasmania is that they can remember a halcyon period in the eighties when there was a higher standard than the present. This was without all the FFT elite coaching of juniors/youth which occurs presently.
There are players like Crosswell who have electrifying pace and ball skills, and Fish who is capable of some decent passes. Overall though, the standard of men's football here is a concern in terms of national standards.
In cricket we have produced many players who've played at a national level, Boon, Ponting, Faulkner, Woolley, Campbell, Denton, Geeves, Hilfenhaus, Paine in the last 20 years or so.
In hockey we had Wells, Guest and Ockenden playing for the Kookaburra in the Olympics. Sproule and Daly have also represented Australia in recent times. In these sports, per capita head of population we are punching well above our weight.
Which Tasmanians have represented the senior Socceroos in the same time frame? Dominic Longo.
David Clarkson would've been close when he was playing for Brighton in England, but generally we are underperforming. This is probably because we have no elite level for young players to aspire to. Young players may get a taste of rep football at youth national championships, but the local premier league is a competition which encourages mediocrity. Many young footballers lose interest at an early age.
There is still not a state league here, yet alone an A League team, for young players to aspire to. There are many, if not all leagues, available for social football. It must be frustrating for some of the more dedicated and talented local footballers with greater aspirations and ambition. It is also frustrating for Tasmanian football spectators who want to watch a higher quality of local football.
In hockey and cricket, spectators can watch local players perform at much higher standards than football.
Observer, I look forward to you providing an exhaustive list of local players providing game sense and vision. Then you can proffer why they haven't been recruited for the VPL or NSWPL.
Anom, 1.18. You make a valid point, but when it comes to recruiting from the VPL or players coming back home to play, all they get is BAGGED.. why this is who know's. Is it because they think they are better than anyone else, I dont hink so...
Players like, Ladic, Sanders, Jones, Sanita, Sherman, White and to name a couple more, sorry cannot remember, can you imagine what these team would look like on a field in Tassie. Would make good veiwing in my view, and be worth watching. If we could get these players back, and introduce youngster's, how better the standard could be. I watched a couple of games latley, and yes the standard has dropped a great deal.
Previous anonymous, it would be great if we had a current state league, with about 8 teams. Instead of going to Victoria, Matthew Sanders et al, could be playing in a better competition here.
We have problems when FFT proposed a state league in principle, but the club presidents voted against it. Was this because it didn't suit their particular clubs' agenda? Anyone football stakeholder outside Tasmania would be amazed that we have no state league.
Some cite problems in the eighties as rationale for continued failure for any mooted current state league. The difference is almost 30 years! There is now an antithetical football scenario occurring in Australia, to when the previous state league existed.
We also need some state league clubs committed to developing junior players like Woden Valley in the ACT. They have 2000 players. Clarence is the closest local club to this successful paradigm when they were running academy programmes a few years ago. If young players miss out on FFT programmes, they need more explicit coaching at club level.
Also, it could be a useful exercise to import some KNVB coaching staff from Holland for a few months at a time, given we seem to be unable to recruit one as our Director of Coaching ( from lack of initiative).
Coaches and players could get intensive training on world's best practice as proposed to the limited offerings we get from FFA at the moment.
Another option would be to send select coaches from here to Holland to learn from the KNVB, by doing the KNVB English language football course. They also need to visit Dutch professional and top amateur clubs to learn new methodology. When I've spoken to previous FFT CEOs, this is all too hard, but it wasn't for Dennis Rogers, Tassie cricket's driving force in the eighties, and the local hockey administrators.
It is no use waiting for methodology and curricula to be handed down slowly in this state by coaches, like Kelly Cross, only just becoming familiar with the Dutch system, when you could have KNVB coaches like Ad Derkson or Arie Schans delivering it.
The administration in Tasmania needs to become more proactive in ameliorating the standard of local football, not counting beans. Head offices from FFA consider us a backwater, probably unable to get our own house in order.
A different image needs to be conveyed.
Conversely, look at the resounding success of hockey and cricket with their excellent administrations and centres in Tasmania. Change came from within, not externally. The resounding success of hockey and cricket need to be emulated by our football officials.
My sources tell me that FFT have been reluctant to contact and discuss issues with the cricket and hockey administrators. What are they being paid for? Do we need highly paid administrators to run a social league?
Anon, 1.42
stop pissin into a fan on a blog site. I am not interested in the position, but the CEO job at FFT I think is vacant, you should apply since you have all the answers (oh or ties to KNVB Holland)
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