Monday, March 15, 2010

Taroona begin league campaign with prize scalp







Photos (Top to Bottom): Hugo Luttmer clears an Olympia corner [Quiz: Where is George?); Taroona kick off their 2010 top-flight campaign; Olympia's Fletcher Tracy about to score the opening goal: Tracy wheels away in triumph after putting the visitors in front; Taroona's Marcus Atkinson (left) tackles Olympia's Ben Phillips; Taroona keeper Richard Nettlefold saved brilliantly from a Kosta Grillas free-kick [PlessPix]


Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (Kelvedon Park, Saturday, 13 March 2010)


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Taroona 3 (D Carey 21, H Luttmer 27, T Dove 41)

Olympia Warriors 1 (F Tracy 11)


HT: 3-1 Att: 120 Ref: I Jozeljic


Taroona: Nettlefold - Tubb, Schaap, Johnson, Wyatt - Duncan Carey (Darragh Carey 88), Elliott, Atkinson, Dove - Luttmer (Wright 79), Hamilton (Macgregor 68) [Substitute not used: Hortle] [Coach: Ben Horgan]


Olympia Warriors: Nester - Wiggins, P Tsakiris, Powell (Percy 69), Hey - Lebski (Grillas 46), Phillips, Richardson, Meredith - E Tsakiris (Vafakos 90), Tracy [Substitute not used: Farrugia] [Coach: Chris Hey]


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This was Taroona’s first league game back in the top flight and they showed a remarkable form reversal compared to their Summer Cup performances, where they failed to score in three games.


Their supporters on ‘the Hill’ were in full voice and they satisfied their demands by winning against an Olympia Warriors side that has revamped its image with a new strip, new sponsor and new ethos.


The situation in regard to match officials sent a warning to Football Federation Tasmania in terms of appointments and numbers. But, has anything really been different in recent years?


To appoint a Taroona under-19 player as one of the assistants, even though he is a qualified referee, appeared to an outside observer to be harsh on the young man, both physically and mentally.


He had just played in an under-19 match, and was also on the line in the reserves before taking a flag for the senior match.


He had to put up with some derisory comments from spectators every time he raised his flag, and this was a good way to lose him as an official.


To his credit, I think he survived the experience intact, but it does raise questions about referee numbers and appointment protocols.


Late in the second half, when assistant referee Michael Thain was injured and had to go off, Taroona president John Meehan had to take over.


John Meehan can be relied on to be impartial. There is no question about that, and he did an excellent job. There were no complaints from anyone, but as a neutral observer, I think it shows a serious failing in our game, especially when another referee was in attendance at the venue and in full kit, but then again, perhaps he had left by that stage of the proceedings.


I may be accused of taking things too seriously and of elevating the local game to a status it does not deserve.


Perhaps I do, but I would hate to see the day when Premier League games have club assistant referees, and this game was verging on that.


Olympia looked dangerous from the start, but several of their moves were brought to a halt by the off-side flag.


Nevertheless, in the 11th minute they took the lead when Adam Powell unlocked the Taroona defence with a superb raking pass out to the right to Nick Meredith.


Meredith’s cross was not cleared by the home-side’s defence and Fletcher Tracy fired past Richard Nettlefold to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.


Taroona stuck to their task, however, and were level 10 minutes later when Duncan Carey cut in from the right and fired into the far top corner of the net.


Taroona had unsettled Olympia with this equaliser and panic set in at the back for the visitors.


With their supporters baying for increased effort, Olympia fell behind in the 27th minute when Taroona strikers Hugo Luttmer and Garry Hamilton combined to work their way into the penalty area.


Hamilton went down under a challenge, but the ball fell for Luttmer to stroke home and give Taroona a 2-1 advantage.


Four minutes before the interval, Olympia’s first-half collapse was complete as Toby Dove made the most of sloppy defending to score Taroona’s third goal.


Chris Hey brought on Kosta Grillas for the second half and he had an immediate impact.


Within seconds of the kick-off, Grillas sent in a low shot that flashed past on the wrong side of the far left-hand post.


Two minutes later, Grillas tested Nettlefold with a well-executed free-kick that saw the keeper turn the ball over the crossbar in style.


In the 78th minute, Grillas hit the post with a shot from the left and Jack Elliott was on hand to turn the ball out and to safety and concede a corner.


One was left to ponder what might have happened if Grillas had been on from the start.


Olympia tried to be too fancy and were ineffective. The back-heels and overhead kicks were failing on a ground where space was tight.


Taroona, on the other hand, defended resolutely, refused to be rattled when under pressure, and made the most of Olympia’s uncertainty at the back.


In stark contrast to their Summer Cup campaign, Taroona took their chances, and that was a major difference between the sides in this game.


Olympia had other problems. Adam Hedge, who was due to make his debut for the season, was injured and not even included in the squad.


Matthew Hedge was also unavailable because of injury, while Powell came off in the 69th minute after falling awkwardly and striking his head on the ground.


This is the second head injury he has sustained in a month and his future this season must be increasingly doubtful.


It was a great start to the league season for Taroona, and an extremely disappointing one for Olympia.


But, to make any long-term predictions from this game would be foolish.


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· Taroona coach, Ben Horgan, said:


“It was pretty good.


“A shaky start to both halves, and then, I thought, probably the last half-hour of the first half was probably where we won it.


“We got our game going and found the back of the net, which was nice.


“Yeah, I was pretty happy.


“The second half was a bit of a battle, but we sort of expected that. We knew Olympic would come out hard, but the boys just dug in and it was nice to finally get a win.”


· Olympia coach, Chris Hey, said:


“It was well-deserved from Taroona’s perspective.


“I knew it wouldn’t be easy and that they could beat us here.


“We started off well, but things then got a bit emotional and in terms of tactics we didn’t really use the width to best effect.


“We began well but somehow lost our way.”

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Walter, Any news on the Tsakiris brothers? Rumour has it ......etc etc

Anonymous said...

... gone.

What's Up? said...

The loss of P Tsakiris leaves some big holes in the defence. Other defenders Powell, Lebski and Wiggins i believe are wrong side of 30 also.
Hey has his work cut out, but he knew that from the start.
What's the issue with the brothers? Discipline? Good to see them leading from the front, no one is bigger than the club or team. Sounds like Olympic will be better off without them, although won't surprise if they are back soon.
Grillas will make a big difference but that's only one player and he is injury prone.

Anonymous said...

fletcher tracy playing as striker?

Anonymous said...

adam hedge withdrew on eave of game.

No discipline issues just two men who have put family before football.

Anonymous said...

I think there is more to it than that.

Anonymous said...

There is definitely more to it than that. They are both spoilt brats that have always considered themselves bigger than the club. Walk out everytime there is some form of discipline placed upon the club. Don't care how many individual awards they have won, doesn't make up for their poor attitude. I know there is at least one past president that would be having a laugh about all of this

Anonymous said...

is that u nektar or roussos. sour grapes mate. i think it was you 2 who thought you were bigger than the club. but found out u werent when the players didnt back you up.

olimpia r hobart's portsmouth said...

so then they both went on to greener pastures and the club fell into the toilet?

Unknown said...

if you knew the tsakiris bros, you'd know that they are one on a kind, talented and fair. they have m respect club they never thought they were a head of the club. massive loss to olympia!! never the same without them.

Anonymous said...

don't go too far dippa. The first bits are fine but let's not forget Peter is in his mid 30s - players do move on and the Club will grow with new players etc

Anonymous said...

yeah greener pastures.big move to the knights . from playing seinors to playing ressies. yeah greener pastures

Anonymous said...

who's gone to the knights?

Anonymous said...

I have it on good source that the current Olympia president is not pleased with the Tsakiris' attitude, and never has been. What is being portrayed in the media and what is thought behind the scenes are very different. Obviously, Olympia is trying to keep things positive but the majority were fed up with their poor attitude. Dipper, you may be an up and coming talent, but you have been involved with the club for two minutes. You have no idea what has gone on in the past, so you really shouldn't make outlandish comments.

Anonymous said...

so many years for the club and they lack discipline and have poor attitudes....get over yourselves

good luck guys on your life after football

Anonymous said...

No one can deny that the boys have not been great servants of the club on the field for many years. However, there comes a time when all the bad stuff catches up with you and starts to wear you down. Cannot keep bending the rules or turning a blind eye to poor behaviour to accomodate a couple of players, especially when the club if trying to instill a postive attitude and improved discipline amongst its players. How do you think the coach feels when he has no support from his most senior/experienced player/(s) when he attempts to promote a new culture amongst his players/club? Also, all of you bloggers who consistently write in about the bad behaviour of Olympia supporters, you are mostly referring to family members of the boys in question.

Anonymous said...

I lifted the quote below from the Olympia website. :

"Rumors are circling regarding Peter and Christo Tsakiris.

After a lengthy discussion they informed me that they have played their last game for the club.The details of this will remain private.

The club wishes them and their family well and thanks them for their magnificent service to this club spanning 20 years. However there name will still be on the team sheets through their niece Athena who plays in our woman’s team and of course their nephew Emmanuel who is an up and coming star.

Following in his fathers and uncles footsteps I suspect Emmanuel will have a great career with OFCW. A game day without a Tsakiris playing
in one of the squads will be along time coming. I know Peter and Christo both have children and Emmanuel will be just about retiring when the 3rd generation Tsakiris comes along. WOW it could be 50 years before we see no representation of a Tsakiris
running around in the blue and white!!

I sincerely hope it is not in my lifetime when we see a game day without a Tsakiris Warrior registered and playing for OFCW."

Anonymous said...

so who is lying anon of March 17, 2010 8:55 AM or the club president?

who are the family members?
their wives?

Anonymous said...

it would be interesting to hear the boys side to the story, instead of the negative ones towards them

Anonymous said...

hmmm who was President of Olympia when the Carsons and Bensons were around??

getyacunout said...

olympia in summary:
no more the same club, is now at the hands of nearly a dictatorship, that has no desire to keep its true blue and white players at the club.
age aside, peter and christo deserve to be at the club more than anyone else.
nobody is bigger than the club, yes... but the club isnt about its president or coach. it IS about its players, and 2 that lived and breathed olympia have left. regardless of their reasons, the saddest part is that they were giving a nudge helping them out the door instead of trying to bring the blokes back.
top job olympic, one thing was right however, changin the name.. because it isnt the same club anymore.. but something more appropriate such as Sandy Bay Soccer Club, or Fascist United maybe?

Captain said...

Coaches and Presidents together with the elected Committee are put in place to run a Club/Team.

The Club cannot allow players to dictate terms to the Coach but rather senior players should be leading by example.

No decent Club would/should bow to that sort of pressure.

Clearly the Club has chosen well to bring in a strong Coach who is prepared to act in the interest of the whole playing group.

What would have been better for all concerned is that these two players graciously hung up their boots at the end of 2009 - as neither was really committed to 2010.

Noone with any rational thought process begrudges them recognition for their playing abilities or service over a period of many years.

However, noone with any rational thought process should expect any player to be able to determine the conditions under which he/she is selected to play in our highest league - or any level for that matter.

Hobart Olympia Warriors Football Club is headed in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

Whoever was at left back for olympia last week was terrible. lets hope he isnt in the same role this week. clarences wingers will destroy him. lets hope lee mason is back into the midfield and bring some sort of presence in with him.

Anonymous said...

olympic warriors, what an absoloute farce.President wants to keep Tsakiris saga private. Why is that? Tells me commitee has something to hide. So many commitee members and coaches have come and gone, but the loyal players have always stayed through the highs and lows of this club. My prediction for this 50th year anniversary for the club is it will be the first commitee and first coach to get this once great club relegated

Anonymous said...

stupid dag sorry i mean tag, do you really think that players who have played for a club for so long, wouldnt want to play in the 50th anniversary year. let go of it President.

Anonymous said...

aparrently the tsikiris boys were told to leave because they didnt want to lick bum and they werent related to the coach.

Anonymous said...

If you want someone to blame for poor performances in the short term look at the players that want a free ride - free regos, bludging on training etc

No way to sustain a top club. No way to show leadership to the younger players.

People like you running the Club would end up with 40 year old players running around in 5-10 years, no one paying rego, no training - sounds like a wealthy, lazy Div 2 Club team to me.

Olympia need fit, technically competent, tactically aware players dedicated to training twice or 3 times a week competing to make their senior team.

What I see some people promoting is bring back ageing, unfit, physical, lazy, undisciplined, mouthy, greedy, selfish players -

"the true blue and whites"???

YOU ARE WRONG AND YOU HAVE BECOME IRRELEVANT.

This is the Hobart Olympia Warriors!

Anonymous said...

and there's a big green monster at the bottom of your garden

Anonymous said...

this last post was meant for Anon 5.02PM

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Olympia President has a bit of decorum.

I don't see Peter Tsakiris on this side bagging anyone. Perhaps he wants his reasons for leaving to remain private also.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, i think the bagging has gone on long enough, i think its time olympia get over it, having played with and against the boys im sure they would have.

obviously these stories are coming from within olympia, it would be nice to hear a second side of the story but knowing the boys as i do they would not want to have a bad word said about the club they gave so much too. the reasons given that the boys wanted a free ride are a load of s!@t and i reckon all their team mates would agree. i read a post a while back when the boys were getting attacked and chris tsakiris said that his family would always come before football...is there anything wrong with that??

just give it a rest, if the boys leaving didnt bother you so much, why are you all still going on about it

Anonymous said...

nothing wrong with that at all - as long as the President and Coach don't get blamed for it.

Anonymous said...

nothing wrong with that , as long as coach and president dont get the blame for it. so what r you saying it was the boys fault? Funny that it seems the president spends a lot of time on this blog. R u shore hes not lying about the truth considering on his spill that the matter was meant to be kept private. Also his spill on the boys kids playing for the club, i doubt that after having a chat with the boys. they are not very impressed with all the shite that has been said about them. John