Sunday, May 30, 2010

Eagles survive late comeback by Taroona










Photos (Top to Bottom): Michael Anderson wheels away (right) after scoring Eagles' opener; Eagles' Alex Leszczynski wins a header in midfield; Taroona's Hugo Luttmer (left) and eagles' Ethan Menizie in a chase for the ball; Taroona's Jordan Wright (left) tackles Eagles' Alex Leszczynski; Eagles' Blayne Hudson clears the ball before Taroona's Hugo Luttmer can intervene; Eagles' Jacob Clamp gets the ball past Taroona's Hugo Luttmer; Eagles' Jacob Clamp confronted by Taroona's Toby Dove; Eagles' Ben Whitehall (left) about to be challenged by Taroona's Jordan Wright; Taroona's David Abbott (left) and Eagles' Steve Louden in a chase for the ball [PlessPix]


Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (Clare Street, Sunday, 30 May 2010)


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New Town Eagles 4 (M Anderton 12, A McKeown 45, B Whitehall 51, A Leszczynski 69)

Taroona 2 (N Pitchford 77 og, D Carey 79)


HT: 2-0 Att: 90 Ref: P Galloway


New Town Eagles: Pitchford - Clark, Louden, Clamp, Anderson - Strang, Menzie, Hudson, Whitehall (Quan 78) - Leszczynski (Shackcloth 91), McKeown [Substitutes not used: Page, L Ferrall] [Coach: George Krambousanos]


Taroona: Hortle - Wright, Schaap, Johnson, Wyatt - Duncan Carey, Macgregor, Elliott, Luttmer (Atkinson 54) - Abbott (Hamilton 54), Dove [Substitutes not used: M Hedge, Meyers] [Coach: Ben Horgan]


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Taroona were on the back foot from the start on a very muddy pitch at Clare Street. I can’t recall mud sticking on a ball like it did in this game and it seemed as if the teams were using a black ball at times rather than a white one.


Ben Whitehall almost put Eagles ahead in the opening minutes when he ran onto a long ball out of defence by Steve Louden, but a last-ditch tackle by Taroona’s Sam Johnson saved the day for the visitors.


Nevertheless, they were caught out in the 12th minute when they failed to deal with a Whitehall corner and defender Michael Anderson placed a low shot to the right of goalkeeper Robert Hortle and into the far corner of the net to give the home side the lead.


It was all Eagles for most of the half and Adam McKeown made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time when he outjumped the defence after Whitehall’s lob into the penalty area and beat Hortle.


Six minutes after the resumption, Whitehall made it 3-0 with a shot from 20 metres that took a slight deflection.


Taroona coach Ben Horgan brought on Garry Hamilton and Marcus Atkinson in place of Hugo Luttmer and David Abbott shortly after in an effort to get back into contention.


Louden, who had a much better game than he has had in recent weeks, was unlucky to see his effort deflected over the Taroona bar in the 66th minute.


Taroona’s token response came a minute later when Hamilton announced his presence with a tame low shot that was easily fielded by Eagles keeper Nathan Pitchford.


In the 69th minute, Alex Leszczynski appeared to have killed off the game when he hammered home a tremendous curling shot from just outside the box to make it 4-0.


But, there was a sting in the tail of this encounter and two goals in three minutes by Taroona made for a nervous finish for Eagles.


In the 77th minute, Macgregor attacked down the left and his shot from an impossible angle was somehow turned into his own net by Pitchford.


Two minutes later, Duncan Carey took advantage of slack defending by Eagles to net a second for Taroona and it was all hands to the pumps as far as Eagles were concerned.


They brought on Joshua Quan and Adam Shackcloth in an endeavour to steady the ship and held out without conceding any more goals.


The win lifted Eagles into fifth spot, while Taroona remain in second-last place.


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· New Town Eagles coach, George Krambousanos, said:


“Training on Tuesday was fantastic and was followed on Thursday with the lads coming down from the north.


“Four great goals and, well, we gave two away and I think we stopped there for a while.


“But, the lads played to the plan we had and they did very well. Congratulations.


“I hope Taroona keep going and the best to them, too.


“We don’t even think about where we are [on the ladder]. We’re hoping to be able to get into the four if all goes well. That is what we planned to do pre-season and, yes, it looks as if we might be getting there slowly.


“It is a bit of breathing space for us.”


· Taroona coach, Ben Horgan, said:


“They scored some really nice goals and they just looked much more desperate and harder than we were.


“It’s not a great pitch to play football on, but even when we did try to play we got it wrong. They beat us in the physical contests and we didn’t play good football even when we did have possession.


“They were pretty good value for their four goals and it flattered us in the end. We played for about ten minutes at the end and got two goals, but really, the game was all over when we started playing.


“I thought it was a poor effort [from us]. Eighty minutes of garbage followed by ten minutes of good football didn’t make me happy.”

Sunday results







Photos (Top to Bottom): Eagles goalkeeper Nathan Pitchford snatches the ball ahead of Taroona's David Abbott; Eagles' Adam McKeown is injured but played on; Eagles' Blayne Hudson watches the ball as Taroona's Duncan Carey prepares to challenge; Eagles' Ethan Menzie prods the ball in midfield; Taroona's Toby Dove (right) slide-tackles Eagles' Jacob Clamp; A happy Eagles coach George Krambousanos celebrates the three points [PlessPix]


Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League


New Town Eagles 4 (M Anderson 12, A McKeown 45, B Whitehall 51, A Leszczynski 69) b Taroona 2 (N Pitchford og 77, D Carey 79)


Reserves


New Town Eagles 2 (S Kent, D Gebresilasie) b Taroona 1 (S Mohamad)


Under-19s


New Town Eagles 1-2 Taroona


Southern Division One


Hobart United 10 (A Guot 4, L Temby 3, Thon, J David, Adar) b FFT Under-15s 1


Division Four


Woodbridge 1-1 Beachside

Zebras move into second place after win over Clarence












Photos (Top to Bottom): Zebras on the attack on a misty and damp night at Wentworth Park; Zebras' Ben Crosswell gains ground down the left; Clarence defend a corner; Action near the coaches' boxes; Clarence's Cameron Sweeney cuts a lonely figure in the eerie light; Clarence keeper Cameron Sweeney watches the action upfield; Spectators watch from the shelter of the canteen building; New Town Eagles coach George Krambousanos in deep conversation with Glenorchy Knights coach Nick Harrison; Zebras' Frank Perri in discussions with referee Kim Barker after Perri had initiated repairs to the goal net in the background after half-time; The Zebras committee was out in force, including Ron De Felice, Rocky Schiro, Bruce Pears and Robert Corradetti; Zebras goalkeeper Jason Voss had a busy second half [PlessPix]


Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (Wentworth Park, Saturday, 29 May 2010)


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Clarence United 3 (L Cripps 71, 91, J Stevens 85)

Tilford Zebras 5 (B Crosswell 11, D Walsh 30, 34, J Welch 56, J Ladic 87)


HT: 0-3 Att: 70 Ref: K Barker


Clarence United: Sweeney - Lush, Parker, Cannamela, McMahon (Rees 63) - S McIntyre, Stevens, Malcolm, Hunt - Cripps, Hamlett (Kunwar 75) [Substitutes not used: Ling, Sweetten] [Coach: Andrew Brown]


Tilford Zebras: Voss - Fagg, Telega, Muller, K Engels - Self, Cairns, Ladic, Welch (Hall 75) - Crosswell, Walsh [Substitutes not used: Cox, D Lapolla, Kaden] [Coach: Romeo Frediani]


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Tilford Zebras gave an indication of what was in store for the home side as early as the 3rd minute when Ben Crosswell powered a header from Dwayne Walsh’s right-wing cross against the Clarence United crossbar. The ball rebounded to Jayden Welch, who headed over when he should really have scored.


Zebras hit the front in the 11th minute when a marvellous pass from Jonathon Ladic, who had an excellent match, released Crosswell down the inside-left channel and he slotted home past the Clarence keeper, Cameron Sweeney.


Luke Cripps then squandered three chances as the home side rallied, although Zebras keeper Jason Voss was lucky to catch the ball at the second attempt on one of these occasions.


Crosswell almost caught Sweeney out in the 19th minute with a shot that dipped at the last second, but the young keeper managed to beat it out.


It was 2-0 on the half-hour when Sweeney was slow in coming out to Ricky Self’s cross, which was delivered perfectly into that No Man’s Land area of the box between the penalty spot and the D that every keeper dreads, and Walsh nipped in to score.


The Zebras’ third goal came in the 34th minute and was beautifully fashioned and executed. Ladic’s pin-point pass split the Clarence defence and allowed Welch in on the left of the box. He cut the ball inside to Walsh, who controlled, turned and fired beyond Sweeney and into the far corner of the net.


Two minutes into the second period, Voss did well to deny Cripps, while in the 53rd minute, Voss again saved from the Clarence striker and conceded a corner.


But, it was the Zebras who extended their lead in the 56th minute when Ladic’s free-kick was slammed home by Welch.


Grant Malcolm wasted a great chance for Clarence on the hour when he shot over the bar from a good position inside the penalty area.


The home side was finally rewarded for its efforts in the 71st minute when Cripps’s crisp shot took a slight deflection and flew in off the underside of the bar.


Five minutes from the end, Joseph Stevens added Clarence’s second when he beat Voss with a chip from the right, the ball sailing over the keeper and dropping under the bar and into the far corner of the net.


This certainly put Clarence back into contention, but time was against them. Ladic’s superb strike from 20m metres in the 87th minute made it 5-2 for the visitors and Cripps’s neat finish from the left of the box in the first minute of stoppage time was a mere consolation goal.


Clarence were determined to fight until the end, however, and Voss had to produce an outstanding save from Sam McIntyre in the closing seconds.


The win put Zebras into second spot and dumped Glenorchy Knights into third, but they are 11 points adrift of leaders South Hobart, who beat Olympia Warriors 3-1 earlier in the day.


South gave a debut as a substitute to their new Korean centre-back, who travels to Queensland with coach Ken Morton today for a trial with A-League side Gold Coast United.


Clarence dropped a place to sixth as a result of their loss and Kingborough Lions United’s win over Glenorchy Knights on Friday.


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· Tilford Zebras coach, Romeo Frediani, said:


“The first half, I think, was brilliant the way we, you know, went from one side to the other and got balls across from wide positions and finished them off nicely, which was a joy to watch, really.


“The second half, yeah. I think we played well all game. There were a couple of deflections there that went in, one of theirs from the right, but all in all, I was happy with that.”