Sunday, June 13, 2010
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Zebras move back into second place with win over Eagles
Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (KGV Park, Saturday, 12 June 2010)
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Tilford Zebras 4 (H Fagg 45+4, R Self 53, B Crosswell 78, J Welch 90+2)
New Town Eagles 2 (J Clamp 22, A McKeown 90+2)
HT: 1-1 Att: 50 Ref: K Barker
Tilford Zebras: Voss - Fagg, Telega, Muller, K Engels - Self (Macgregor 70), Ladic, Cairns, Welch - Walsh, Crosswell [Substitutes not used: Hall, Jarvie, Kaden] [Coach: Romeo Frediani]
New Town Eagles: Pitchford - Clark, Kent, Louden, Anderson - Whitehall, Hudson, Quan (Gonzalez 88) - Clamp (Strang 55), McKeown, Leszczynski [Substitutes not used: Fennell, Ferrall] [Coach: George Krambousanos]
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New Town Eagles plan was to play with three strikers and shock Tilford Zebras with their attacking approach. Tall defender Jacob Clamp was one of those strikers.
Clamp it was who scored the opener in the 22nd minute, so the ploy worked for a while at least.
Alex Leszczynski shot just wide of Jason Voss’s right-hand post in the 22nd minute and, seconds later, Eagles won a free-kick just outside the box and dead in front.
Blayne Hudson took the free-kick and Voss could only parry the ball wide, where the lurking Clamp netted from an acute angle to give Eagles the lead.
Three minutes later, Leszczynski again fired just wide, while on the 32nd minute, he placed a free-kick also just wide of the target.
Zebras had missed some early chances and were also denied by some good goalkeeping from Nathan Pitchford, but it took them until stoppage time at the end of the first half to really assert their presence.
In the 47th minute, Paul Cairns fired a tremendous shot against the crossbar and then ball came down and off Pitchford’s shoulder before rolling out for a corner.
In the 4th minute of stoppage time, Zebras were level. Jonathon Ladic lobbed a ball to the right of the box and Henry Fagg nodded it home to send the teams in locked together at 1-1.
Eight minutes after the resumption, Ricky Self put the Zebras in front with a fine volley from 12 metres from the left of the box.
Adam McKeown almost equalised five minutes later when he got on to the end of a cross from Andrew Clark, but his header flew wide.
At the other end, on the hour, Ladic sent over a dangerous left-wing cross that Crosswell controlled, only to shoot wide.
Crosswell did better in the 78th minute when he collected a long clearance out of defence by Ladic and rounded Pitchford to score and give the Zebras a 3-1 lead.
Ladic was unlucky in the 88th minute when he headed a Cairns cross against a post.
Two minutes into stoppage time, McKeown pulled a goal back for Eagles from Clark’s pass, but immediately from the kick-off, Zebras attacked and Ladic’s accurate pass put Jayden Welch clear on the left and he fired across Pitchford and inside the far corner to make it 4-2.
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· Tilford Zebras coach, Romeo Frediani, said:
“I’m definitely happy with the three points. The boys played really well and knocked the ball around in the middle of the park and out wide.
“We put some good goals on the board. I’m very happy with that.”
· New Town Eagles coach, George Krambousanos, said:
“We had a plan and I think the plan worked pretty well. Young Josh [Quan] did a good job on Ben Crosswell.
“We allowed one flank open all the game and I don’t think they exploited it. I don’t know why. They played through the middle a lot of the time.
“We scored two goals and they scored four. Two easy ones. Look, we are below par in players but I think the boys put in a good effort and we’ll go again on Monday.”
South Hobart leave it until the second half to show their wares
Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (South Hobart, Saturday, 12 June 2010)
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South Hobart 5 (J Lo 60, K Kanakaris 66, 69, T Roach 80, G Downes 85)
Clarence United 1 (B Parker 2)
HT: 0-1 Att: 100 Ref: S Collins
South Hobart: Kruijver - Pennicott, D Brown, Ludford, Scott - Beecroft (Downes 83), Roach (King 81), Kwon, Hickey - Brennan (Kanakaris 57), Lo [Substitute not used: M Brown] [Coach: Ken Morton]
Clarence United: Sweeney - Lush, Parker, Toghill, McMahon - McIntyre (Reibl 81), Rees, Stevens (Mayne 77), Hoppitt - Hamlett (Hunt 71), Cripps [Substitute not used: Maxwell] [Coach: Andrew Brown]
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This really was a game of two halves and it took until the second half for South Hobart to hit their straps and take over the match to win comfortably.
Clarence more than held their own in the opening 45 minutes and deserved their 1-0 lead at the interval. The goal came in only the 2nd minute. Sam McIntyre knocked a free-kick from deep on the right towards the far post and Ben Parker rose unchallenged and powered home a header from inside the 6-yard box.
It should have been 2-0 in the 14th minute when David Hoppitt showed Jim Pennicott a clean pair of heels down the left and crossed low into the penalty area. Ben Hamlett met the ball on the edge of the 6-yard box, but instead of scoring, he lifted the ball over the bar.
Clarence were defending well and South Hobart were put off their game. The home side’s passing was erratic and the first touch was often missing. South’s only chances in the opening half were a tame effort by Bart Beecroft in the 19th minute and a half-volley from Shae Hickey on the stroke of half-time which just cleared the bar.
South were a side transformed in the second half and once they equalised on the hour, it was just a matter of time. They managed four more goals to run out 5-1 winners.
Hickey was brilliant on the left and it was a puzzle as to why Clarence allowed him all that space and time. The introduction of Kostas Kanakaris for the youthful Andy Brennan was also a master stroke by coach Ken Morton.
Kanakaris ran the Clarence defence ragged and scored twice, while Hickey made two goals.
The second half was a mere five minutes old when Clarence were given an indication of what was to come. Hickey’s corner from the right resulted in three chances within seconds. Pennicott’s shot was blocked on the line, as was Tom Roach’s follow-up strike. Daniel Brown got a third chance, but blazed wildly over the bar.
Hickey set up the equaliser on the hour when his left-wing cross was nodded down by Hugh Ludford for Jonathon Lo to fire home.
Clarence’s Mattias Toghill saw the danger that Hickey was posing and, in the 64th minute, he tried to cut Hickey in half with a tackle and incurred the wrath of Mr Collins, who brandished the yellow card.
South Hobart didn’t get the message and they took the lead in the 66th minute. A long throw-in by Brown from the left fell to Kanakaris, who hit the target to make it 2-1 for the home side.
Three minutes later, a left-wing cross by Hickey was prodded into Kankaris’s path by Lo and the striker made it 3-1.
Surprisingly, Hamlett was replaced by Chris Hunt shortly after and Clarence lost one of their most potent attacking weapons.
In the 71st minute, Roach flashed a shot narrowly wide as South increased the tempo and searched for more goals.
In the 80th minute, Roach had better luck. Kanakaris released Lo down the right and he set up Roach for the fourth goal. Roach’s reward was to be replaced by Andy King, while Clarence’s Sam Reibl came on for McIntyre.
Toghill moved into midfield for Clarence and was starting to pose a threat with his passes and eye for a chance, which was to become evident later.
Greg Downes replaced Bart Beecroft in the 83rd minute and scored with his first touch two minutes later. He sent a free-kick over the wall and keeper Cameron Sweeney could only turn it onto the post and then watch helplessly as it rolled over the line.
Two minutes from the end, Toghill showed his abilities when he smacked a great long-range shot against Kruijver’s left-hand post. Seconds later, he fed Reibl through the middle, but the substitute’s shot lacked power and Kruijver scooped the ball into his chest as he fell backwards.
The win kept South Hobart’s 13-point lead intact and they have all but retained their league title.
Clarence, who were without Matt Lewis and Luke Huigsloot, dropped out of the top-four as a result of the defeat.
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· South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:
“It was a wonderful performance from us today. Our passing and movement was good, especially in the second half.
“The young lad, Andy Brennan, you know, difficult for him with his lack of experience to play against a defence that sat deep, so when Kostas [Kankaris] went on we had a little more flair and imagination.
“I thought Shae Hickey down the left side and Liam Scott carved them open.”
Knights finally win a match by downing Olympia
Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League (KGV Park, Friday, 11 June 2010)
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Glenorchy Knights 2 (A Koroma 23, C Smith 69)
Olympia Warriors 1 (A Nandan 21)
HT: 1-1 Att: 90 Ref: I Jozeljic
Glenorchy Knights: Peter - Huigsloot, Holmes, Grundy, Marsh - Barabara, Fielding, Smith (Garth 88), Clay - Hope (Nowicki 65), Koroma [Substitutes not used: Grainger, Roberts] [Coach: Nick Harrison]
Olympia Warriors: Nester - Hey, Richardson, Hedge, Mohamad - Phillips, Mason, Tracy (Wakefield 74), Nandan - Grillas, Cronk (Howell 77) [Substitutes not used: Farrugia, Meredith] [Coach: Chris Hey]
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Glenorchy Knights ended their run of seven games without a win by beating Olympia 2-1 and moving back into second place on the ladder.
For Olympia, it was yet another defeat and they remain anchored to the foot of the table.
Knights had a legitimate claim for a penalty early on when Adam Hedge upended Amadu Koroma, but Mr Jozeljic waved play on. Later, the ball appeared to hit Hedge on the arm and there were some appeals for a penalty, but again these were ignored.
Olympia took the lead in the 21st minute when Anthony Grundy’s weak back-pass to his goalkeeper allowed Alex Nandan to nip in and get to the ball. His shot rebounded off goalkeeper Ben Peter, but Nandan tucked the loose ball away.
Knights were level two minutes later when they won a free-kick just outside the left of the box for Hugh Richardson’s foul on Corey Smith. Smith’s free-kick flew over the wall, but Olympia could only clear it out as far as Jade Clay, whose shot was deflected to Koroma and he advanced on goal and slotted the ball inside the far post.
It took a brilliant save by Dmitri Nester in the 26th minute to deny James Hope’s header from Clay’s deep cross from the left, the keeper tipping the ball over the bar for a corner.
Hope had a tame shot in the 37th minute that presented Nester with no problems.
The winner came in the 69th minute when Smith controlled a ball just outside the box on the left and was allowed to turn and volley over Nester and into the roof of the net.
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· Glenorchy Knights coach, Nick Harrison, said:
“The last game we won was against Olympia in the first round. I don’t think we played as well tonight as we did in the second half against Zebras, to be fair, but I think we’ll all take a win.
“That’s the most important thing, to get a win, and, hopefully, we can now move on against Taroona.
“It’s the first win we’ve had in six or seven games and we’ve back in second place so it’s not all doom and gloom and we’ll move on and see what happens.”
· Olympia Warriors coach, Chris Hey, said:
“I think from our perspective it was the best performance of the year. They worked well for one another. They wanted to work well for another and I think that sort of atmosphere out on the park holds the team in good stead.
“It took a good goal to break the deadlock.
“I think, tonight, in goal, Dmitri Nester was superb. I thought he played the sweeping role brilliantly and he pulled off a couple of crucial saves.
“From my perspective, I thought it was a good entertaining game. Yeah, it’s another loss, but we’re getting there. We’ll see what happens Monday. We’ll regroup then for the final round. I’m expecting big things for the final round. We’ve just got to keep our spirits up and I think the way the guys played tonight it showed the spirit is still within the club.”