(NPL Tasmania, North Hobart Oval, Sunday, 17 March 2019)
Hobart Zebras 2 (M Sanders 54 pen, A McKeown
89)
Olympia Warriors 2 (J Ryan 32, J Scott 79)
HT: 0-1 Att:
300 Ref: S Plomaritis
Hobart Zebras: Whatman
- Walsh (Robinson 83), Charuza, Fagg,
Dillon -
Muller (Burt 70), Yonezawa, Hey, Edwards
- Pace (McKeown 66), Sanders (Subs not used: Ackerley, Reid)
Olympia Warriors: McDonald
- Kurtz, Hill (Vendermey 90),
Stevens, Ortmann - Curtis (Thompson 63), Ladic, Scott, Allan
(Mearns 63) - Ryan, Nkoso
(Subs not used: Leaman, Randall)
Photo: Jordan Scott is congratulated by team-mates after putting Olympia 2-1 ahead [PlessPix]
Olympia
Warriors led twice in this match, only to be pegged back by Hobart Zebras and
forced to share the points in the end.
The
second Zebras goal, in the 89th minute, was tinged in controversy. Zebras substitute Adam McKeown rose with
Olympia’s Lucas Hill to contest a high ball and Hill went down with a head
injury. The ball dropped for McKeown,
who volleyed it home to make it 2-2.
It
appears that Hill, the Olympia skipper, has a broken nose. He was replaced by Jake Vandermey, but
neither side could grab a winner in the 5 minutes of stoppage time.
Zebras
were without Luke Huigsloot, who was unavailable, and Thomas Little, who was
suspended, but they still had a formidable line-up. Henry Fagg came in at centre-back.
Photo: Olympia's Joffery N'Koso under pressure from Zebras' Jan Charuza [PlessPix]
Olympia
dropped Nick Mearns and Jake Vandermey to the bench and gave starts to Brayton
Allan and Ben Curtis.
Jonathan
Ladic almost gave Olympia the lead in the 18th minute, but his chip
from range was turned onto the crossbar by Zebras keeper Sam Whatman.
The
Warriors took the lead in the 32nd minute when Jack Ryan headed home
Jordan Scott’s corner from close range after poor defending by Zebras and that’s
how it stayed until half-time.
Nine
minutes after the resumption, Ryan appeared to bring down Jordan Muller as
Riley Dillon floated a corner over from the right and Mr Plomaritis awarded a
penalty, which was converted by Mathew Sanders to make it 1-1.
Photo: Olympia goalkeeper Kyle McDonald is beaten by Mathew Sanders's penalty [PlessPix]
The
game appeared destined for a draw, but 11 minutes from the end, Scott hammered
home the loose ball after Whatman parried Jake Thompson’s right-wing cross straight
to his feet.
Zebras
got out of jail with that controversial equaliser a minute before the end of
the regulation 90 minutes.
The
draw saw Olympia climb one place to third, while Zebras remain fifth.
There
was little atmosphere in the vast surrounds of North Hobart Oval, with the
spectators far from the action. The
grass also appeared a little long and the line markings were not as visible as at
previous games at this venue.
Photo: Olympia skipper Lucas Hill with his nose heavily bandaged [PlessPix]
Hobart Zebras coach, David
Smith, said:
“I
think we were just too slow to get the ball forward. We had a lot of possession but we just didn’t
create enough in the front-third. We
were comfortable in the back-third.
“Their
first goal was a good header, but their second was a shocker. We had about 44 attempts to clear it and we
didn’t clear it.
“It
was good to see us come back twice., but we just didn’t create enough chances
to win it. We had enough possession, but
we just didn’t look dangerous going forward.
“We’ve
just got to keep working on things. It’s
just unfortunate that we lack a cutting edge at the moment.”
Photo: Olympia's Nick Mearns and Zebras' Lachie Burt stretch for the ball [PlessPix]
Olympia Warriors assistant
coach, Andrew Tye, said:
“The
game was there to win and we did enough to win it. We were one-nil up and gave away a free and then
a penalty from the set-piece.
“We
went 2-1 up and I think [their equaliser] was a contentious goal. Lucas [Hill] has ended up with what appears to
be a broken nose. Six-foot four and a
head injury. You can’t do anything about
it but it was 2 points lost.
“I
don’t think it’s a set-back in terms of ladder position. When we look at the season, we looks at
blocks of four, and the first four games, it was organised for us to play four
of the top five at the time. Until this
game, we lost a close one away to Devonport.
This one, if we’d won it, think that would have been a good result for that
first block of four.
“We
hit the crossbar with a chip and there were a few other opportunities, but we
know we have to aim for that clean sheet and score more goals.
Photo: Zebras coach David Smith tries to calm down Olympia's Jordan Scott after the game. Scott appeared irate about the controversial equaliser. [PlessPix]
NPL Tasmania (As at 17 March 2019)
TEAM
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Pts
|
Devonport City
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
1
|
9
|
South Hobart
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
5
|
7
|
Olympia Warriors
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
7
|
5
|
7
|
Kingborough
Lions
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
3
|
6
|
Hobart Zebras
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
12
|
3
|
5
|
Glenorchy
Knights
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
6
|
8
|
3
|
Launceston City
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
7
|
0
|
Riverside
Olympic
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
7
|
0
|
Clarence United
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
17
|
0
|
6 comments:
Ladder Predictions after witnessing most teams in action a few times:
Devonport
South Hobart
Olympia
Zebras
Knights
Launceston City
Kingborough
Riverside
Clarence
How on earth were Jordan Scott and Lucas Hill allowed to scream and shout at the referee without even a yellow card? How is this fair when any other player would've been at least booked, if not sent off. The refereeing in Tasmania is so inconsistent and they should be held accountable. They aren't volunteers, they get paid to do it.
The referees give the softest decisions in most cases, yet Lucas Hill gets his nose broken in the build up to the last goal and no foul? No wonder the refs cop it so much.
It would have been good if the referee had been interviewed to give his vision on incident.like they do in some parts of Europe
Lucky hill wasn't sent off for head butting mckeown .
How did Scott and Hill get away with spraying the refs? Probably because the refs saw Hill's nose splattered across his face and realised they made a mistake in not calling a foul and changing the result of the game. That's how.
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