(Southern Championship 4, KGV Park, Sunday, 15 September 2019)
Taroona 10 (J Whetlor
3, F Collins 2, M Barnett 2, M Atkinson 2, A Edwards)
New Norfolk 1 (P Cairns)
HT: 4-0 Ref: A Ruut
Taroona: Lea; Barnett,
Collons, Edwards, Ellis, Friend, Goldsmith, Leitch, McVeigh, Strugnell
Whetlor (Interchange: Ayres, Barlow, Conway, Atkinson)
New Norfolk: Thompson;
Cairns, Crosswell, Jenkins, Kalbfell, J Maw, Nieuwesteeg, Perera,
Russell, Tassell, White
(Interchange: Hodge, N Maw)
Photo: Two of the best performers in this game were New Norfolk's Paul Cairns (left) and Taroona's Fionn Collins [PlessPix]
New Norfolk proved no match as a
team for Taroona, who led 4-0 at the break and then piled on six more goals in
the second half.
But, individually, New Norfolk had
some excellent performers.
Their captain, Paul Cairns, was
outstanding and it was evident he had played at the top level in Tasmania in
the past.
He scored New Norfolk’s only
goal. Before that, however, his passing
was spot-on and when he chose to go it alone he used the ball and his pace effectively
to slalom past two or three opponents.
Cairns has the much-admired knack
of knocking the ball into space and then, unhindered by having the ball under
control, sprinting past an opponent to gain possession again, and so on to face
another defender.
Photo: Paul Cairns slots the ball past Taroona keeper James Lea to net New Norfolk's consolation goal near the end of the game [PlessPix]
It’s a tactic seen at the highest
levels of the game. Running without the
ball is easier than running with it and that is why the defender is often at an
advantage. But, if the attacker has pace
and knocks the ball into space, he can outrun the defender and get to the ball
again to create havoc.
Taroona opened the scoring in the
opening minutes. Jonathan Whetlor has a
powerful shot and he used it to fire his side ahead. He repeated the feat later in the game to grab
a second.
Fionn Collins was everywhere. He must have been exhausted by the end of the
game. He fully deserved his two
goals. He was fortunate to survive an
accidental clash of knee and thigh with Cairns, but he hobbled on and
eventually recovered.
Photo: Paul Cairns looks to get past Fionn Collins [PlessPix]
Marcus Atkinson also bagged a brace
and there was little sign of any jetlag as he had only recently from Italy.
Alan Kalbfell was intelligent at
the heart of the New Norfolk defence, while goalkeeper Martin Thompson is
better than the statistic of 10 goals conceded might suggest. He was agile and safe with his hands and
distributed the ball well.
Damien Nieuwesteeg is a useful player
and combined well with Cairns, but New Norfolk’s problem was that they are a
team of individuals rather than a team that works together.
Photo: New Norfolk's Andrew Perera tries to ward off Taroona's Marcus Atkinson (left) as referee Alex Ruut watches [PlessPix]
The 4-0 scoreline at the break was nothing
to despair about, but Taroona clicked into a higher gear right from the start
of the second half.
They added four more goals in the
first 10 minutes to make it 8-0, before adding two more in the space of two
minutes with 20 minutes remaining.
The goal feast must have tired them
somewhat as Cairns took advantage and made a great run before firing homer New
Norfolk’s consolation goal 4 minutes from the end.
Photo: Paul Cairns and Fionn Collins clash in midfield [PlessPix]
Many of the players on view are in
the veteran category, but that made one think yet again of how good they must
have been in their prime.
Watching this level of football can
be entertaining and nostalgic. It is far
from a waste of time.
Photo: I rounded off the day with a spot of bird watching and bird photography on the way home from the football [PlessPix]
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