Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Taroona down South East United 4-0, but it should have been more

Photo:  Taroona's Luke Warrener and Llewyn Tubb combine to stop South East United's Dennis Onuigbo. [PlessPix]
 

(Lakoseljac Cup, Round-of-16, Kelvedon Park, Monday, 5 April 2021)

Taroona 4 (J Stuart 31, 58, O Maxwell 84, 89)

South East United 0

HT:  1-0   Att:  100   Ref:  S Plomaritis

Taroona:  Cherry  -  Tubb, Lewis, Warrner, Darragh Carey  -  Herbert (Abbott 48), James (Howcroft 60), H Foley  -  Stuart, Nowicki (Gale 75), Maxwell  (Subs not used:  Johnson)

South East United:  McGuire  -  Bailey, Pullen, Ebini (Voss 29), Kingston  -  Zammit, Monticchio, Damm  -  Moynihan, Onuigbo, Charlton-Fitzgerald (Lokose 35)  (Subs not used:  Calvert, Fullbrook, Pender)

Photo:  Taroona keeper James Cherry watches as team-mate Matt Lewis deals with South East United's Thomas Lokose. [PlessPix]  

Taroona progressed to the quarterfinals of the Lakoseljac Cup with a comfortable 4-0 win at home at Kelvedon Park against South East United.

Taroona and University are the only two second-tier clubs left in the competition.

It was a glorious day for football at one of the most picturesque grounds in Tasmania [noted football historian and academic Ian Syson from Victoria regards it as the most picturesque ground in Australia] and the home side satisfied their fans.  The attendance was excellent for a second-tier game.

Taroona dominated from the start, although South East United centre-forward Dennis Onuigbo caused them a few headaches with his individual skills and ability to take on two or three opponents at speed.

Photo:  Taroona's Luke Warrener deals with faceless opponent Tony Damm. [PlessPix]  

United lost centre-back Jackson Ebini through injury just before the half-hour mark and his replacement, Mitchell Voss, had no time to settle in before making a bad error with his first touch of the ball and gaving possession to Jake Stuart.  The Taroona winger advanced on goal and scored past the advancing keeper to give the home side a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute.

Taroona were almost embarrassed when goalkeeper James Cherry misjudged a back-pass from Matt Lewis, but he recovered in time and saved the day.

Photo:  Taroona's Jake Stuart (right), who scored twice. [PlessPix]  

Taroona scored their second in the 58th minute when a long diagonal ball from the left by fullback Darragh Carey picked out Stuart wide on the right and he cut into the box before beating keeper Simon McGuire.

Oliver Maxwell netted Taroona’s third 6 minutes from the end, and Maxwell completed his brace and the scoring in the final minute when he nodded home Carey’s free-kick from the left.

South East United keeper McGuire produced some fine saves, including one from Stuart’s penalty.

Taroona struck the woodwork on at least four occasions as they pounded the South East United goal, including one clever chip from range by Hugh Foley which came back off the crossbar with the keeper off his line.

Photo:  Taroona's Hugh Foley gets a pass away as South East United skipper Nick Zammit can only watch. [PlessPix]  

Referee Stratos Plomaritis issued several yellow cards to players from both sides as the game proved very physical at times.  The first came after just 30 seconds and was shown to the visitors’ skipper, Nick Zammit.

Photo:  South East United keeper Simon McGuire about to save Sam James's free-kick. [PlessPix]  

Taroona assistant coach, Nick Di Martino, said:

“It was a bit untidy in the first half.  We gave them too much time before putting any pressure on.

“The second half was much better, with better movement by players off the ball.

“We’re still making poor decisions in the forward third at times.

“The time will come when we will make better decisions and our score-line will reflect the performance.

“However, it was a good performance today.”

Photo:  Taroona's Sam James (right) loses possession. [PlessPix]
 

South East United coach, Glen Roland, said:

“It was always going to be a tough game for us. We were missing half a dozen first team regulars, then we lost Jackson Ebini to injury inside the first half hour, so after that the whole back-four was new.

“It wasn’t an ideal situation, but I really don’t want to make excuses.  Taroona were the better team on the day, especially in the second half, and they deserved their victory.

“I thought 4-0 was a little harsh on us, but we had to use two of our subs early and there were a few empty tanks near the end.

Photo:  South East United's Nick Zammit tackles Taroona's Luke Warrener. [PlessPix]  

“I was still very pleased with what I saw.  It was a big ask for the guys who came in, but I thought they all really stepped up today, especially Liam [Pullen] and Jordan [Bailey] at the back, Rommy [Moynihan] on the wing and Tony [Damm] in the middle, while Dennis [Onuigbo] showed some nice touches up front, too.

“If anything, it gives us a few more options to take into the next round of the Southern Championship.  So, we take it on the chin.  Well done Taroona.  Now we focus on Metro next week.”

Photo:  Taroona's Mathew Nowicki on the ball. [PlessPix]

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Never thought i would say this but i think its time to go back to northern and southern leagues. The NPL is becoming a joke of a league. I beleive that the leagues would be more even and players would be more spread with the league all local. You can keep them as NPL and the winners play at the end to determine the state champ. I would rather watch Taroona vs South Hobart than travelling 2 hours to watch them vs City or Riverside who play awful football

Anonymous said...

I said this for many years but the Board and the CEO's new better. FT should of left the structures as they were when the V league started. every club had Youth players in all age groups and most with multiple teams under 18s and reserves. To originally take away a whole reserves competition was just disastrous, too take away 180-200 players from a competition inconceivable. No interchange in the Summer Cup. a dumb arse idea
This is one very good reason why people have no confidence in the governing body's ability to implement anything of note.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, no one is forcing anyone to follow the local football. If you don't like it, switch off before you get an ulcer. Goodbye.

Anonymous said...

12:26Pm your a bit of a Nancy.
Obviously you don't put anytime into local football or give a shit about our competitions and the best ways to implement them.

Anonymous said...

12:26PM
I watch local football before I would watch the A league or the W League. this is due to the way the former women's national coach was treated. I do watch the Australian women who play overseas. They are a joy to watch in the Champions League, EPL and Sam Kerr would probably be the best player in the world at present

Anonymous said...

Maybe we could have separate north, northwest and south leagues. Then we could run a sweep to predict the exact date the game really does die in Tasmania. Please go and find another sport to watch...we don't need you.

Anonymous said...

When we linked to Melbourne Victory, we were The Victory League. Now we are are linked to Western United, The United League? As if north and South would ever be united. lol.