(Pre-season Friendly, South Hobart Oval, Saturday, 1 February 2020)
South
Hobart 1 (K Hallam 27)
Pascoe
Vale 8 (A Ofli 23, J Byrnes 24, 26, P
De Jonge 60, J Matthews 70, J Youseff 75, J Bartels 82. K McGeachy 85)
HT: 1-3 Att:
250
South
Hobart: Moncur;
Evans, Atfield, Larby, Kemp, Lakoseljac, Walpole, Berezansky, R Morton,
Hallam, Herweynen (Subs: Webert (GK), Bastock, Kurdistan, Juju, Tooze,
Taylor)
Pascoe
Vale:
Tapia; Vakirtziz, Tacarico, De
Jonge, Mustaganic, Rahimi, Eyigun, Bartels, Byrnes, Ofli, Youseff (Subs:
Pierias, Matthews, McGeachy)
Photo: Pascoe Vale (left) and South Hobart line up before yesterday's game [PlessPix]
Last
year at this time and at this venue, the visiting Pascoe Vale scraped home 1-0
against South Hobart.
When
the teams met in Melbourne, Pascoe Vale triumphed 3-1.
On
Saturday at South Hobart Oval, Pascoe Vale, from the Victorian National Premier League 2 competition, thrashed South Hobart 8-1 after
leading 3-1 at half-time.
Both
teams were different to last year. This
was particularly so in regard to South Hobart, who have lost as many as nine
senior players from last season’s line-up.
Pascoe
Vale’s most notable absentee was Davey V’ant Schip, who has moved to Essendon
Royals. He was injured in last year’s
game at South Hobart Oval after just 20 minutes and had to be replaced.
The
visitors were also without Hakeem al-Araibi, the Bahreini footballer at the centre
of an international dispute last year when he was arrested in Thailand and was
faced with the possibility of extradition to Bahrein. His wife was ill so he did not make the trip
to Hobart. South Hobart had organised
public support for him last season when he was being held in a Bangkok gaol and
the possibility of an appearance by him in yesterday’s game was a significant
drawcard, but one which didn’t turn out as planned.
Photo: Pascoe Vale captain Joseph Youseff squeezes past South Hobart's Ewan Larby and Reilly Morton [PlessPix]
Saturday’s
defeat must surely rank as the heaviest for South Hobart with Ken Morton as
coach.
Morton
was not too despondent. He said the
first half had been pleasing, but with the second-half changes disrupting the
side somewhat, his team found the going tough as they conceded five goals.
South
Hobart probably had the better of the opening exchanges and created some good
chances. Kasper Hallam was lively and he
was lucky to escape injury when he was put through, only for goalkeeper Gian
Tapia to come off his line and spread himself to block the ball. Hallam did not pull out and cartwheeled over
the keeper after a strong collision between the pair.
Tapia
also saved brilliantly from a powerful South Hobart shot from 20 metres.
Photo: South Hobart goalkeepers Mark Moncur (left) and new American import Chase Webert [PlessPix]
At
the other end, South Hobart’s veteran keeper Mark Moncur demonstrated he still
ahs the requisite skills of a goalkeeper.
Twice he saved one-on-on situations as Pascoe Vale threatened to score.
The
breakthrough came in the 23rd minute when right-footed left-winger
Atilla Ofli cut inside and chipped Moncur from range to give the visitors the
lead.
That
opened the floodgates and three more goals followed in as many minutes.
Ofli
twice fed right winger Jacob Byrnes down the inside-right channel and he
finished clinically in the 24th and 26th minutes to give
Pascoe Vale a 3-0 lead.
A
minute later and it was South Hobart’s turn as Hallam ran on to Mason Atfield’s
pass to pull a goal back for the home side.
Photo: Chase Webert saw plenty of action in the second half on his debut for South Hobart [PlessPix]
Photo: Webert is beaten by Pascoe Vale's Jesse Matthews [PlessPix]
South
Hobart’s American import goalkeeper Chase Webert, who has been playing in
Finland, replaced Moncur at half-time and he was given a hot reception in
Hobart after the cold winter in Europe.
He
conceded five goals in what was certainly a baptism of fire, but it was
definitely not an indication of his ability.
Pascoe Vale cut through the South Hobart defence with relative ease and
Webert was often left unprotected.
Pim
de Jonge scored Pascoe Vale’s fourth on the hour by heading home a corner from
the right, while 10 minutes later, substitute Jesse Matthews converted a pass
from substitute Ben Pibrias to make it 5-1.
Photo: South Hobart's Tobias Herweynen (left) in pursuit of Pascoe Vale's Jip Bartels [PlessPix]
Joseph
Youseff fired home the sixth from the edge of the box in the 75th
minute to extend the visitors’ lead to 6-1.
With
8 minutes remaining, Jip Bartels chipped home goal number 7, while 5 minutes
from the end, substitute Kyle McGeachy completed the scoring at 8-1.
It
must be with some foreboding that South Hobart now prepare for the return game
in Melbourne in a couple of weeks’ time.
Photo: Pascoe Vale's Atilla Ofli has the South Hobart defence on the run [PlessPix]
Photo: Webert is beaten by Joseph Youseff [PlessPix]
Photo: Kyle McGeachy sends a bullet past Webert [PlessPix]
Photo: South Hobart's Robin Kurdistan (right) tries to catch Pascoe Vale's Aydin Mustaganic [PlessPix]
