Walter Pless on Football

By Walter Pless

Intrastate Match, KGV Park, Friday, 19 October 2007

Tasmania 2 (Butler og 36, Brazendale 73)

South Australia 1 (Reeves 47)

HT: 1-0 Att: 500 Ref: K Barker

Tasmania(3-5-2): N Pitchford - A Telega, R Smith, H Fagg - T Roach, B Gasparinatos, J Ladic, B Beecroft, J Lo (B Crosswell 73) - A Brazendale (D Brown 80), C McKenna (T Kakadumane 59) [Substitutes not used: F Mainella, A Brownlie] [Coach: E Kelly; Assistant Coach: T McGinn]

South Australia (3-4-1-2): R Greenwood - S Wilson, R Cerrachio (S Butler 33), M Andrews - D Ironside (M Barber 55), R Fuda (T Elliott 64), T Scalzi, D Kljajic (T Vickery 68) - T Reeves - P Jones, M Brooks [Substitute not used: B Gale] [Coach: E Norman]

It is 17 years since a senior men’s Tasmanian side went on to the park in combat.

In 1994, Tasmania lost 5-4 to New South Wales, coached by Rale Rasic, after leading 4-1 with 20 minutes remaining, and 2-0 to Victoria, both games being played at South Hobart. Some of the players from those sides, including Colin Shepherd, were at KGV Park to watch this latest match.

The previous year, Tasmania had lost 3-0 to Japanese J-League club, Nagoya Grampus Eight, complete with England international, Gary Lineker, at North Hobart.

Tasmania last played South Australia in 1963. That game, which featured South Australia’s famous Australian international, John Moriarty, an Aboriginal who hailed from Borroloola in the Northern Territory, was played at South Hobart and ended in a 0-0 draw, a creditable result for the home side, who had lost 5-0 to Western Australia shortly before.

Those were the days when a Tasmanian side participated in an Australasian tournament in New Zealand during the week and some of the players, most notably Ismet Gzurbozovic of Croatia-Glenorchy, arrived home at lunch time on the Saturday and raced to South Hobart to turn out for their club sides that afternoon.

To beat this South Australia amateur side 2-1 was a creditable achievement, therefore, particularly given the short time for preparation and given that some players one would have expected to be in the squad were not chosen for one reason or another.

Tasmania coach Eamonn Kelly was in hospital after undergoing surgery during the week and the team was in the care of assistant coach Tom McGinn and manager Nick Lapolla.

South Australia looked more technically accomplished, but their moves often broke down as they tried to be too elaborate.

Their captain, Tony Reeves, played just behind the front two and looked creative and strong, while their back-three were nippy and seemed to have the measure of the Tasmanian attack.

Tasmania looked fitter and faster than the visitors, but they found it difficult to get their passing going in the windy conditions.

Having said that, South Australia lacked penetration in attack, while Tasmania were at least creating some half-chances and forcing corners.

Bart Beecroft looked a little subdued in a deep defensive midfield role, but Jonathon Ladic showed early on that he would be dangerous at set-pieces, including corners.

Tasmania’s first real chance came in the 12^th minute when Jonathon Lo glanced a header wide after a deep cross from the right towards the far post.

Three minutes later, Ladic thumped a tremendous wind-assisted free-kick against the South Australia crossbar as goalkeeper Robby Greenwood back-pedalled desperately towards the far top corner.

In the 17^th minute, Ladic found a way behind South Australia defence down the right, but his cross was wasted as no-one was up in support.

South Australia fashioned a decent attack a minute later and, when referee Mr Barker chose to ignore his assistant, Mr Jozelic, and his off-side flag, Michael Brooks headed straight at Tasmanian goalkeeper Nathan Pitchford from close range after a cross into the box. If he had scored, Tasmania would have been justly aggrieved.

A cross by Tom Roach in the 19^th minute resulted in a fruitless Tasmanian corner, but things were looking promising for the home side.

Midway through the first half came the best build-up so far by Tasmania. Roach headed the ball clear from the edge of his box and McKenna, in midfield, nodded it back and down for Ladic to put Brazendale away on the right, but he wasted his cross

In the 24^th minute, Brazendale crossed from the right, but the advancing and unmarked Beecroft blazed high over the crossbar

In the 32^nd minute, Brazendale worked his way through the visitors’ defence and sent in a low shot, but the South Australian goalkeeper dived to his left and saved comfortably as the effort lacked power.

Brazendale was proving elusive and, a minute later, he outwitted two defenders with a quick turn in a tight situation, but his shot sailed over the bar.

South Australia lost key defender Rick Cerrachio at this stage after he was injured in a tackle with Roach and Sean Butler came on at the centre of the defence.

In the 35th minute, Brazendale ran onto a poor back-header by a defender, but he missed a marvellous chance with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Tasmania took the lead a minute later after forcing two quick corners in succession, one from either side. Ladic took the second from the left and Drago Kljajic could only nod the ball on and towards the far post, where Sean Butler at full stretch and with his goalkeeper beaten, headed it up and into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

The South Australia defenders tried to claim the ball had not crossed the line, but referee’s assistant Mr Gadd was already sprinting to the half-way line and Mr Barker signalled a goal to give the home side a 1-0 lead at the interval.

The second half was barely a minute old when South Australia equalised.

With Tasmania still waking up after the half-time break, Tony Scalzi crossed low from the right towards the far post and the visitors’ captain, Tony Reeves, drove an easy shot into the net to make it 1-1.

Three minutes later, a great shot by Ladic was tipped over the bar by the South Australia goalkeeper for a corner.

In the 49^th minute, Roberto Fuda won the ball from Andrew Telega and attacked down the left, but with team-mate Michael Brooks unmarked at the far post, the South Australian fired harmlessly across the face of goal. It was a let-off for the home side.

In the 58^th minute, Tasmania created a fine attacking move, but Chris McKenna placed his shot wide of the left-hand post.

In the 66^th minute, Tasmania squandered two good chances in quick succession, with Lo’s shot blocked by the goalkeeper and Billy Gasparinatos shooting over the bar from the rebound.

Seven minutes later, however, Tasmania was again in front as Greenwood failed to hold a cross in the swirling wind and Brazendale gleefully drove the ball into the net to make it 2-1.

In the 79^th minute, Greenwood thwarted Brazendale by narrowly beating the striker to a through-ball as Tasmania piled on the pressure.

The introduction of Thataetsile Kakadumane for McKenna and Ben Crosswell for Lo had revitalised the home side’s attack and Tasmania were looking increasingly dangerous against the tiring visitors.

In the 82^nd minute, Telega floated in a cross from the right and the South Australian goalkeeper fumbled the ball, but he recovered and gained possession at the second attempt.

With five minutes remaining, South Australia had a good chance when Brooks broke through, but he tried to round Pitchford and lost control of the ball and then possession to the goalkeeper.

Tasmania produced a flurry of attacks and shots in the closing minutes.

In the 87^th minute, Kakadumane fired across the face of goal and substitute Martin Barber just cleared the danger ahead of the advancing Crosswell.

A minute later, Roach shot straight at the South Australian goalkeeper, who clutched the ball to his chest gratefully.

In the very next minute, Roach played Kakadumane through, but the goalkeeper saved brilliantly from the striker’s shot.

Roach then twice fired straight at the keeper. The second of these shots was only parried by Greenwood, the ball falling perfectly for Ladic, but he shot wide of the far post.

Deep into injury time, Tasmania had a legitimate claim for a penalty when substitute Daniel Brown appeared to be up-ended by a defender, but Mr Barker waved away the appeals and, shortly after, blew the final whistle.

“Absolutely brilliant,” said Tasmania’s assistant coach, Tom McGinn. “We could have been five or six one there at the finish, so I think for the first time probably in about thirteen years that a Tassie team has been together, it’s sensational to come away with a win.

“I thought the boys, their endeavour, they fought hard, they worked hard for each other, made a lot of chances.

“I think the southern boys and the northern boys, even though they’ve only played against each other a couple of times, they gelled well.

“I’m really pleased.”

South Australia coach, Eric Norman, was disappointed with the result and with the injuries his side sustained ahead of the second match in Launceston the following afternoon.

“I thought Tasmania was slightly the better side but our goalkeeper was the man of the match,” Norman said.

“Our game plan was to put Tasmania under pressure in the second half by getting the ball long and cutting out the pretty football and just trying to get the second ball coming out from your defence.

“It worked. I thought when we were through in a one-on-one with your keeper we should have scored and gone 2-1 up.

“Tasmania was a very difficult side. They played the conditions well, played the ground well. They are quick and a good side, and a bit quicker than our guys, probably semi-pros against our amateur boys.

“But, no excuses. I thought it was a pretty evenly contested game.

“We’ve got a few injuries. I’m a man of my word. The two incidents where two of my players were stretchered off…I think one is seriously injured and no free-kick given.

“No sour grapes, gentlemen, no sour grapes at all. I’ve been in the game all my life, but some of the decisions were a little bit in favour of the home side, but I’m not crying over spilt milk.

“On the night, Tasmania probably deserved to win it.

“It’ll be difficult to regroup for tomorrow’s game. I’ve got one guy with tweaked hamstrings and two players who won’t play, so that reduces the squad to thirteen.

“We’ve a spare goalkeeper who can’t play centre-forward, unfortunately. I may have to put my boots on.

“That was my first defeat as coach of the South Australian amateur side.

“We currently hold the Australian amateur championships back-to-back and this Tasmanian side compares very favourably indeed. It’s a pretty good side you’ve got down here.

“I was pretty impressed with some of your players. I had to man-mark number 5 [Ladic] and number 14 [Brazendale]. I thought they were exceptional players.

“We all have game plans and we have things in our head that we try to do, but, as I say, as a coach on the side, once you put your team on the park, the lads have got to then play it to the best of their ability on the park.

“But your two playmakers were exceptional lads. Number 5 and number 14 are two very clever players.

“But, our goalkeeper was the man of the match. He had to be. He brought off some marvellous saves.”

TASMANIA		SOUTH AUSTRALIA
20	Goal Attempts	6
10	Shots on Target	2
10	Corners	2
12	Fouls Committed	10
3	Off-Sides	3
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0

Tasmania:

 

PLAYER	GOAL ATTEMPTS	SHOTS ON TARGET
Lo	3	1
Ladic	3	2
Roach	6	4
Beecroft	1	0
Fagg	1	0
Brazendale	2	2
Gasparinatos	1	0
Brown	1	0
Kakadumane	1	1
McKenna	1	0

South Australia:

 

PLAYER	GOAL ATTEMPTS	SHOTS ON TARGET
Brooks	2	1
Reeves	1	1
Fuda	1	0
Kljajic	1	0
Barber	1	0

By Walter Pless

The Tasmanian senior state men’s team will be in action for the first time in more than a decade when they take on a South Australian amateur representative side at KGV Park on Friday at 7.30pm and at Launceston’s Mitsubishi Park on Saturday at 2.30pm.

The Tasmanian side was chosen after the two recent north versus south intrastate representative games.

Tom Roach will captain the Tasmanians, who have worked a lot on set-pieces at training this week, as well as on fitness.

The home side is likely to line up in a 3-5-2 formation for Friday’s opening match and the team is likely to be in the care of assistant coach Tom McGinn as coach Eamonn Kelly is reported to be entering hospital for surgery.

Frank Mainella is likely to be in goal, while Nathan Pitchford is likely to get a start between the posts in Saturday’s match.

The back-three is likely to comprise Andrew Telega, Ryan Smith and Henry Fagg, while the midfield combination seems certain to be Roach, Bart Beecroft, Jonathon Ladic, Billy Gasparinatos and Jonathon Lo.

Aaron Brazendale and possibly Chris McKenna will lead the attack.

Northerners Alex Brownlie and Thataetsile Kakadumane are likely to get their chance on Saturday, while no-one seems certain whether Ben Crosswell will make an appearance as he has not attended training.

The South Australians do not represent the top tier of soccer in that State, although they have performed well at national amateur championships and won the Australian title four times since 2001.

Friday’s game will be the first time the team have played together in serious competition, although they have been training for six weeks and have played two practice matches.

The coach is Eric Norman, a former player with Adelaide Juventus. He also once played with Launceston Juventus.

The South Australians are due to arrive in Hobart on Thursday at 5.30pm and may have a light training session on Friday prior to the evening’s game.

Tasmania drew 0-0 with a top-flight South Australian State side at South Hobart in the early 1960s.

Tasmania’s most recent performances were in the early 1990s and included a 3-0 loss to J-League side Nagoya Grampus Eight at North Hobart in 1993, a 5-4 loss to New South Wales, coached by Rale Rasic, at South Hobart, and a 2-0 loss to Victoria at South Hobart.

The South Australian squad is: Brian Gale, Tyson Vickery (St Peter’s O/C), Robby Greenwood, Paul Jones (Ingle Farm), David Ironside (Stirling District), Drago Klajic (USC Lion), Martin Barber (Riverland), Tony Reeves, Roberto Fuda, Sean Butler, Matthew Andrews (Elizabeth Downs), Scott Wilson (Salisbury Inter), Tony Scalzi, Rick Cerrachio (Adelaide Villa), Trevor Elliott (Salisbury Florina), Michael Brooks (Elizabeth Vale); Eric Norman (Coach), Gary Collis (Assistant Coach), John Brown (Trainer), Hugh McGibbon (Manager).

By Walter Pless

Metro-Claremont have appointed Ahmad Abdaltam as their new Premier League coach for the 2008 season.

Abdaltam, who is from Sudan, played professionally in Greece and Egypt.

He has played in Tasmania with Hobart Olympic, Juventus and Glenorchy Knights and has coached the Knights and Juventus.

Metro finished last season as the wooden-spooners and survived a promotion-relegation play-off over two legs against Division One champions Beachside to retain their Premier League status.

Abdaltam replaces Matthew Gasparin, who has been in charge of Metro for the past two seasons.

Abdaltam said he would try and bring several experienced players to the club to form the nucleus of next year’s side.

Meanwhile, Premier League outfit University have appointed Scott Gallacher from NSW as their new senior coach for next season to replace Matthew Shaw, who is moving interstate.

Gary Slicer will be the reserve-team coach, while Les Richardson will coach the under-19s and the Premier Women’s team.

“I have been involved with soccer for the past forty years or more as a player and then as a coach,” said Gallacher, who is from Scotland.

“I first started coaching about twenty years ago and gained my licence as a senior coach ten years ago.

“In the past ten years, the first eight were spent coaching with Hills United Soccer Club, which is a representative club in the NSW State Super League.

“In this capacity I coached all age groups and during this time I took one year out to coach Castle Hill Premier League.

“I moved to Tasmania a year ago and have been involved with the Glenorchy Knights club and coached The Friends’ School first team.”

Wrest Point Hotel-Casino,

Friday, 12 October 2007

By Walter Pless

_____________________________________________________________________

Bart Beecroft - 2007 Vic Tuting medal winner

Bart Beecroft, the 21-year-old South Hobart midfielder, has won the 2007 Vic Tuting Silver Medal as the southern Premier League best-and-fairest player.

Beecroft polled 24 votes, eight more than his South Hobart team-mate, Tom Roach, and Hobart Zebras midfielder, Brett Pullen, who finished equal second, at the count held at Wrest Point Hotel-Casino on Friday evening.

It was Beecroft’s first Vic Tuting Medal success. He would have won two seasons ago after being level with Roach on points, but suspension ruled him out.

Tom Roach - equal second

Beecroft represented southern Tasmania in the intrastate series against the North this year and has also been named in the Tasmanian team to play a South Australian amateur representative side in two games next weekend.

He captained the State under-15s in 2000 and caught the eye of the national youth coach at the time, Les Scheinflug, at the national championships in Sydney.

He scored seven league goals for South Hobart this season and was an influential player in the side that finished second on the Premier League ladder.

Roach has won the medal twice and Pullen three times.

Brett Pullen - equal second

Hobart Olympic striker, Michael Bulis, the Premier League’s leading scorer with 15 goals, finished third with 13 votes and team-mate Fletcher Tracy, a midfielder, came fourth with 12 votes in his final game for the club before moving to the United States.

Saad Mohammad - Premier Reserves best & fairest

Hobart Olympic’s Premier Reserve League player-coach, Saad Mohamad, was the best-and-fairest in that competition with 13 votes, two ahead of Glenorchy Knights’ Sacha Puclin and Hobart Zebras’ Dylan Fennell, who both had eleven.

In the Under-19s, Clarence United’s Matthew Chapman won the top award with 18 votes, one ahead of Taroona’s Felix Kang and three more than New Town Eagles’ Jamie Vernon.

Laura Prescott of University took out the Women’s Premier League best-and-fairest player award with 20 votes, one more than both Shelley Cook of Nelson Eastern Suburbs and South Hobart’s Hanna Manuela.

In Division One, Nelson Eastern Suburbs’ midfielder Bill Hanley earned 19 votes to be the best-and-fairest in that league, six ahead of second-placed Rowen Franklin of South Hobart.

Football Federation Australia CEO, in Hobart

Thursday, 11 October 2007

_______________________________________________________

What brings you to Tasmania?

We’re here to meet with Football Federation Tasmania and give them an outline of our FFA strategic plan for the next four to five years and, in addition to that, to look through some of the specific initiatives that we hope to develop, particularly in the area of game development and community football development and talent identification programs that we want to initiate and work with the Tasmanian Football Federation to implement.

Does the FFT strategic plan mesh with the FFA plan?

Well, generally, the goals are generally similar. Obviously, we have a more broadly national focus where we’re the competition manager of the Hyundai A-League and, we have some slightly different responsibilities. I think in the areas of game development and the broad promotion of the game, they’re pretty consistent. That’s something we’ll talk about.

One could argue that Tasmania is the sort of forgotten State. How does FFA see that? Do we have a role to play?

I spent my teenage years growing up in Tasmania. I certainly know where the State is and have spent a lot of time here. No, I don’t think it’s a case of forgotten State. In fact, I think the game has come a long way here in recent periods and the young team, as I understand it, did very well in the national championships just recently, so we’re hopeful that Tasmania produces a number of A-League players and, hopefully, future Socceroos.

We used to, but that seems to have dropped by the wayside. What can FFA do to help us regain that lost ground?

I think it works at a whole range of levels. The Tasmanian Institute of Sport is up and running and that will help in terms of advancing of our preparation of the more talented end of the player pool. I think some of the reforms that we will outline to the Board today in relation to the way competition formats work in the early age group and how we can maybe move towards a different structure of competition formats for young players will develop better players for the future as well. Improved coach education, improved referee education, retention programs, facilities development. Really, it operates at all levels.

Are we talking about small-sided games for youngsters here?

Yes, that’s certainly an initiative that we’ll talk about at length with the Board, and we have with all the other member federations around the country. We are looking to implement that on a national basis over the next few years.

You’ve been in the job almost a year now. You had big shoes to fill. How is it going?

I think the game has still got really positive momentum coming off the last two or three years. We’re in the first year of a four-year World Cup cycle, so we haven’t had a World Cup year to put the halo over the game, but the A-League continues to grow in its importance in the sporting landscape. Crowds are growing, audiences on television are growing, so that’s very good for the game and, next year, on February 6, we start a very long qualification program which is a first in Australia for football, so everyone is getting geared up for that.

My impression is that the A-League isn’t quite what it was last year. Crowds are down a bit, aren’t they? Some clubs don’t have shirt sponsors as yet.

No, crowds are up about 17 per cent across the board. In particular, Wellington is driving a lot of that growth, as is Newcastle. Crowds are moderately up in both Melbourne and Sydney, so that’s positive. You know, I think there’s always a lot of debate about whether the game is better one year to the next. I think you’ve got to wait to see the whole year and not judge any one particular phase of the year to see whether that’s true. We’ve had some very good-quality players come into the league, you know, Tony Popovic, Craig Moore, Danny Tiatto, players of that quality, Juninho, so the calibre of players is growing all the time.

Is there any chance of Tasmania - this is the old chestnut - having an A-League side in the future if there is an expansion?

Well, we’re undertaking a major review of the expansion opportunities. At present, we hope to have a report completed some time in the early part of next year. Clearly, we will factor in every State and Territory around the country where the game is played, so, you know, if someone in Tasmania came forward with a proposal that was appealing, we’d have to review it. And, certainly, we’ll review every major population centre around the country and, of course, Tasmania is one of those.

If I can now get on to the national team, the young Celtic player, Scott MacDonald, typifies the sort of problem we have. He is scoring goals by the hatful for Celtic, had a huge impact in Europe, but the first time he’s asked to make himself available for Australia, he’s got a hamstring strain, doesn’t show, and three days later he plays for Celtic and stars. How do you see that sort of problem being solved?

Well, we were hopeful Scott would play, but, you know, he had a legitimate medical reason why he couldn’t and our doctors reviewed that at the time and there was nothing to doubt the bona fide of it and I guess he had a very speedy recovery. But, we look forward, you know, I mean it’s great to see someone like Scott doing so well and, you know, hopefully, he’ll be pushing for selection the next game.

Is this the sort of problem countries like Australia will always face, the club versus country issue?

I think we do and I don’t think… there’s no a perfect solution. You know, countries in South America face it, countries in Africa face it, and countries in Asia face it. We all have a club versus country issue. Ours is exacerbated by the fact we’re twenty-four hours away, so I think we’re always going to have some of those issues. But, I think, on the most part, we get the best available players.

Has a final decision been made on the next national-team coach?

I can say we are hopeful of making an announcement shortly.

Our first venture into Asia was very disappointing. Do you think we can improve for the important World Cup qualifiers?

Well, I think there is an improvement to be had. I think we were all disappointed with the results in the Asian Cup, but, to the team’s credit, its last two games were much better than where we started. But, we’ve got some plans in place to continue to improve and, when the new coach is in place, he’ll obviously have his own views and his own plans, and I think we need to allow him to announce those and outline what sort of plan he wants to adopt.

When it comes to World Cup qualifiers, is there an opportunity for a game against one of the so-called lesser countries to be played, say, in a regional centre such as Launceston?

I wouldn’t rule it out. In fact, I think we were very pleasantly surprised by the crowd at the pre-season game this year for the Hyundai A-League. I think Tasmanians love their sport and they love their international sport. I think we saw that a few years ago with the Rugby World Cup, so, certainly, it’s in the mix.

By Walter Pless

The Tasmanian senior men’s soccer squad to take on South Australia later this month has been announced.

Tasmania will play South Australia at KGV Park on Friday, 19 October, and again in Launceston on Saturday, 20 October.

“Having a men’s state team playing matches against interstate opposition has been something we have been working towards for some time,” said Football Federation Tasmania CEO Martin Shaw.

“A good response to the games should ensure that they continue and we’ll be looking for future matches against strong interstate or representative sides with the possibility of larger venues, giving our up-and-coming players a national stage to show their talents.”

The Tasmanian squad will be captained by South Hobart midfielder Tom Roach and includes 12 players from the south, two from the north and two from the north-west.

The squad is: Tom Roach, Bart Beecroft, Daniel Brown, Jonathon Lo (South Hobart), Frank Mainella, Henry Fagg, Ryan Smith, Aaron Brazendale (Hobart Zebras), Nathan Pitchford, Andrew Telega (New Town Eagles), Jonathon Ladic (Glenorchy Knights), Billy Gasparinatos (Taroona), Alex Brownlie (Launceston City), Thataetsile Kakadumane (Northern Rangers), Ben Crosswell (Burnie United), Chris McKenna (Devonport City).

Michael Bulis of Hobart Olympic, the southern Premier League’s leading scorer, is an emergency.

The squad was chosen after the two intrastate games between representative sides from the southern and northern Premier Leagues, which was won 4-1 on aggregate by the south.

The coach is Eamonn Kelly, while Tom McGinn is the assistant coach, Nick Lapolla the manager, Luke Kelly the assistant manager and Leon Van Lierop the physio.

The two-game schedule will be physically demanding for the players as the game at KGV is at 7.30pm on Friday and the second match in Launceston is at 2.30pm the next day.

“It is not often that you get the chance to represent your state at the highest level, so all the players are determined to put in an excellent performance over the two days,” said Kelly.

“Having waited so long for the opportunity, I am confident they will make sure that the fans that come to support them will be treated to a great game of football.”

* * * * *

Tasmania has had mixed fortunes at the national under-15 and under-14 championships being played in NSW.

Results to date: (Under-15s) Tas v Qld Metro 0-4, Tas v WA 1-9, Tas v NSW Metropolitan 0-3, Tas v ACT 0-5, Tas v South Australia 1-0; (Under-14s) Tas v Country NSW 0-1, Tas v Country Victoria 1-0, Tas v NSW Metropolitan 2-3, Tas v WA 0-0, Tas v Victoria Metropolitan 0-4.

Tasmania’s goalscorers have included Sam Jacob and Greg Downes.