Walter Pless on Football

By Walter Pless

The diminutive Hobart Olympic striker, Michael Bulis, is the Premier League’s top scorer after two rounds with 5 goals from his two games.

Not that you would know it.

Here it is, Wednesday, and Football Federation Tasmania’s website doesn’t even list Bulis on its scoring list. In fact, it only lists three of last weekend’s five Premier League results.

Bulis scored a hat-trick in Olympic’s opening game against New Town Eagles. That results is recorded, but only the name of the Eagles scorer is given. The Olympic scorers are not listed.

The incompleteness of the results section on the website is why Bulis’s name does not appear on the scoring chart, and it’s also why the ladder is incorrect, with four teams shown as having played only one game each instead of two.

Now I know what FFT will say. They will blame the clubs for not having submitted the required information.

But, it behoves FFT to get those results and ensure that the results, ladders and scorers are up to date, even if clubs have not submitted electronic returns. If you are going to have a computer system and a website, then it must be up to date.

By all means fine the clubs for not providing the information, but ensure that details on the website are up to date and accurate, especially if you argue, as FFT does, that that’s where people can find all the information they need.

FFT has argued that they don’t need to advertise games in the press, nor circulate printed rosters because people can look for all information on their website.

Well, if the results, ladders and scorers on the website are anything to go by, people can’t have too much confidence about the accuracy or timeliness of other things on the website.

While on the subject of goalscorers, South Hobart’s fourth goal against Kingborough Lions United last Saturday was a gem.

It involved a series of 12 passes, starting from deep in South’s right-back position, and then moving diagonally to the left and culminating in Jonathon Lo cutting inside the last defender and scoring.

That’s the sort of football people like to see and full marks to South Hobart for producing it.

* * * * *

What can one make of the season so far?

Tilford Zebras sit on top of the ladder and, counting the Summer Cup tournament, which they won, have won all seven of their competitive games to date.

That’s a remarkable turnaround to last season.

Their rookie coach, Nick Lapolla, tells me it’s because this season the players really want to play for the club.

It seems there was a lack of motivation last season and discontent, which has been rectified.

The Zebras can only get better, and they’re the only side that has yet to concede a goal.

With goalkeeper Frank Mainella in outstanding form and with James Symmons still to come back, things are looking good for the Zebras.

Hobart Olympic and South Hobart are locked together in second place with the same points, same goal-difference and same ‘goals for’ and ‘goals against’ statistics.

The introduction of David Cooper to the South Hobart line-up has been positive. Not only does he score goals and take the pressure off Daniel Brown, he is versatile. He finished last weekend’s game against Kingborough playing in the centre of the defence after starting as a striker and scoring two goals.

Olympic have won their two games, but this has, arguably, been against two of the weakest sides. Things are going to get more difficult, but hey, six points are six points and that’s a great start.

Clarence United are fourth on goal-difference and are one of four teams on six points, having won both their games to date.

Coach Andrew Brown has his players believing in themselves and they have men and boys who know how to score. What more could one ask for?

University surprised everyone by winning their opening game, but they came back to earth last Sunday when they lost 2-1 at home to reigning champions Glenorchy Knights.

Colin Shepherd is still a force in midfield, while Alexis Bull covers a huge amount of territory in a game and is always dangerous.

Once Ashley Winter settles down in goal and reaches an understanding with his defenders, they will be difficult to beat.

The Knights made an embarrassing start to the league season when missed chances cost them the game against Clarence. They could have won 8-4 but lost 4-2.

They missed chances galore against University, too, but two quick counter-attacks initiated by Janko Begovic and finished clinically against a hesitant defence by Lincoln Conquest and Tom Huigsloot earned the three points.

New Town Eagles have problems and coach Ian Parker is despondent at a lack of commitment and poor on-field performances.

The return from Melbourne of goalkeeper Nathan Pitchford may be a morale-booster and Eagles can be expected to turn things around soon.

Kingborough Lions United have been disappointing, especially given that they finished second for the past two seasons.

Part of the problem is that young striker Chris Sanita has not yet found his form of last season.

He is not to blame. It’s asking a lot of a 17-year-old to carry an attack on his own based on his reputation.

Kingborough are also missing some easy chances. Once they learn to finish those, they’ll be up there again.

The inclusion of Garry Upston in defence is a huge plus, but his injury against South Hobart was an ominous sign in regard to his fitness.

Taroona are, as expected, second last. It’s hard for a side to move up a league as the game is faster and players are fitter.

They have yet to score a goal. Martyn Wells is certainly fast, but he is often a lone striker and it’s much more difficult to score against Premier League defences.

I suspect that the acquisition of goalkeeper Michael McKenna has prevented Taroona from being even further in deficit when it comes to goal-difference.

Metro-Claremont are last and looking shaky. The club has ambition and, to their credit, are doing good things.

They carried the flag for the south by participating in the northern pre-season Steve Hudson Cup competition, something that more prominent southern clubs, such as Glenorchy Knights and Tilford Zebras, did in the past.

And, they even reached the final.

But, they are finding the going tough and it’s going to be a long, hard season for them.