Walter Pless on Football

By Walter Pless

Premier League, KGV Park, Friday, 15 June 2007

Tilford Zebras 2 (Brazendale 16, Pullen 73)

Taroona 0

HT: 1-0 Att: 120 Ref: D Gadd

Tilford Zebras (3-5-2): F Mainella - H Fagg, R Smith, M Connolly - A Brazendale (J Welch 73), M Falzon, C Cox (D Cox 82), B Pullen, R Self - D Lapolla, R Frediani (D Fennell 78) [Coach: N Lapolla]

Taroona (3-6-1): M McKenna - C Carey, B Horgan (D Palmer 75), S Flonta - S Gates, M Atkinson, F Abetz, B Gasparinatos, J Timmins (J Elliot 75), J Mathers - K De Jong (F Hess 87) [Substitute not used: Shepperd] [Coach: M Rhodes]

Cian Carey - Taroona’s sweeper

Tilford Zebras extended their lead at the top of the Premier League ladder to seven points with this 2-0 win over eighth-placed Taroona.

Both teams observed a minute’s silence before the match for Sergeant Frank Mainella of Tasmania Police, who passed away during the week.

Taroona were extremely defensive minded and often had only one player up. That was Kurt De Yong, who replaced Martyn Wells, who was surfing in Western Australia.

Whenever they lost possession, they tried to get ten players behind the ball.

Zebras had by far the most chances, but they failed to capitalise on their superiority and missed some easy openings.

In the 5^th minute, Michael McKenna produced a classy save from Ricky Self, who powered in a shot from wide on the left.

Ricky Self - force a great save from Mike McKenna

Five minutes later, Ryan Smith pushed forward but missed a simple header.

On the quarter-hour Aaron Brazendale fired over the crossbar as the Zebras dominated play.

A minute later, Brazendale found the target, heading home Brett Pullen’s left-wing cross and giving the Zebras the lead.

Self almost added a second in the 18^th minute, but his shot was wide of the far post.

Taroona finally strung together a fine move in the 19^th minute when Jonathon Mathers attacked down the left. His low cross found De Yong, who passed the ball on to Steven Gates and he forced a corner.

Midway through the first half, an error by Cian Carey allowed Brazendale to gain possession, but he fired straight at McKenna.

Aaron Brazendale scored Zebras first goal of the night

Taroona were on the counter-attack immediately, but Atkinson shot tamely at Frank Mainella.

Smith had a shot blocked in the 25^th minute following a corner, while six minutes later, McKenna did well to save from Mark Falzon.

In the 32^nd minute, Brazendale crossed from the right, but Self fired over the bar.

A minute later, Zebras survived a scare as Michael Connolly had to head the ball out for a corner following a dangerous cross from the left by De Yong.

Zebras had a genuine case for a penalty in the 35^th minute when McKenna flattened Smith as he went for a through-ball, but Mr Gadd waved play on.

In the 39^th minute, Smith was far too casual and gave possession away to De Yong on the left of the box, but the alert Mainella was there to block at De Yong’s feet.

Frank Mainella - as reliable as ever

Thirteen minutes after the resumption, Marcus Atkinson’s cross skimmed the Zebras crossbar.

Brett Pullen went on a great forward run in the 61^st minute and cut the ball back for Daniel Lapolla, but his shot was blocked by team-mate Chris Cox.

Smith was proving just as dangerous as his strikers and he had another chance in the 66^th minute. His back-header from Fagg’s throw-in was scooped out from under the bar by McKenna.

Ben Horgan - man marker at the back for Taroona

Taroona breathed a collective sigh of relief in the 70^th minute when Lapolla’s left-wing cross spelled danger, but Pullen just failed to connect.

Three minutes later it was 2-0 as Romeo Frediani flicked on Brazendale’s deep cross from the left and Pullen placed his shot past the unprotected McKenna.

Brett Pullen - netted Zebras second goal

In the 76^th minute, Falzon’s attempted clearance cannoned off an opponent and the ball fell for Taroona substitute Daniel Palmer, who raced towards goal. Mainella came off his line and, although the ball passed between his legs, he managed to get a touch and deflect it wide for a corner.

Both goalkeepers were then called into action as, first, McKenna saved from substitute Dylan Fennell, and then Mainella denied De Yong by blocking at his feet.

Two minutes from the end, substitute Jayden Welch fired into Taroona’s side-netting after Self had put him through with a clever lob.

Mike McKenna - a couple of very good saves

Falzon curled a marvellous shot just wide in the 91^st minute, while two minutes later, Smith was again in attack and headed Pullen’s free-kick over the bar.

“Overall, I was pleased with the performance,” said Tilford Zebras coach, Nick Lapolla.

“We had a game plan and we stuck to it.

“I don’t think we were pressured at any time.

“It was closer than the first round.

“Taroona, the games I’ve seen them play, they’ve played well and they deserve to be where they are, pinching points, and they’ll do that until the end of the year.

“We could quite easily have got a few more goals.

“We missed a few chances in the second half and also in the first, so it could have been more, but we’ll take two.

“We’re still top of the league. We’ve got Metro next week and then we start getting into the…I mean, every game is going to be hard.”

Daniel Palmer - came on as a substitute

Taroona coach, Matthew Rhodes, was not disheartened by the result.

“I was really happy with that today, really happy,” said Rhodes.

“The result could have gone either way. Very good.

“It was a lot better than the first-round game and we had a few good chances.

“I was happy with the result overall. The boys gave one hundred per cent.

“We had three or four key players out, so it was fantastic.”

TILFORD ZEBRAS		TAROONA
17	Goal Attempts	5
6	Shots on Target	2
9	Corners	4
15	Fouls Committed	6
2	Off-Sides	2
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0

Tilford Zebras:

PLAYER	GOAL ATTEMPTS	SHOTS ON TARGET
Fagg	3	0
Self	3	1
Brazendale	2	1
Smith	4	2
Falzon	3	1
Pullen	1	1
Welch	1	0

Taroona:

PLAYER	GOAL ATTEMPTS	SHOTS ON TARGET
Gates	1	0
Horgan	1	0
Atkinson	1	1
Gasparinatos	1	0
Palmer	1	0