Walter Pless on Football

Metro v Glenorchy Knights Match Report [Premier League, North Chigwell, Sunday, 27 April 2008]

By Walter Pless
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Metro 0
Glenorchy Knights 3 (Huigsloot 2, 58 pen, Igor 88)

HT: 0-1 Att: 100 Ref: K Barker

Metro (1-2-5-2): McKenna - Chaffey — Rahni, Curran - Lawler (McQueen 70), Hope (Robb 70), S Kent, Dawes, Marney - Farley, Guma [Substitutes not used: Land, Herring] [Coach: A Abdaltam]

Glenorchy Knights (4-4-2): Peter - Minnucci, Grundy, Dzelalija, Millington (Cairns 72) - Clay, Begovic, Fielding, Igor - Huigsloot, Gordon [Substitutes not used: Pringle, Frank, Burn] [Player-Coaches: Begovic, Fielding]
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Glenorchy Knights were without striker Nick Harrison, who has a hamstring injury, while Metro missed key midfielder, the experienced Terry Kent.

Knights took the lead after a mere two minutes when Jade Clay’s throw-in from the left was nodded inside the near post by Tom Huigsloot.

They had several more half-chances but were unable to break down the stubborn Metro defence.

Metro’s Aaron Marney (left) tries to prevent Jade Clay crossing

Michael McKenna did well to tip Igor’s fierce drive over the bar in the 8th minute.

Metro had a glorious chance in the 35th minute when Edward Guma gained possession after a mix-up between Tony Dzelalija and goalkeeper Ben Peter, but he drove his shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

Knights added their second from the penalty spot through Huigsloot in the 58th minute after Mohand Rahni handled the ball.

In the 65th minute, Janko Begovic headed tamely wide after Igor outfoxed Adrian Lawler twice on the left before crossing towards the far post.

Phil Curran beats Jacob Gordon to the ball

Guma had another excellent chance for Metro midway through the second half, but he delayed his shot long enough for Lindsay Millington to get in a decisive tackle.

With two minutes remaining, Begovic bamboozled the Metro defence before releasing Igor for an easy third goal.

Metro keeper Michael McKenna foils the Knights’ Igor
The win kept the Knights in fifth place and Metro in seventh.
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• Metro goalkeeper, Michael McKenna, said:

“I thought that 1-0 at half-time was a decent effort.

“With the breeze, we had a chance of running over them, but in fairness to Glenorchy, they played smarter, harder, and they wanted it more.

“They took their chances.”

• Glenorchy Knights joint-coach, Janko Begovic, said:

“It was hard yakka.

“We were a little bit rusty, I think. Maybe having the week off last week sort of broke our momentum a little bit.

“But, we were happier with the second half than the first half.

“We still have to play a little bit more as a team, I think.”
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STATISTICS

METRO KNIGHTS

7 Goal Attempts 26

2 Shots on Target 12

1 Corners 11

11 Fouls Committed 13

0 Off-Sides 1

2 (Dawes 84, Curran 91) Yellow Cards 0

0 Red Cards 0

Metro:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Marney 1 0
Guma 3 1
S Kent 2 1
Dawes 1 0

Glenorchy Knights:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Huigsloot 3 2
Fielding 7 4
Igor 8 5
Minnucci 1 0
Dzelalija 1 0
Begovic 3 0
Clay 2 1
Cairns 1 0

Tom Huigsloot (right) holds off the challenge of Mohand Rahni

Match Summary for Sunday, 27 April 2008

By Walter Pless

University maintained third place on the Premier League ladder, three points adrift of leaders South Hobart and Hobart Olympic, when a last-minute goal by Julian Proud gave them a 3-2 away win over bottom-side Taroona at Kelvedon Park on Sunday.

Two goals by Tom Sherman gave Taroona a 2-1 lead at the interval, with Proud responding for University in the first half.

Aaron Hindmarsh’s second-half strike for the visitors made it 2-2 before Proud popped up to net the late winner.

Fifth-placed Glenorchy Knights laboured to a 3-0 away win over seventh-ranked Metro at North Chigwell, also on Sunday.

The visitors led 1-0 at the break through an excellent goal by Tom Huigsloot, who headed Jade Clay’s long throw-in from the left just inside goalkeeper Michael McKenna’s near post after only two minutes.

Huigsloot made it 2-0 in the 58th minute from a penalty, awarded for a handball by Metro defender Mohand Rahni.

Igor added the third two minutes from the end after being put through by Janko Begovic.

Edward Guma had two glorious chances for Metro, one in each half, but he fired wide the first time and delayed his shot on the second occasion, enabling Knights defender Lindsay Millington to get in a successful tackle.

In Division One, fourth-placed Kingston Cannons held leader Beachside to a 0-0 draw at home at Sherburd, while third-placed Hobart United won 3-1 away against second-ranked New Town Eagles at Clare Street.

In the Premier Reserve League, a hat-trick by Luke Temby and a goal by Alastair Norris gave University a 4-2 win away to Taroona, who replied through Hugo Luttmer and Alex Edwards.

Goals by Peter Frank, Carlos Fuentes, Sacha Puclin and Elliott Weitnauer gave Knights a 4-0 win over Metro.

Hobart Olympic versus Kingborough Lions United Match Report [Premier League, Athletic Centre, Saturday, 26 April 2008]

By Walter Pless

Hobart Olympic 4 (Bulis 12, 74, 85, Backhaus 48)
Kingborough Lions United 1 (Freeman 64)

HT:  1-0   Att:  100   Ref:  D Gadd

Hobart Olympic (1-3-4-2):  Nester  -  C Tsakris  -  Vavoulas, Lebski, Kaproulias  -  Djekanovic, Richardson (Dipendra 78), Mohamad (E Tsakiris 91), Meredith  -  Backhaus, Bulis [Substitute not used:  Plomaritis]  [Coach:  F Shaw]

Kingborough Lions United (4-4-2):  Coleman  -  R Hinkley, Iseli, White, Marchioli  -  Bevan, A Hinkley (Shimizu 65), Kerr, Palmer  -  Bremner (Schuth 78), Greg Freeman [Substitutes not used:  Brown, Voss]  [Coach:  Geoff Freeman]
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Kingborough Lions United had many more chances than Hobart Olympic, but it was the home side that took their chances to devastating effect.

Michael Bulis was lethal for the home side.  He scored a hat-trick to destroy the visitors.

Bulis, the league’s leading marksman last season, was one of the smallest players on the field but he proved far too elusive for the powerful Kingborough defence.

Neither side was at full strength.  Olympic were missing defender Peter Tsakiris, midfielder Lee Mason and striker Kosta Grillas, while Kingborough were without defender Garry Upton.

He volleyed Olympic ahead in the 12th minute when Charles White’s clearing header from a corner landed straight at the striker’s feet.

Ben Backhaus made it 2-0 three minutes after the resumption with an excellent goal following Daniejel Djekanovic’s cross from the left.

Kingborough were almost back in contention minutes later when Michael Palmer’s powerful shot appeared destined for the back of the net, but Dmitri Nester tipped it over the bar in expert fashion.

Greg Freeman headed the goal Kingborough deserved following Ryan Bevan’s corner from the left in the 64th minute.

Bulis restored Olympic’s two-goal buffer in the 10 minutes later, converting Djekanovic’s left-wing cross.

He completed his hat-trick five minutes from the end after Nick Meredith released Djekanovic down the left and he crossed the ball into the box for Bulis to strike.

The win kept Olympic level on 12 points with leaders South Hobart, who maintained their better goal-difference with a 4-0 away win over New Town Eagles the same afternoon.
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•  Hobart Olympic coach, Farrell Shaw, said:

“A 4-1 win is always a good win.

“We went to sleep there for probably 15 minutes in both halves and they could have got back into it.

“It was a good game by Dmitri [Nester] the goalkeeper.

“It was nice to see Michael Bulis scoring goals again.  He’s been playing well as a team player this year, which is good.

“He did last year as well, but now he’s starting to get rewards for it, which is great.

“He’s always got an eye for goal, which is great.  It’s just wonderful to see, it really is.

“It’s a great result.  I’m happy with the way we’re winning.  We’re actually winning games.

“I’m not happy with the way we’re defending.

“We’ve got a big game next week.  It’s an important game next week for us, and for South.

“It’s hard to put your finger on it, basically.  I mean we’re scoring goals but I don’t think we’re playing that well yet.

“We’ve got players to come in, big players to come in, and that’ll be nice to see.”

• Kingborough Lions United captain, Marcello Marchioli, said:

“We started off not too well but got back into in the first half.

“Bulis scored a cracker and there’s not much you can do about that.

“We didn’t really shut him down that well, but in the second half they scored another cracker, and there wasn’t much you could do about that.

“We then started getting back into it and got a goal.  It looked like we could have scored more, but a bit of sloppy defending let them get another two and that was pretty much the match.

“At 2-1 I really thought we could get back into it, but then the third one kind of sealed the game.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the defence.  I mean, we’ve got a few more to come back in to the defence.  We’ve got Isaac, who can play at right-back, Garry Upton coming back into a central role when he’s fit and then we’ve still got Mark [Iseli] there, so that’ll definitely strengthen it up.”

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STATISTICS

HOBART OLYMPIC        KINGBOROUGH

7    Goal Attempts    14

6    Shots on Target    10

6    Corners    8

10    Fouls Committed    6

1    Off-Sides    0

1 (Mohamad 59)    Yellow Cards    0

0    Red Cards    0

Hobart Olympic:

PLAYER    GOAL ATTEMPTS    SHOTS ON TARGET
Bulis    3    3
Backhaus    2    1
Meredith    2    2

Kingborough Lions United:

PLAYER    GOAL ATTEMPTS    SHOTS ON TARGET
Bevan    1    0
Bremner    4    2
Marchioli    1    1
Kerr    1    1
A Hinkley    2    2
Palmer    1    1
White    2    2
Freeman    1    1
R Hinkley    1    0

Match Summaries for 25 and 26 April 2008

By Walter Pless

South Hobart and Hobart Olympic both increased their lead at the top of the Premier League ladder to 5 points over third-placed and reigning champion Hobart Zebras by winning their games on Saturday.

South Hobart downed eighth-placed New Town Eagles 4-0 away at Clare Street, while Olympic beat second-last Kingborough Lions United 4-1 at home at the Athletic Centre, to move to 12 points each from four outings.

Zebras had moved up a place to third on Friday night after defeating sixth-placed Clarence United 7-2 at home at KGV Park.

Ben Crosswell hit five goals for Zebras, who trailed 2-0 after just 17 minutes as Dwayne Walsh struck twice, following excellent service from Jacob Kavanagh and Matt Lewis.

Clarence suffered a major blow when midfielder Paul Bremner went off with torn ankle ligaments in the 26th minute, and goals by Ricky Self and Crosswell made it 2-2 at the interval.

Crosswell put the Zebras’ noses in front midway through the second half and, when Dylan Fennell made it 4-2 in the 73rd minute, it was just a question of how many Clarence would concede.

Crosswell struck three times more before the end following passes by Aaron Brazendale, Josh Thorpe and Henry Fagg.

Michael Bulis netted a hat-trick for Olympic, which led the Lions 1-0 at the break, while Daniel Djekanovic caused many problems for the visitors down the flanks.

The Kingborough defence had no answer to the elusive, opportunistic and diminutive striker, last season’s leading marksman in the league, who was lethal with his finishing.

Ben Backhaus was Olympic’s other scorer, while Greg Freeman netted for the Lions, who had plenty of chances but either lacked accuracy or were thwarted by good goalkeeping by Dmitri Nester.

Two goals by Billy Gasparinatos and one each by David Cooper and Jonathon Ladic gave South Hobart its win over Eagles, who had Chris Stingle sent off late in the match after collecting a second yellow card.

The visitors, who led 3-0 at half-time, also hit the post three times in the second half.

In Division One, Kingborough drew 1-1 with Nelson, David Rietveldt netting for the home side and Jackson Marsh for Nelson, while Huon Valley relied on an own-goal to draw 1-1 with Christian United, which scored through Oliver Walters.

In the Reserve League, goals by Phil Cooper and Jeremy Brown gave Kingborough a 2-1 win over Olympic, which replied through Saad Mohamad.

Goals by Jeremy Marshall and Alistair Cox gave Eagles a 2-0 first-half lead over South, but strikes by Seth Otte and Simon Burrett made it 2-2 at the end.

Kurt and Luke Engels scored as Zebras beat Clarence 2-1, with Adam Knapek netting for the visitors. Zebras had Josh Smith sent off.

In the northern Tasmanian Premier League, Devonport City became the new leaders on goal-difference after beating sixth-placed Somerset 2-1 at home at Valley Road.

Northern Rangers moved up a place to second and dumped previous leader Prospect Knights down to third on goal-difference by winning their clash 3-0.

The upset of the round was bottom-side Launceston United’s 4-1 away win over Ulverstone at the Showgrounds on the North-West Coast.

Burnie United ensured that four teams are level at the top on 9 points by overcoming Riverside Olympic 4-2 at home at Montello.

Tilford Zebras v Clarence United Match Report [Premier League, KGV Park, Friday, 25 April 2008]

By Walter Pless
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Tilford Zebras 7 (Crosswell 42, 64, 78, 87, 89, Self 37, Fennell 73)
Clarence United 2 (Walsh 6, 17)

HT: 2-2 Att: 150 Ref: C Phillips (K Barker 4)

Tilford Zebras (4-4-2): Mainella - D Cox, Telega, Fagg, Connolly - Brazendale (F Lapolla 79), Pullen, Self (D Lapolla 86), Thorpe - Fennell, Crosswell [Substitutes not used: Kaden, L Engels] [Coach: N Lapolla]

Clarence United (4-4-2): Moschogianis - Lewis, Parker (Wise 57), Huigsloot, Ling - Hunt, Kamba, Bremner (Undy 26), Nicholson - Walsh, Kavanagh [Substitutes not used: Tatnell, Westland] [Coach: A Brown]

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Tilford Zebras came back from 2-0 down after 17 minutes to be level at 2-2 at the interval and then went on to win 7-2.

Referee Mr Phillips lasted a mere four minutes before being replaced by Mr Barker. Mr Pitchford took over on the line for a few minutes before another official, Mr Mohamad, was able to take over on the line.

Kim Barker…took over from Mr Phillips in the middle
Mr Phillips had injured a knee earlier in the season and this was his first game back at this level. Last week, he had refereed a women’s match, but he now must see a specialist to diagnose the injury.

Ben Crosswell started slowly and missed a couple of half chances early on before finally hitting his straps and scoring five goals.

The Zebras were without midfielders Paul Cairns and Chris Cox and reverted to a back-four, which looked as if it might prove costly before Crosswell came to the rescue.

David Cox was at right-back, while Josh Thorpe started on the left wing. Zebras look much more comfortable with their usual back-three of Henry Fagg, Andrew Telega and Michael Connolly.

Clarence United shocked the reigning champions with those two early goals, both through Dwayne Walsh, but the turning point came in the 23rd minute when a late tackle by Telega put Paul Bremner out of the game. He was taken to hospital with torn ankle ligaments. It had initially been feared that he had broken his ankle.

The game was very physical and it was surprising that only three yellow cards were issued. Chris Nicholson’s horrific tackle on Cox probably deserved a red card, but the youngster escaped with a yellow.

Walsh put Clarence ahead in the 6th minute when he nodded home Jacob Kavanagh’s cross from the right.

Crosswell then missed two good half-chances and it was obvious he had not yet calibrated his sights. In the 10th minute, he failed to get a decent touch on the ball, which carried through into Michael Moschogianis’s hands, while a minute later, he again failed to connect properly when Fagg nodded Brett Pullen’s free-kick down to him from the far post.

In the 17th minute, it was 2-0 for the visitors after Matt Lewis’s splendid ball out of defence put Walsh away and he fired low past Mainella and into the far corner of the net.

Jake Undy, who had replaced Bremner, instigated a fine Clarence attack in the 34th minute when he charged down the right, but Kavanagh swept his cross wide of the far left-hand post.

With 10 minutes of the half remaining, Crosswell’s header, from Cox’s deep cross from the right, almost beat Moschogianis, but the keeper recovered and kept the ball from crossing the line.

Two minutes later, Ricky Self pulled a goal back for the Zebras when he headed home Fagg’s free-kick from deep on the right.

Ricky Self…scored the Zebras’ first to put them back in the game

Mnyonge Kamba limped off in the 39th minute, but he was able to recover and resume play.

In the 42nd minute, it was 2-2 as Crosswell headed Thorpe’s corner home. A defender got a touch, but could not keep the ball out of the net.

In the 5th minute of injury time, the Zebras almost scored again as Telega’s header from a corner was cleared off the line by a Clarence defender.

Zebras gained the ascendancy in the second half and Thorpe was unlucky when his goal-bound chip from the left in the 61st minute was scooped out of the far top corner by Moschogianis.

Two minutes later, Dylan Fennell volleyed straight at Moschogianis from close range when he should really have scored.

In the 64th minute, it was 3-2 for the Zebras after Moschogianis and Nicholson failed to clear Aaron Brazendale’s shot and the ball fell to Crosswell, who smashed it home.

Pullen set up Fennell for the fourth in the 73rd minute, his pass putting the striker down the inside-right channel, from where he rifled the ball home inside the far post.

A great run down the right by Brazendale in the 78th minute, followed by a cross to the far post, saw Crosswell complete his hat-trick to give the Zebras a 5-2 lead.

Three minutes from the end, Thorpe fed Crosswell for an easy finish to make it 6-2.

Walsh might have completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute when he ran clear of the Zebras defence, but Frank Mainella blocked with his feet.

With a minute remaining, Crosswell netted his fifth of the night and the Zebras’ seventh by heading home Fagg’s cross from the right.

The win lifted Zebras into third spot, 2 points adrift of the leading pair of South Hobart and Hobart Olympic and with a marvellous goal difference of +16, which could prove very handy at the business end of the season.

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• Tilford Zebras striker, Ben Crosswell, who scored five goals, said:

“I’m very happy with my performance.

“I think I’ve been terrible at training. I haven’t been scoring goals on the training ground and it’s nice to get some to go in and have a bit of luck on your side.

“I’m very happy with that.

Ben Crosswell…hit 5 goals against Clarence

“I put it down to working on it at training and today I just decided I’d try and shoot on the target and get my head over the ball and it worked okay.

“When we were 2-0 down I was a little bit worried, but the boys did really well to get back into it.

“We’ve got a lot of talent in our team.

“Even at 2-2 at half-time I thought we could win it.

“The coach said it was a great effort to come back from two goals down to 2-2.

“We knew we were physically stronger than Clarence and we knew we had better players than Clarence and we just had to believe in ourselves and that got us over the line.”

• Clarence United coach, Andrew Brown, said:

Clarence coach, Andrew Brown…fuming after the game
“I think it was plain for everyone to see what happened to us after leading 2-0. People make mistakes in a game.

“It [the Bremner injury] changed the game. Thankfully, his leg is not broken. He’s got torn ankle ligaments, but I think it’s fair to say that changed the game. Everything within the game changed at that pivotal moment.

“These things happen in football. It’s something I have no control over.

“I thought there were several tackles tonight that were, should I say, questionable.

“It’s not my decision. It’s not my place to make a judgement call. It was the referee’s. In his mind, obviously, he’s made the right decision. I have no comment to make on the refereeing decisions.

“We had a game plan and there’s no doubt in my mind, up until that point, my players were more than capable of, not only scoring those two goals, but several more.

“Circumstances changed after the Bremner incident and it continued in the same vein. We have no control over these factors.

“I thought our boys coped remarkably well, especially the young ones such as Nicholson, under such pressure when things are not going the way you hoped.”

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STATISTICS

TILFORD ZEBRAS CLARENCE UNITED

26 Goal Attempts 7

17 Shots on Target 3

9 Corners 3

16 Fouls Committed 11

0 Off-Sides 0

1 (Fennell 75) Yellow Cards 2 (Nicholson 44, Kamba 47)

0 Red Cards 0

Tilford Zebras:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Crosswell 10 7
Thorpe 5 2
Self 4 3
Telega 1 1
Brazendale 2 1
Fennell 3 3
D Lapolla 1 0

Clarence United:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Walsh 3 3
Parker 1 0
Kamba 1 0
Kavanagh 1 0
Huigsloot 1 0

By Walter Pless

Premier League ladder leaders South Hobart and Hobart Olympic should maintain their lead over the chasing pack when they both take on sides near the bottom of the table this weekend.

South Hobart visit Clare Street on Saturday to take on eighth-placed New Town Eagles, while Olympic host ninth-ranked Kingborough Lions United at the Athletic Centre, also on Saturday.

South Hobart will have Sam Kruijver in goal in place of Mark Moncur, who has been ill with a throat infection that necessitated a hospital visit during the week.

Utility player Daniel Brown will not be risked as he has not fully recovered from a knee injury and the hard surface on the cricket pitch area at Clare Street may be detrimental to his recovery.

Daniel Brown…won’t be risked

“South Hobart have some of the best players in the league and they are on top, but that means all the pressure will be on them to perform,” said Eagles coach, Ian Parker.

“We’ll have our full squad and I’ll be expecting a big performance from the likes of Andy Clark, who has done well in recent games.”

Ian Parker…all the pressure is on South Hobart

Hobart Olympic should be at full strength against the visiting Lions and may even improve their goal-difference if Kosta Grillas is in goalscoring mood.

The Lions go into this game fresh from a 3-2 morale-boosting win over Metro in the State-wide Cup and scoring three goals indicates they may be over their lean patch in that department.

Japanese midfielder Iwao Shimizu has yet to gel with his team-mates and his fine ball control needs to be complemented by a little more grit in the physical contests.

Last weekend’s win over Metro indicated that Kingborough can rely on players other lone striker Greg Freeman to score the goals and Olympic cannot dismiss their potential lightly.

Reigning champions and fourth-placed Hobart Zebras are in action at KGV Park on Friday evening against sixth-ranked Clarence United and the visitors will have goalkeeper Michael Moschogianis and defender Toby Ling back.

Clarence’s Juma Barabara and Chris Hunt have had the flu, but they may be fit to play.

Jacob Kavanagh has a pinched nerve in his neck and coach Andrew Brown must wait to see if he recovers in time to take his place in the starting line-up.

Jacob Kavanagh…pinched nerve may keep him out

Zebras will be missing key midfielder Paul Cairns, who is in Melbourne, but everyone else is fit and the side will be keen to continue their goalscoring spree, which saw them demolish Taroona 12-0 in their last outing.

“After that win, we’re back on track, but Clarence are a young side who will run at us and we’ll need to watch Dwayne Walsh,” said Zebras coach, Nick Lapolla.

Nick Lapolla…Clarence will run at us

Bottom-side Taroona host third-placed University at Kelevdon Park on Sunday. University won 3-1 there in the Cup last weekend and so hold no fears for this return visit.

Taroona may again miss captain Chris Cox and defenders Cian Carey and Alex Holmes, all through injury, while ‘flu has troubled Tom Sherman and Jason Szoka during the week.

Coach Ben Horgan may call on youngsters such as Hamish Macgregor and Bryce Clarke, as well as veteran defender Barry Hagan.

“There has been a noticeable improvement in our intensity at training over the last couple of weeks since that game against Zebras and the guys have shown a lot of determination to get our season back on track,” said Horgan. “Regardless of who is or isn’t available, I think we will be very competitive on Sunday.”

Ben Horgan…Taroona coach

Seventh-placed Metro entertain fifth-ranked Glenorchy Knights at North Chigwell on Sunday at the earlier time of 1.30pm and this should be a tight contest.

Metro are in danger of losing their early-season momentum and cannot afford a defeat, while the Knights will be eager to improve their results after a poor start to the season which has seen them lose two of their three games and accumulate a negative goal-difference.

They lost to University against the run of play and, in their last outing, were comprehensively beaten 4-1 by South Hobart, so they have much to prove.

Metro will be fast and fit and these are two of the qualities that the Knights lacked last time out.

The two-week break the Knights have had because of last weekend’s cup round may have enabled them to improve in these departments and this showdown will be a huge test for the Glenorchy outfit.

Division One leaders Beachside are wary of the trip to Sherburd Park on Sunday to face fourth-placed Kingston Cannons after the Cannons overcame northern Premier League opponents in the State-wide Cup competition last weekend.

Beachside will be missing midfielders Kim Daewon and Andrew Reason and defender Liam Sprod.

But, goalkeeper Michael Soszynski returns, as does striker Bernhard Klasen, who has completed a one-match suspension.

Former South Hobart player Owen Roberts, as well as Joe Vanderslink and Liam Brown, are included in the Beachside squad.

Andrew Douglas will probably move into a central midfield role alongside David Chadwick, while James Hay and Pat Bigg will retain their right and left midfield positions, respectively.

“We must be prepared for a tough game, especially after the Cannons’ win in the cup last weekend,” said Beachside coach, Tony Kavanagh. “They’re definitely not a team to be taken lightly.”

The Cannons will be missing key midfielders John White and Steve Giudici, as well as Ismet Aydin, who are all unavailable, while striker John Demir is still out injured.

Last week’s hat-trick hero, Akhilan Krishnan, will retain his place in the starting line-up.

Second-placed New Town Eagles entertain third-ranked Hobart United at Clare Street on Sunday and the visitors will be keen to atone for their thrashing in the State-wide Cup by Eagles’ Premier League side last weekend.

Eagles will be without goalkeeper Alan Wisby and Marcus Proud, but Anthony O’Meara returns after being cleared of a back complaint by a specialist during the week. Damien Crowle is promoted from the reserves.

“After last week’s loss, there’s no use crying over spilt milk,” said Eagles joint-coach, Marty Nidorfer.

“We’ll be out of the frypan and into the fire against Hobart United and must be prepared for their skilful, attacking brand of football.

“We must regain our momentum built up in the pre-season and the boys understand that a rolling stone gathers no moss.”

Hobart United will be missing Bryn Davies, Collin Banks, who is out for the entire season with a broken wrist, and Aymen Abdalla (thigh injury). Akuei Guot is in doubt with an ankle injury.

United will restructure their entire forward line and a few reserve players will be asked to step up.

Pedro Ramirez, who has had lots of experience in goal, will potentially don the goalkeeper gloves as Adrian Pickin was playing with a bruised rib last week and Nathan Grandin is still away on army duties.

“We will do our best,” said coach Tony Tarros.

Seventh-placed Christian United will make several changes for the visit to Ranelagh on Saturday to take on fifth-ranked Huon Valley, whose striker Tony Dare is the league’s leading marksman.

Christian will miss Jonathon Wierenga, who is unavailable, while midfielders Oliver Walters and Peter Rae, both of whom missed last weekend’s State-wide Cup match, must pass late fitness tests before returning to the side.

Youngsters Ash Page, Brodie Kirkpatrick and Brodie Whayman may earn starting spots after impressing earlier in the season.

The remaining match of the round is at Lightwood Park on Saturday, where bottom-side Kingborough Lions United host sixth-placed Nelson Eastern Suburbs.

In the Reserve League, Glenorchy Knights will be without Jarrod Cumming, Aaron McGurk and Derrick Parry for the visit to North Chigwell on Sunday to face Metro, but Sasha Puclin and Dan Minucci return after injury.

Hobart United’s Otto brothers

By Walter Pless

The Otto family is an integral part of Division One club Hobart United this season.

Five Otto brothers are members of the senior squad, while four of the daughters also play for the Mermaids, the new Hobart United women’s team.

Moses Otto, 28, who is a school chaplain, explained how it came to be that the Ottos joined Hobart United.

“All along, we were playing with different clubs and it was very hard for us all to meet,” Moses said.

“Hobart United, at the beginning of the year, had a lot of changes and a lot of players decided to go away.

“But, we thought we’d come and build a team.

“It’s not just an African team, but a truly multicultural team.

“I’m the oldest of the Otto brothers and I tried to get the others to come together and build a club and that way we could also meet every weekend.

“Weekends are the best time we can meet because we are all separate in our different businesses, work or study.

“It included the whole family because we have four sisters playing in the club, too, and so it’s a meeting point for us.”

The Otto family are from Sudan, but were brought up in Kenya, and they have been in Australia for six years.

“We love Tasmania and we love the weather here, too,” said Moses, whose brothers are Peter (20), John (23), Andrew (16) and Emmanuel (24).

John, Emmanuel and Moses Otto (back L-R)

Andrew and Peter Otto (front (L-R) 

His sisters are Blancy, who is studying law, Mary, Birgitta and Mercy.

Peter is studying mechanical engineering at university, John is in the third year of an agricultural science degree, while Andrew is in year 12.

Mercy is only seven and is like a mascot for the team.

“We all started playing at Christian United, but then later, because of studies, we spread out,” said Moses.

“I was studying in Launceston and played with Northern Rangers, as did John, while Peter stayed with Christian United and also played for Kingborough.

“Hobart United’s future is very bright and we’re competitive and our aim is to return to the Premier League.”

Saturday was a return to reality, however, as United went down 7-1 to Premier League outfit New Town Eagles in the State-wide Cup competition.

But, the Ottos featured prominently as Andrew scored United’s goal and Peter was sent off after fouling an opponent.

By Walter Pless

Jo Burgess is the living proof that hard work can lead to the fulfilment of dreams.

The 28-year-old Matildas midfielder only made her debut for the national women’s team three years ago but is now a regular.

“I struggled to get into the team for a long time,” said Burgess, who is in Hobart to check the progress of local girls and women in both Futsal and outdoor soccer.

“I kept training harder and harder and finally made my debut at 25 against the USA three years ago.

“I couldn’t have asked to make my debut against a better team.”

Burgess grew up in New South Wales and started playing soccer as a 14-year-old and then made the State representative team.

She played in last year’s World Cup tournament in China, where the Matildas finished sixth after being knocked out 3-2 in the quarterfinals by Brazil.

“Just to be there and to be playing in front of so many people was amazing,” said Burgess, whose advice to girls is to never give up in pursuit of their dreams.

“It doesn’t matter how old you are, never give up, and just follow your dreams and just keep striving for it.”

Burgess attended the Vikings Futsal southern primary school titles at the Tasmanian Hockey Centre at Cornelian Bay on Friday, 18 April, where 36 teams from 31 primary schools were competing.

Matildas star Jo Burgess with TV show hosts Jeremy Arnold (centre) and Walter Pless (left)
It was the last day of the southern schools’ titles, the finals for colleges and high schools having been completed earlier in the week.

Boys and girls ranging in age from 10 to 12 competed and Tasmanian teams will now be selected for the national school Futsal titles.

Burgess also conducted clinics for girls between the ages of 7 and 16 over the weekend.

She was the special guest on the Tasmanian segment of the nationally televised “Premier League Football Show”, which is shown on Austar’s Aurora Channel 183 on Friday’s from 7.30-8.30pm.

Jo Burgess (left) and Nicole Hale, local star and also a guest on the TV show

By Walter Pless

Joanne Burgess is delighted that Australia has been drawn in Group B with Japan, Korea Republic and Chinese Taipei in the forthcoming Asian Cup women’s tournament in Vietnam.

The 28-year-old Matildas midfielder was in Hobart for the weekend to run junior clinics and the draw was made in Vietnam on Friday.

“I think it’s a really good draw,” Burgess said.  “We’re pretty happy not to have North Korea in our pool and we may very well meet them in the final.

“It’s better to meet them in the final than in the group games.”

Jo Burgess with young fans at coaching clinic

North Korea beat the Matildas 2-0 last year to knock the Australians out of the Beijing Olympics.

North Korea, or DPR Korea as they are known, are in Group A, together with China, Thailand and hosts Vietnam.

The North Koreans won the tournaments of 2001 and 2003, while China won the last tournament, which was held in Adelaide, by beating Australia 4-2 on penalties.

This year’s tournament will be held in Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam from 28 May until 8 June.

“We’ll be pretty confident against Japan and Korea Republic because we beat Japan 2-0 in the last Asian Cup, and South Korea 4-0,” said Burgess.

“We’re going in pretty confident after our World Cup performance.

“We’ve also played Chinese Taipei in the Olympic qualifiers and beat them 8 or 10 nil.

“We’ve got a much stronger team now as well, so I think we’re going to do well.

“I think we’ll definitely win the group.”

The Matildas leave for the United States next week for a three-match series.

“We have two games against the USA and one game against a college team,” Burgess said.  “It’ll be a good way to see where we’re at.

“We haven’t had many games lately and this will be a big test and I’m sure we’ll do well.

“After the Asian Cup, we’re playing in the Peace Cup, where we meet Brazil, Italy and the USA again.

“We’re happy we’ve got Brazil because we want another crack at them after they beat us at the World Cup.”

Burgess said the Matildas would be away for at least a month.

“It’s hard being away from the family but, when you’re away with the Matildas, it’s like being with your second family, so it’s good,” she said.

Hobart United v New Town Eagles Match Report [Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy, second qualifying round, Olinda Grove, Saturday, 19 April 2008]

By Walter Pless

Hobart United 1 (A Otto 47)
New Town Eagles 7 (Koroma 5, 53, 77, Leszczynski 19, Shackcloth 27, 61, Stingle 49)

HT: 0-3 Att: 100 Ref: S Collins

Hobart United (4-4-2): Pickin - Ntumba (Walker 64), Bellini, Festo, E Otto (M Otto 64) - Guot, J Otto, Rume, P Otto - Banks (A Otto 12), Abdalla [Coach: T Tarros]

New Town Eagles (3-5-2): Pitchford - Savage, Rybak, Wiggins - Leszczynski (Marshall 46), Clark, Wakefield, Stingle, Koroma (Page 75) - Shackcloth (Malakoff 63), McKeown [Substitute not used: Duval] [Coach: I Parker]
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Hobart United

New Town Eagles moved to the first-round proper of the Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy State-wide competition with this emphatic 7-1 win against Hobart United at the neutral venue of Olinda Grove.

United had been scheduled to host the game at their Pontville headquarters at 6.30pm on Saturday night, but the new floodlighting was not quite ready and the match was transferred.

The scheduling of matches was again a concern for those of us who are soccer tragics.

For example, why wasn’t this game scheduled for Friday night at KGV Park?

Why were there no games on Sunday? There were two all southern Premier League cup ties - Kingborough Lions United versus Metro, and Taroona versus University — which could have been played on Sunday, leaving the ties involving travel (Kingston Cannons versus Launceston United; Riverside Olympic versus Christian United; Ulverstone versus Prospect Knights) for Saturday.

Again, soccer tragics were left with one game to watch in three days in this exciting State-wide competition when, in reality, they could have seen three games over the three days. Surely this is not the way to promote the game.

Eagles were on top for most of this game, except for a 5-minute period early in the match when United forced four corners in as many minutes, and for a brief period at the start of the second half, when United scored to make it 3-1.

The goal came from substitute Andrew Otto, one of five Otto brothers in the squad, three of whom started. The other two were on the bench.

United suffered an early blow when Banks suffered a badly broken wrist when a ball struck him with great power. United’s lack of first aid personnel was a worry and the Eagles trainer had to assist.

Banks was taken to hospital by private car and underwent surgery on the injury that afternoon.

The verbal altercations going on throughout the match were most unpleasant and promoted referee Mr Collins to call both sides together before the start of the second half to lay down the law.

Koroma, who has made a name for himself in Futsal, netted a hat-trick for Eagles. His first came in the 5th minute when his low shot towards the near post flew into the net despite Pickin getting a hand to the ball.

Pickin was a last-minute replacement in goal for United and he was carrying a rib injury, so one could only admire his courage in playing.

Pickin, who is also the club’s president, did well to parry Koroma’s goal-bound lob from long range in the 19th minute.

In the 24th minute, a foul by Emmanuel Otto resulted in a penalty for Eagles and Leszczynski made it 2-0 from the spot.

It was 3-0 in the 27th minute through a bizarre goal. Pickin cleared a through-ball, but the ball smashed into the advancing Shackcloth’s face and rebounded into the net. The scorer was dazed and had to leave the field for treatment, knowing little about the goal he had scored.

Andrew Otto reduced the arrears in the 47th minute after a dangerous attack down the right by United, but Eagles responded almost immediately and Stingle restored their three-goal buffer in the 49th minute.

Koroma made it 5-1 four minutes later and Shackcloth added his second goal and Eagles’ sixth just past the hour-mark.

Koroma completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute to make it 7-1 before being replaced, while it might have been eight goals five minutes before end, but Stingle’s shot hit the woodwork.

Eagles have now tasted goals and their supporters were hoping that this experience may improve their league performances in the weeks to come.

__________________________________________________________

• Hobart United coach, Tony Tarros, said:

“We were totally outclassed.

“They had very good possession and they wanted it more than we did.

“It was a very physical game and they were more physical than we were.”

• New Town Eagles coach, Ian Parker, said:

“It’s a win and we scored a few goals today, but again, I wasn’t happy with the way we played.

“I mean, at times there, we could have kept possession but we were giving silly balls away and got involved in a few things going on on the park and I just wasn’t really happy with the lads.

“You’ve got to take a win and we scored a few goals so that’s fair enough.”

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STATISTICS

HOBART UNITED NEW TOWN EAGLES

8 Goal Attempts 25

1 Shots on Target 14

6 Corners 4

15 Fouls Committed 11

1 Off-Sides 3

3 Yellow Cards 3

1 Red Cards 0

Hobart United:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Abdalla 1 0
P Otto 3 0
Festo 1 0
A Otto 1 1
Guot 1 0
Rume 1 0

New Town Eagles:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
McKeown 7 4
Leszczynski 3 2
Koroma 5 4
Shackcloth 4 2
Stingle 4 2
Savage 1 0
Page 1 0