Walter Pless on Football

Premier League Preview for the Weekend of 23-25 May 2008

By Walter Pless

Tilford Zebras and Glenorchy Knights clash in the Premier League on Friday evening at KGV Park fresh from victories in the Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy round last weekend.

Both sides qualified for the quarterfinals of the Cup after eking out narrow wins in extra-time against weaker opponents.

Zebras squeezed home 2-1 against Launceston City, while the Knights squandered a 4-0 lead to just sneak home 5-4 against Kingborough Lions United.

Key players will be returning to both line-ups for this league meeting between the top side, Zebras, and the fourth-placed Knights.

Only a point separates the five leading teams, so there won’t be much in this one.

Zebras will have striker Ben Crosswell and midfielder Brett Pullen back, but midfielder Aaron Brazendale is interstate.

Crosswell and Pullen did not play against Launceston City and should be fresh and eager to perform.

Crosswell is, of course, the league’s leading marksman with 14 goals.

Strikers Tom Huigsloot and Edward Guma and defender Jayden Wiggins will return for the Knights, which means there will be no place in the starting line-up for striker Sasha Puclin or defender Marcus Burn.

Wiggins and Guma were cup-tied last weekend as they have played for New Town Eagles and Metro, respectively, in earlier rounds, while Huigsloot was unavailable.

The Knights are notorious for slackening off as a game progresses and they will need to put in a consistent 90 minutes of effort if they are to get anything out of this match.

Second-placed South Hobart will have an unchanged side from the one that beat New Town Eagles 2-0 in the Cup last Sunday when they host eighth-placed Kingborough Lions United at South Hobart on Sunday.

“I was happy with the performance and there’ll be no changes,” said South Hobart coach, Ken Morton.

“I will be looking for more consistency, but there’ll be continuity with team selection.”

This means that Sam Kruijver, who has been a little suspect in his two recent games, retains the goalkeeping position ahead of Mark Moncur, who may be unavailable anyway because of work.

South’s midfield is also not at its peak, with Tom Roach out of position wide on the right, and Jonathon Ladic and Bart Beecroft not performing in midfield.

Their styles are very similar and this could be part of the problem.

Kingborough Lions United will field an unchanged side, which means midfielder Charles White, who is almost over his foot injury but who is getting married next Friday, will be rested for two more weeks.

Third-placed Hobart Olympic will be without defender Chris Tsimiklis for the away match against Taroona at Kelvedon Park on Saturday, which means youngster Yiorwo Dourias retains his place at the back.

Tsimiklis is in Adelaide because of family reasons.

Defender Peter Tsakiris and midfielder Lee Mason are still a couple of weeks away from resuming because of injury.

Robert Lebski, who was in the starting line-up in last weekend’s 2-0 loss to Devonport City in the Cup, retains his place in the squad.

Nektar Vavoulas should be back from interstate, while Danijel Djekanovic should also be available for selection.

Alex Bigg returns in goal for Taroona, while central defender Alex Holmes is back after a three-game absence because of a hamstring strain, and Jason Szoka keeps his place in central-midfield.

“They will be tough to beat, but Uni showed it can be done and we will need to continue the form which we showed in the 1-1 draw with Clarence,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.

“We should have gained some confidence from that result, and we need to show the same resilience and composure against Olympic.

“Goalkeeper Alex Bigg will return to the side after being a late withdrawal from the team for the Clarence game when Hutchins insisted he play for the school team instead.

“Our other goalkeeper, Dean Durant, is still suffering from an ankle injury which has kept him out for the last month, so we were forced to play striker Tom Sherman in goals, but he did a great job, pulling off a couple of sharp saves to help us gain an important point.

“I think he’ll be keen to get back out on the pitch, though, and find the back of the net at the other end.”

Sixth-placed Clarence United will miss injured midfielder Chris Nicholson, who will be replaced by Nathan Cashion, for the visit of second-last Metro to Wentworth Park on Saturday.

Nicholson suffered a knee injury in the 3-0 Cup win over Burnie last Saturday and will have plaster on for about three weeks.

Paul Bremner would like to play after his ankle injury, and he may be fit, but coach Andrew Brown will not consider him for at least another week.

Metro are reported to be without goalkeeper Michael McKenna, and Simon Land will take his place in goal.

Fifth-placed University host seventh-ranked New Town Eagles at Olinda Grove on Sunday.

University have signed defender Jon Foley-Donoghue from South Hobart and he played in last weekend’s State-wide Cup victory over Somerset.

Eagles will again miss Matthew Rybak, Chris Stingle and Amadu Koroma, but Ben Whitehall, Chris Wass and Mark Wakefield return.

Damien Bones, Alec Johnston, Jeremy Marshall and Ethan Menzie are omitted after being utilised in the seniors last weekend because of a shortage of senior personnel.

“There was a buzz at training following the challenge to South Hobart last week and a win is expected at Olinda Grove,” said Eagles stand-in coach, Stephen Pitchford.