Walter Pless on Football

Hobart Olympic v South Hobart Match Report [Premier League, KGV Park, Saturday, 19 July 2008]

By Walter Pless
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Hobart Olympic 0
South Hobart 1 (Downes 39)

HT: 0-1 Att: 200 Ref: S Collins

Hobart Olympic: Nester (Iaonnou 66) - Mohamad, P Tsakiris, Vavoulas, Tsimiklis - Richardson, C Tsakiris, Mason, Djekanovic - Backhaus (Meredith 89), Bulis [Substitutes not used: Lebski, Assenheimer] [Coach: F Shaw]

South Hobart: Moncur - Cooper, Ludford, Holmes, Scott - Downes (Ross 63), Beecroft, Ladic, Hickey - Abbott, Gasparinatos [Substitutes not used: Franklin, Pearce, Kruijver] [Coach: K Morton]
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South Hobart dominated this match and one goal was all they needed to collect the three points and move three points clear of Tilford Zebras at the top of the Premier League ladder.

The goal came from 15-year-old Greg Downes, the youngest player on the field, who leaves in a few days’ time for the UK, where he will have trials with English Premier League side Sunderland and Division One outfit Walsall.

Olympic missed injured striker Kosta Grillas. He has not been in the best of form lately, but his mere presence would have given South the jitters.

It was Grillas who sparked Olympic’s comeback from 2-0 down in the first-round meeting. He scored twice in the 3-3 draw.

Olympic’s goalkeeper, Dmitri Nester, sustained a back injury midway through the second half after an aerial clash with Billy Gasparinatos. Nester received treatment for several minutes before continuing, but he soon had to be replaced by John Iaonnou.

South pinned Olympic into their own half for much of the opening 45 minutes and went close to scoring on several occasions through Shae Hickey, Jonathon Ladic, David Abbott and Billy Gasparinatos.

Olympic’s only response was a long-range effort by Chris Tsimiklis, which Mark Moncur had covered.

In the 39th minute, South launched a marvellous attack down the left. Gasparinatos played the ball to the right where Ladic, in midfield, played a one-two with David Abbott wide on the right.

Ladic received the return ball in the inside-right channel and advanced into the box before releasing Downes on the right and the youngster placed a low shot beyond Nester and inside the far post for the only goal of the match.

Olympic fashioned a few half-chances in the second period, the best of which came in the 73rd minute when Danijel Djekanovic floated over a tantalising cross from the left which Moncur could not reach. Chris Tsakiris, at the far post, could only prod the ball wide as it fell at his feet.

Olympic were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box in the closing minutes, but Chris Tsakiris drove the ball into the wall and South were able to hold on comfortably for an important win.

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• Hobart Olympic coach, Farrell Shaw, said:

“We were always up against it.

“I mean, missing Kosta Grillas was a big loss for us to start with because he’s our leading scorer and that left us with a huge hole.

“The lads competed well.

“The first half, we looked a bit shell-shocked and frightened to play.

“Second half, we came out and played and matched them.

“But, full credit to them. They’ve been the best team all year, the team we’ve all been chasing all year.

“They’ve just got one big hurdle to get over - the Zebras. If they get over that, the title is theirs.

“This result won’t dent our morale. We knew we were up against it.

“The boys are a little disheartened, they’re upset, and you want them to be.

“This was a huge chance for us to actually try and win something this year.

“It’s a team that we are developing over the year. We haven’t had the star players, we haven’t had the youth academy that other clubs have had.

“We’ve gotten players and developed them into something else and we’re nearly there.

“Peter Tsakiris played very well. He’s a class player.

“There’ve been rumours of him quitting this year. I hope he doesn’t. It’d be a big hole to fill.”

• South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, said:

“I felt all the time we were in a good position.

“First half, I thought we knocked the ball around, played with a good tempo and rhythm.

“We had some good attacking moments and we maybe should have got some more.

“The goal we got was a great goal from a good move and a good finish by young Gregory, and I’m happy for him and happy for the team.

“I still think the three top teams, Zebras, Olympic and us, it’ll be a fight to the wire.

“Obviously, we’re in a good position now. We’ve got to keep going.

“We’re playing consistently now. We’re not conceding a lot of goals. As long as we can keep doing that it’ll be fine.

“Gasparinatos is back, so we’ve always got goals in us. I think we can go on from here, but it’ll be tight.

“I thought the players stood up and were counted. We’ve had other games before where perhaps we’ve fallen short, but today, for the 90 minutes, we were full of good spirit and we played with a passion, desire, and we played some quality football.”
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STATISTICS

HOBART OLYMPIC SOUTH HOBART
7 Goal Attempts 9
4 Shots on Target 6
4 Corners 10
9 Fouls Committed 7
2 Off-Sides 1
2 (Vavoulas 49, P Tsakiris 70) Yellow Cards 1 (Gasparinatos 88)
0 Red Cards 0

Hobart Olympic:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Tsimiklis 1 1
Djekanovic 1 1
Bulis 1 1
Backhaus 1 1
Vavoulas 1 0
C Tsakiris 2 0

South Hobart:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Abbott 1 0
Hickey 2 2
Holmes 1 1
Gasparinatos 1 0
Ladic 1 0
Downes 2 2
Cooper 1 1