Walter Pless on Football

Tasmania Women v Heidelberg Women Match Report [KGV Park, Saturday, 18 October 2008]

By Walter Pless
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Tasmania 3 (Smith 37, Reardon 42, Prescott 63)
Heidelberg 2 (L Quayle 55, Camilleri 72)

HT: 2-0 Att: 500 Ref: T Humphries

Tasmania: Joiner-Stewart - Couch, Manuela, Tarbath - McCulloch, Minstrell, McLeod, Clifford, Prescott - Brazendale, Smith [Substitutes: Jackson, Hale, Griffiths-Lee, Nossiter, Reardon, Nunn]

Heidelberg: Vidic - M Tsolacos, Maza, Bakopoulos - S Tsolacos, Alatsas, B Quayle, Balta, Labour - Camilleri, Nicolaci [Substitutes: Panella, L Quayle]
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Heidelberg were missing six key players on this visit to KGV Park in Glenorchy to take on Tasmania.

Two were in Los Angeles, a couple were injured and another two were trialing with Melbourne Victory’s women’s side.

Sasa Jurkovic, Simon Natoli, Tom Humphries and Gerry Lampasona

Heidelberg had appeared in their third grand final in a row this year, but lost 1-0.

They would have been a formidable outfit if they had been at full strength. As it was, they had to ‘borrow’ two Tasmanian players to make up numbers - sisters Lucy and Brittany Quayle.

Heidelberg

Nevertheless, Tasmania deserved their victory for their tenacity, fighting spirit and considerable skill.

Chelsea Smith, who scored 62 goals in the northern Tasmanian league this season, was a livewire in attack and constantly tested the Heidelberg defence.

Jill Couch was reliable at the back, and the strength and skill of Melinda Minstrell in midfield was a real asset for the home side.

Tasmania

Kendall Brazendale was an able partner for Smith and her presence kept Heidelberg’s keeper, Angela Vidic, on her toes.

Laura Prescott was speedy down the left wing and she scored a fine goal to earn the home side victory.

Melanie Camilleri was splendid in attack for Heidelberg, particularly in the second half, while Heleena Alatsas directed operations in midfield with Lucy Balta, the latter also finding the time to get in several dangerous shots at goal.

Heidelberg’s Heleena Alatsas blocks Tasmania’s Naomi Clifford

Tasmania began strongly and Smith’s speed enabled her to get in two early shots from difficult angles that were well blocked by Vidic.

Camilleri went close in the 10th minute for Heidelberg, but Tess Joiner-Stewart in the Tasmanian goal was up to the challenge.

Kendall had a great chance in the 11th minute for Tasmania when she gained possession on the right, but her low drive from just outside the box flew wide of the far post.

Tasmania’s Melinda Minstrell heads a Heidelberg corner clear

Karla McCulloch had the ball in the net for Tasmania on the quarter-hour, but the assistant referee’s flag for off-side put an end to the home side’s celebrations.

Penny Bakopoulos sent Tasmanian hearts racing when she had a shot from long range in the 19th minute, but the ball cleared the crossbar.

Heidelberg should have taken the lead in the 33rd minute when Julia Nicolaci’s excellent right-wing cross found Lucy Balta at the far post, but Joiner-Stewart blocked her effort from close range. The ball ran loose, but Balta could only prod it wide of the goal.

Tasmania took the lead in the 37th minute when Smith, wide on the right, fired against the underside of the bar from 20 metres. The ball bounced down, over the line, and out again, where Brazendale headed it into the net just to make sure.

Three minutes before the interval, Smith’s shot was blocked by Vidic, but Natalie Reardon knocked it home to make it 2-0 at the break.

Natalie Reardon celebrates her goal and Tasmania’s second

Ten minutes after the resumption, Heidelberg were back in contention when guest player Lucy Quayle chipped the ball over Joiner-Stewart from the left to make it 2-1.

In the 63rd minute, Tasmania restored their two-goal buffer when Prescott, wide on the left, sent in a cross-cum-shot that sailed over Vidic and into the far corner of the net.

Heidelberg were far from finished, however, and Balta shot narrowly wide in the 66th minute as the visitors launched attack after attack.

Heidelberg’s Heleena Alatsas directs operations in midfield

In the 72nd minute, Camilleri showed her class with a neat chip over Joiner-Stewart to make it 3-2, but Tasmania hung on for a meritorious victory.

______________________________________________________________

• Tasmania’s coach. Jason Jones, said:

“An outstanding effort by a group of girls who were determined to make the most of the opportunity to play for Tasmania.

“They certainly held their own.

“They controlled a lot of the play and the result showed that, so it’s a fantastic result for a great group of girls.”

• Heidelberg coach, John Lioupas, said:

“It was a bit of hard slog for us, but credit to both teams.

“I thought we played better in the second half.

“We let ourselves go a bit in the first half for a ten- or fifteen-minute spell there and they scored those two goals.

“On the whole, I’m happy with the performance.”
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STATISTICS

TASMANIA HEIDELBERG
11 Goal Attempts 8
8 Shots on Target 4
3 Corners 5
4 Fouls Committed 5
4 Off-Sides 1
0 Yellow Cards 1 (Bakopoulos 45)
0 Red Cards 0

Tasmania:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Smith 4 3
Brazendale 2 1
Jackson 1 0
Minstrell 2 2
Reardon 1 1
Prescott 1 1

Heidelberg:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Camilleri 3 2
Bakopoulos 1 0
Balta 3 1
L Quayle 1 1

Tasmania versus Heidelberg (Men’s and Women’s Match Summary)

By Walter Pless

A last-minute goal by Josh Groenewald gave Heidelberg a 4-3 win over Tasmania in an entertaining match played before a crowd of 500 at KGV Park on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Graham Hockless, the winner of Victoria’s gold medal award for the best-and-fairest player, put Heidelberg in front in the 11th minute with a superb 30-metre drive.

Tasmanian squad

Tasmania equalised on the half-hour when Heidelberg defender Peter Roberts handled the ball.

Daniel White’s penalty was saved by Heidelberg’s excellent keeper, 17-year-old Chris Laino, but White smashed home the rebound.

Heidelberg squad

Marinos Gasparis restored Heidelberg’s lead with a chip over keeper Marshall Pooley in the 41st minute to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage at the interval, but a marvellous free-kick by Jonathon Ladic five minutes after the resumption made it 2-2.

The skilful Gasparis beat two defenders and slotted the ball past Pooley in the 57th minute to again put the Victorians in front, but Tasmanian captain Chris McKenna fired home the rebound to make it 3-3 after Laino could only parry substitute Billy Gasparinatos’s stinging shot in the 73rd minute.

In the 89th minute, Rudy Saglam played a corner back into midfield to Heidelberg captain Tony Ouliaris, whose chip into the box was headed past substitute keeper Nathan Pitchford by Groenewald for the winner.

Tasmanian women’s squad

In the curtain-raiser, Tasmania’s women’s representative side beat Heidelberg’s women’s team 3-2 after Tasmania led 2-0 at the break through goals by Chelsea Smith and Natalie Reardon.

Lucy Quayle, a Tasmanian guesting for Heidelberg, reduced the arrears in the 55th minute, but Laura Prescott made it 3-1 in the 63rd minute with a cross-cum-shot from long range on the left.

Heidelberg’s women’s squad

Melanie Camilleri pulled a goal back for Heidelberg in the 72nd minute, but Tasmania hung on for a creditable win against a side that has played in the Victorian grand final for three years in a row.

Tasmania v Heidelberg Preview

By Walter Pless

Heidelberg, who finished third in the Victorian top flight competition and then lost the preliminary final, will bring their strongest possible squad to play Tasmania at KGV Park on Saturday at 6pm.

Heidelberg coach, George Katsakis, is hoping that Graham Hockless, the winner of the Victorian best-and-fairest gold medal this season, will be available.

Hockless has been in Perth for trials with A-League club Perth Glory and was due to learn on Thursday night whether he has earned a contract.

If he has not, he will accompany Heidelberg to Tasmania.

Chris Laino, 17, will be in goal in the absence of regular keeper Peter Gavalos, who has had knee surgery, while Marinos Gasparos, who featured in the biggest transfer deal in Victoria this season ($5,500), will feature as an attacking midfielder.

Centre-back Daniel Jones and striker Josh Groenwald will be other players to watch.

“We were one game away from the grand final and we’ve got a squad that’s the best in the Victorian Premier League,” said Katsakis.

“We’ve got players who have represented the State and played in the national league and who have trialed at A-League level.

“We will have our best possible squad coming out.

“I don’t know much about Tasmania. James Sherman, and Mathew Sanders. Two good kids to be quite honest. Good players.

“We really haven’t done much training, other than last night [Tuesday], to be honest, for about five weeks now.

“We’ve just played low key. We had a very simple run last night. We just went through the motions, just to loosen up.

“We haven’t really done too much at all, to be quite honest.”

Heidelberg’s director of football, Jamie Paton, echoed Katsakis’s words when he said: “We haven’t played in quite a while, as you can probably gather, and obviously we haven’t been training.”

Tasmanian coach, Eamonn Kelly, has been forced to omit Hobart Zebras players Andrew Telega, Ben Crosswell, Ricky Self and Aaron Brazendale because they were unavailable for the second leg of the South versus North intrastate series.

Several of the best Northern players have also been omitted for the same reason because Football Federation Tasmania insisted that only players who appeared in both legs would be eligible for the State side.

“Everyone is fit and I can announce that Chris McKenna will captain the team,“ said Kelly.

“I haven’t added anyone to the squad because I’m not allowed to add anyone.

“I’ve got to work with what I’ve got.

“I’d love to add people. Of course I’d love to add people, but it’s just not possible at this point in time.

“The calibre of the players we’ve got in the 16-man squad is good.

“They’ve all worked very hard, they’re all up for the challenge, and they’ve given me 110 per cent commitment and I can’t ask for anything more than that.

“Ben Crosswell finished as the top scorer and won the Vic Tuting Medal, but according to the rules that were set down for us, he didn’t qualify.

“We’d love to have him. I couldn’t think of anything better than having Benny Crosswell in the team, but, unfortunately, we haven’t got him.

“We’ve got the next best thing. No, I can’t say the next best thing. We’ve got the equivalent player, being Chris McKenna, and I’m sure he’ll do a fine job for us.”

Kelly said he knew only a little about Heidelberg after watching videos of two of their games.

“We’ve watched a couple of videos of Heidelberg and we know for a fact they’ve got a very tall back-line,” said Kelly.

“We know for a fact that they don’t play a lot of long football. It’s nearly all played through midfield and they’re very tight in midfield.

“They’ve got a young nippy lad up front who is very, very quick, but, like I said, I can’t remember his name.

“I do know that one of the players from Heidelberg has just signed a contract, or last week signed a contract, with Perth Glory, so he won’t be down here.

“Don’t ask me what his name is because I don’t know.

“But, yes, we’ve been watching them play, and we’ve studied about three or four DVDs of them and I’ve got a fair idea of how they’ll play and line up if they bring the squad we’ve been watching.

“We haven’t settled on a starting eleven at the moment. We’re training with a squad of 16.

“We had a few injury queries with Timmy Claxton up north and Danny White down here, but they’ve both had fitness tests tonight [Wednesday] and Danny White’s come through with flying colours.

“I’ve heard from Tom McGinn that Claxton has come through with flying colours so we can have a full complement of sixteen.”

Kelly said he did not agree with the policy of using only players who had played in the two legs of the intrastate series.

“I don’t agree with it,” he said. “The decision was made by the coaching director, but most probably the decision did come from FFT to Richard [Evans], but Richard enforced it.

“To qualify for the State game, they had to play in both legs, so that obviously means players like Benny Crosswell, Aaron Brazendale, and the list goes on and on, and there’s also some players from up north that didn’t play both games, are not eligible and so you’re pretty well hamstrung.

“If you played in two legs, then that’s the squads you have to choose from.

“As a coach, I feel a little let down that we’re not able to put our best sixteen players on the park because of bureaucracy, I suppose, made at the highest level here in Hobart.

“I wouldn’t say we’re going in with one arm tied behind our back because the calibre of the players we’ve got in the sixteen are good calibre.”

Marshall Pooley of Northern Rangers will start in goal ahead of New Town Eagles’ Nathan Pitchford.

Kelly praised Pitchford for travelling down in mid-week regularly from Launceston to attend training.

Southern league champions South Hobart will have five players in the squad - Hugh Ludford, Liam Scott, Daniel White, Jonathon Ladic and Billy Gasparinatos.

The curtain-raiser at 4pm on Saturday is between the Tasmanian women’s team and Heidelberg’s women’s team, who lost 1-0 in the Victorian grand final.

Tasmania had their final hit-out last Saturday when they drew 1-1 with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport women’s team.

Chelsea Smith will be Tasmania’s main striker after a splendid season in the north, while Jill Couch may be used in defence alongside Melinda Minstrell, who has played in Japan and the USA.

Several of Heidelberg’s players have been trialing with a view to playing in the proposed women’s national league competition.

Incidentally, I was intrigued by the FFT advertisement in “The Mercury” for these two games, which stated ‘limited tickets ring 6273 3299′.  Now that I would like to see!

Vic Tuting Silver Medal and other award winners

By Walter Pless

Ben Crosswell is the 2008 Vic Tuting Medal winner as the best-and-fairest southern Premier League player.

The 24-year-old Tilford Zebras striker, who joined the club from Burnie United this season, polled 27 votes, six ahead of joint second-place getters Igor, of Glenorchy Knights, and three-time winner of the medal, Zebras’ Brett Pullen.

Ben Crosswell

South Hobart midfielder Jonathon Ladic came third with 13 votes.

Crosswell, a police officer by profession, had an outstanding season and finished as the league’s top scorer with 27 goals.

The odd thing is that he was not selected for the Tasmanian side to play Heidelberg United next weekend.

Zebras goalkeeper Frank Mainella and equal second-place getter Brett Pullen

“I’m very surprised to win the award,” said Crosswell after Friday night’s presentation dinner at Wrest Point Hotel Casino. “I thought Igor was going to win this year.

“I’m very happy to take it out this year.

“It seems as if it was one vote for every goal I scored.

“If I play next year, I’ll be playing for Zebras.

Hobart Lord Mayor Rob Valentine presented the medal to Ben Crosswell

“I’ve really enjoyed it there this year. They gave me a free role up front, which I’ve enjoyed and, hopefully, I’ll be able to play up front next year and continue where I left off this year.

“I thought if I polled well in the first half of the year I’d have a chance, but I didn’t expect to get the votes I did in the second half of the season.”

South Hobart’s Ken Morton won the coach-of-the-year award and Kim Barker took out the referee-of-the-year award for the eighth season in a row.

Kim Barker…referee of the year

Rodney Tattam, coach of Glenorchy Knights’ women’s side, won the Women’s Premier League coach-of-the-year award.

Hobart Olympic’s Jamie Walker and New Town Eagles’ Jeremy Marshall were the joint winners of the Premier League Reserves best-and-fairest player award with 12 votes.

Hobart Olympic’s Dipendra Kunwar won the Under-19 best-player award with 24 votes and he was also the league’s top scorer.

Jackson Marsh of Nelson Eastern Suburbs won the Division One player-of-the-year-award with 21 votes.

Nelson Eastern Suburbs’ Jackson Marsh

Hanna Manuela of South Hobart was named as the Women’s Premier League player-of-the-year, polling 22 votes.

Hanna Manuela…State representative and referee

Ken Morton…coach of the year

Vic Tuting Silver Medal Preview

By Walter Pless

Glenorchy Knights’ Brazilian midfielder, Igor, is the favourite to take out the 2008 Vic Tuting Silver Medal as the southern Premier League’s best-and-fairest player.

The medal count takes place on Friday evening, 10 October, at the Wrest Point Hotel Casino.

Igor - full name Igor Oliveira Sao Jose - joined Knights this season from Brazil and scored 13 league goals for the club.

Igor with his trophies from the recent Knights presentation evening

He also had a trial with Melbourne Knights during the latter stages of the season.

Hobart Zebras striker Ben Crosswell is Igor’s biggest threat as he caught the eye by scoring 27 goals to easily finish as the league’s leading marksman.

Crosswell has silky skills, but his goalscoring touch deserted him towards the end of the season.

Ben Crosswell scored 27 goals in the league this season

Zebras captain Brett Pullen, who has a hat-trick of medals to his name, should also poll well, as should Zebras central defender Andrew Telega.

Hobart Olympic will be represented by Chris Tsakiris, Danijel Djekanovic and goalkeeper Dmitri Nester, while Clarence’s Ben Parker, Paul Bremner and Dwayne Walsh are also in the running.

Tsakiris and Bremner may well be the dark horses in the count.

University’s three leading vote-getters are Alexis Bull, Aaron Hindmarsh and goalkeeper Ryo Matsuo, while Kingborough Lions United’s representatives are Charles White, Mark Iseli and Ross Hinkley.

Goalkeeper Ben Peter and midfielder Jacob Gordon are Igor’s team-mates from the Knights who are in the running, while league champion South Hobart will be represented by midfielders Jonathon Ladic, Bart Beecroft and David Abbott.

Beecroft and Abbott cannot be discounted despite probably taking votes off each other.

Alex Leszczynski, Chris Wass and Andrew Clark are New Town Eagles’ invitees, while goalkeeper Michael McKenna, defender Mohand Rahni and midfielder Aaron Marney will represent Metro.

Taroona’s candidates are Tom Sherman, Marcus Atkinson and Jack Elliot.

Tasmanian juniors perform well at national titles

By Walter Pless

Tasmania’s boys’ under-15 football team finished a creditable fifth at the national championships in Coffs Harbour, NSW, last week.

Tasmania’s Sam McIntyre scored with a blistering free-kick to give his side a 1-0 win over Victoria Metropolitan to seal fifth place.

In the earlier games of the week, Tasmania lost 7-2 to Western Australia but then recovered to score some impressive results in the tournament.

Tasmania beat Country NSW 3-2, with Dylan Postma, Sam McIntyre and Brayden Mann scoring the goals in the first half to lead 3-1 at the break and move into third spot in Group B.

Tasmania scored an unprecedented third win in a row when they downed the highly rated Northern NSW 2-1 through a brace by Andy Baron.

They then lost 3-0 to NSW Metropolitan, but still finished third in their group to earn the play off for fifth and sixth place against Victoria Metropolitan.

The Tasmanian under-14s finished in eighth place after going down 5-1 to Capital Football, the ACT representative side, in their play-off match.

Tasmania had begun the tournament well by overcoming Queensland 2-1 on the opening day.

They then drew 1-1 with Northern NSW, 1-1 with Country NSW and 1-1 with South Australia, Jordan Muller netting in the game against the South Australians, to finish fourth in the their group and earn a showdown with Capital Football.

Meanwhile, the Southern Tasmania under-13s left for Newcastle, NSW, on Sunday for a tournament also involving Tasmanian sides from the north and north-west and local Newcastle clubs, including a Newcastle representative side.

The tournament was organised by former Football Federation Tasmania CEO, David Smith, who is now the coaching director for Northern NSW.

The Southern Tasmanian squad of 16 players, coached by Rodney Bones and assisted by Nick Di Martino, began training in February this year after lengthy trials to identify players began last November.

The squad was whittled down from 80 players who began the selection process.

The team has been competing in a southern under-15 competition all season and also played in the Festival Cup and Launceston Cup junior competitions.

“The experiment of playing the these boys up in the under-15 competition shone through in these under-13 tournaments and the guys’ confidence grew when they were once again playing against their own age group,” said Bones.

“I believe the guys will hold their own in Newcastle and, if we apply ourselves in the right ways, we will play a very positive and free-flowing game of football.

“As long as we play football in the style we have shown these guys, then we will be more than competitive against opposition I am expecting to be tough.

“I have a very talented squad of 16 boys this year who work well as a unit and complement each other in every aspect of football.

“Everyone is looking forward to the challenge and I’m positive the boys will make themselves and Tassie football followers very proud whilst away.”

The squad is:  Jake Hartshorn, Nicholas Green, James Ince, Jarron Lulitanond, Ben Aitken, David Mcclung, Brendon Hay, Zac Bury, Greg Mcdonald, Gift Ochaya, Lucas Hill, Nicholas Mearns, Chris Mcdonald, Sam Fahey, Christian Di Martino, Mitchell Stalker, (Coach:  Rodney Bones;  Assistant Coach:  Nick Di Martino;  Sports Trainer:  Wayne Aitken;  Manager:  Brett Hey)

In other news, Igor Oliveira Sao Jose has been names as Glenorchy Knights’ best-and-fairest player and leading goalscorer, while goalkeeper Ben Peter was the players’ player-of-the-year.

In the reserves, Carlos Fuentes was the leading scorer, Marcus Burn the best and fairest, and Peter Frank the players’ player-of-the-year.

Brodie Green took out the Under-19 best-and-fairest award and the players’ player award, while Will Stalker was the most improved and Amadu Koroma the top scorer.

Anthony Grundy and Marina Brkic were awarded life membership.

Stacey Bennett was the Women’s Premier League best-and-fairest player, Brenda Nevin the players’ player and Lauren Griffiths-Lee the leading scorer.

In Women’s Division One, Steevie Coulson was the leading scorer, Jemma Dacy the best and fairest, Michelle Luck the players’ player of the year and Agnes Parr took out the encouragement award.

Spencer Gibbs was the top scorer in the men’s Division Three side, while Jarrod Cumming was the best-and-fairest player and Tony Dzelalija the player’s player of the year.

By Walter Pless

Tasmania beat Queensland 2-1 on the opening day of the Under-14 National Soccer Championships at Coffs Harbour on Saturday.

Hugh Foley put Tasmania ahead with a fine 18-metre left-footed shot to give his side a 1-0 lead at half-time.

Substitute Ethan Engel made it 2-0 with 15 minutes to go before Queensland pulled a goal back in the 84th minute.

“We played a 4-4-2 in hot conditions and didn’t panic and kept our discipline,” said Tasmania’s coach, Dale Itchins.

“They pumped high balls at us and scored six minutes from the end, but we defended well and held out for the final few minutes.”

Tasmania’s Under-15s took the lead against Western Australia but trailed 4-1 at the interval and eventually lost 7-2.

Sam McIntyre gave Tasmania the lead after only two minutes with a free-kick, but Western Australia recovered and scored three quick goals and then another before the break.

Western Australia piled on three more goals after half-time to lead 7-1 before Brayden Mann netted Tasmania’s second near the end.

On Sunday, Tasmania’s under-14s went down 4-0 to Victoria after trailing 2-0 at the break.

The Under-15s trounced the Northern Territory 7-0 after leading 4-0 at the interval. Brayden Mann hit a hat-trick and Jamie Singleton, Will Abbott, Ben Phillips and Sam Jacob netted a goal apiece.

Darby’s side beaten in Lebanon

By Walter Pless

Former Tasmanian coaching director Steve Darby was devastated when his Malaysian side Perak were beaten 5-0 away in Beirut by Lebanese team Safa in the second-leg of the Asian Cup-Winners’ Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Safa won 7-0 on aggregate, having beaten Perak 2-0 away in Ipoh two weeks ago.

Safa, who led 2-0 at the interval in Beirut, scored twice through Rony Azar and once each through Hussein Tahan, Mohammad Kassas and Mahmoud El Zoughbi.

Speaking from Dubai airport on the way home to Malaysia, Darby said everything had gone against his side.

“We played well for 40 minutes and we hit the post four times,” said Darby, who also coached Devonport City and New Town Eagles during his Tasmanian stint.

“Then, they hit two quick goals just before the break and we ran out of petrol.

“I only had 14 players as five had walked out because they hadn’t been paid.

“On top of that, the players went 14 hours without food and drink because of Ramadan fasting, and after nightfall, when they could eat, they broke their fast only with dates and noodles.

“They were also suffering from a lack of sleep.

“In the second half, it was like watching Michael Jackson moon walking.”

Darby said he was close to the end of his three years with Perak but had no new club lined up as yet.

Beachside v Christian United Match Report [Division One Knock-out Cup, Wellesley Park, Saturday, 20 September 2008]

By Walter Pless
________________________________________________

Beachside 1 (Direen 50)
Christian United 2 (Page 15, T Wierenga 39)

HT: 0-2 Att: 50 Ref: N Mele

Beachside: Smee - Frost (Chadwick 60), Grzinic, Box - Depino, Direen, Ikin,, McCarthy, Evans (Christian 64) - Reason, Brown (Gardner 90)

Beachside

Christian United: Nicholson - Noble, T Wiernga, J Wierenga (Dolliver 87) - Walter, Manasseh, Lumago, Livingston, De Deuge (Whayman 60) - Page, Arnold (Dixon 81)

Christian United
_________________________________________________

Christian United celebrated their 10th anniversary in style on Saturday by winning the Division One Knock-out Cup with a 2-1 victory over Beachside at Wellesley Park.

Christian had finished second-last in the league and Beachside third, but one wouldn’t have known it in this clash.

Referee Nino Mele tosses the coin for the two captains

Christian were under the pump in the opening stages against a keen and spirited Beachside outfit that was looking to salvage something from the season.

Brad Evans should have done better than to shoot wide for Beachside in the 8th minute as he was well positioned and not under pressure.

In the 14th minute, Christian were again let off the hook when Daniel Frost headed over the bar from close range while unchallenged.

Christian’s David Noble holds off Beachside’s Andrew Reason

Having survived these early scares, Christian hit back and only a fine and brave save by Beachside goalkeeper, Daniel Smee, who plucked the ball from the feet of Ashley Page, prevented Christian from taking the lead.

It would have been an injustice, however, as the referee appeared to hesitate in making a decision and then ignored the Christian foul in midfield which had led to the attack.

Seconds later, Beachside went behind to a goal that looked suspiciously off-side. Page’s shot was blocked by Smee and the ball rebounded to Jesse Arnold, whose pass found Page and he knocked the ball into the net.

Beachside keeper Adam Smee catches a corner

Beachside protested, but it was to no avail. To their credit, they rolled up their sleeves and got stuck back into their task.

They were almost rewarded in the 23rd minute when Adam Direen’s looping header bounced back into play off the right-hand post.

Beachside knew they were in trouble when Christian netted a second goal six minutes before the interval.

Brian Roberts presents the Cup to Tim Wierenga

Beachside blocked a corner from the left, but the ball fell to Arnold, who slipped it inside to Christian captain, Tim Wierenga, who turned and volleyed a magnificent strike into the far corner of the net to make it 2-0.

That was truly a goal worthy of winning a cup final.

The heavens opened up at half-time and the rain was still bucketing down as Christian kicked off the second half with a strong wind behind their backs.

But, it was Beachside who reduced the arrears five minutes after the resumption when Direen’s shot bounced just in front of goalkeeper Scott Nicholson and the ball sneaked past him and into the net.

Christian’s Tim Wierenga closes down Beachside’s Andrew Reason

Beachside should have taken the game to a penalty shoot-out when Michaelangelo Depino was presented with a simple chance at the far post from a corner, but he nodded tamely wide from close range.

Christian created few chances of their own, but they managed to hold on for a satisfying 2-1 win.

Brian Roberts, a former Football Federation Tasmania official, was handed the trophy by FFT’s Kenneth Hansen and Roberts presented it to Christian captain, Tim Wierenga, amid great jubiliation.

__________________________________________________

• Beachside’s Daniel Gardner said:

“It was a hard-fought game and we had a lot of possession and probably could have got over the line.

“But, like the whole season in Division One and the Reserves, we don’t put the goals in the back of the net when we have the chance.

“We’ll grab a striker or two next year and we’ll make sure we get them in.”

• Christian United’s Angus Livingston said:

“It was a great win for the boys.

“We had a pretty slow season and we’ve just really worked hard in the last half of the year and put it together.

“We got a bit of momentum and beat the first and second teams on the ladder and today we got a good win, so we’re pretty happy.

“It’s a great way to celebrate the tenth anniversary. It’s good to see the club is still going strong ten years after we started.

“We’ve got a good young group of guys and, hopefully, we can build on this next year.”

• Christian United president, Trevor Catherall, said:

“I thought it was fantastic.

“We had a really rough season. It’s been slow, we’ve been unlucky, and we’ve beaten the top three teams.

“It couldn’t get much better than that.

“It’s just a chance to get out there and say, ‘Yes, we can do it’.

“It gives the boys a bit of confidence, and the girls, too, because they won.

“Yeah, we’re rapt.”
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STATISTICS

BEACHSIDE CHRISTIAN UNITED
18 Goal Attempts 10
7 Shots on Target 7
7 Corners 2
8 Fouls Committed 13
4 Off-Sides 4
2 (Box 12, Reason 35) Yellow Cards 2 (Arnold 64, Manasseh 80)
0 Red Cards 0

Beachside:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Box 1 1
Direen 4 3
Evans 2 0
Brown 6 2
Reason 3 1
Frost 1 0
Depino 1 0

Christian United:

PLAYER GOAL ATTEMPTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Page 3 2
Arnold 2 2
Livingston 1 0
T Wierenga 1 1
Manasseh 1 0
Walters 1 1
Whayman 1 1

Match Summary for Saturday, 20 September 2008

By Walter Pless

North beat South 4-1 in the second leg of the intrastate men’s series on a wet and windswept Windsor Park in Launceston on Saturday.

The result means North won the series 8-1 on aggregate, having beaten the South 4-0 in Hobart the previous weekend.

With surface water an impediment to both sides, North shrugged off the conditions and showed more commitment and better team-work than their southern counterparts.

North striker, Chris McKenna, was man-of-the-match.

Alex Holmes could not subdue him and McKenna scored twice and made the other two goals following corners, which caused all sorts of difficulties for the South defence, including keeper Ben Peter.

David Cooper put South ahead in the 6th minute, but McKenna made it 1-1 three minutes later with a pile-driver from 25 metres.

A McKenna header from a corner in the 18th minute put North in front, while Bobby Eaves made it 3-1 for the home-side on the half-hour after a knock-down by McKenna from a corner.

South had little to offer in the second half and Todd Hingston’s goal, following yet another corner, made it 4-1 with 11 minutes remaining.

In the women’s second-leg intrastate match, a penalty by Kendall Brazendale 10 minutes from the end gave North a 1-0 win over South, who had been victorious 2-0 in Hobart the previous weekend and so took the series 2-1 on aggregate.

Christian United with the Division One Knock-out Cup

In Saturday’s Division One Knock-out Cup final at Wellesley Park, Christian United celebrated their 10th anniversary by collecting the trophy with a 2-1 win over Beachside.

Beachside squandered several good chances and trailed 1-0 to a goal which looked suspiciously off-side by Ashley Page on the quarter-hour.

Christian’s Tim Wierenga (right) shuts down Beachside’s Andrew Reason

Only good goalkeeping by Adam Smee denied Christian another couple of goals in the first half as Page and Jesse Arnold threatened.

Christian’s second goal was magnificent and came from a volley on the turn by captain Tim Wierenga in the 39th minute after Beachside failed to clear a corner.

Brian Roberts hands the trophy to Christian captain, Tim Wierenga

The heavens opened up in the second half and, together with the strong wind, made conditions difficult for both sides.

Christian had to fight hard but hung on for victory, despite Adam Direen pulling a goal back for Beachside in the 50th minute.

Beachside’s Cup Final squad

INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG FOSTER (19 September 2008)

Craig Foster

Walter Pless: You must be pleased with the way the Socceroos are going?

Craig Foster: The results have been excellent and Verbeek, the coach, I think he’s done an excellent job of managing the way through what is a very tricky qualifying campaign.

Often - I’d say roughly fifty per cent of the time - the football has been excellent, and fifty per cent it hasn’t been brilliant. Of course, as football fans, we’d love to see them play outstanding football every time.

I think some of that is probably down to the fact that he came in very late. He only had a couple of months to get hold of the team. He had very little time to prepare them and to get into the campaign itself, so he’s really managed, his management of the campaign strategy and logistics has been unbelievably good.

The win against Uzbekistan, I would probably rate it at least as one of the top ten World Cup qualifying away performances ever, so it was exceptionally good in almost all regards and they’re set up now beautifully. Seven games to go, and if they win their home matches, basically, they’re through.

WP: Do you think they will qualify?

CF: Well, I’m a typical fan. I go from extremely positive to extremely negative, all in the space of a day, basically. ‘I don’t know’ is the simple answer, because it’s not easy. It’s extremely tough.

Japan are strong, Qatar are improving. Bahrein is the team, really, we should have their measure fairly comfortably.

What I can say is that they couldn’t possibly be in a better position to qualify. They’re extremely strong at home, Australia. I think the China game, only a couple of months ago, was basically the Olyroos and that was the first time we lost a home World Cup qualifier for many, many years, maybe twenty years or something.

So, at home, we have to be extremely confident. We’re very tough to beat. The Aussie players love to play in front of their home crowd. They’ll get fantastic support from Australia now, all walks of life, so, we’ve got to be really confident about getting those home results and that will see them through.

And the other thing is we’ve been quite fortunate, really, because we have the weaker of the two groups. The other group is, I think, a bit stronger than us.

What I’m very confident of is that we will absolutely, or should, absolutely, make the top three, and that keeps us alive. But, at the moment, we’re right in the box seat to make the top two automatic qualification for 2010.

Naomi Hannaford of Tasmanian Sports Camps with Craig Foster

WP: Are you happy with the A-League?

CF: I’m happy in a lot of ways and I’m unhappy in some. That’s just the nature of the beast, the nature of the sport, and it’s the nature of a football lover.

I’m extremely pleased with the traction that the A-League has gained in the sporting landscape in this country, which is an extremely tough one, and in the hearts and minds of Australians.

The crowds have been excellent. This season is a bit of a challenge at the moment, partly because of the Olympics, and the finals in the other codes, but that’ll come good.

The clubs have already, after only three seasons, there’s two clubs already out of eight, making a profit. That’s an extraordinary result in only three years for a fledgling professional league. So, all of the indicators are brilliant.

I’d like to see some of the technical side change, but that’s a matter of evolution, I think, in terms of the coaching, in terms of some of the play, and all those types of things. They’re all points up for discussion for change over the next five years to better support our national teams.

But, you know, we’ve all got to be very pleased with the way the league’s grown.

Craig Foster signs a Socceroo shirt

WP: Is there a place for Tasmania, possibly, eventually?

CF: I’d love to see Tasmania in. I think these areas, such as, for instance, North Queensland, I like, but Canberra, Tasmania, even perhaps in future, Darwin, for instance, they’re very important, because the simple reason is this, that it capitalises on one of the strengths of our code, and that is, we are the strongest nationally, right across the country.

We all know that AFL in the southern States is extremely strong, but they struggle in many of the other ones. We know that the same applies for Rugby League, and the same applies for Rugby Union.

Our code may not be the strongest in all of them, yet it is the strongest across all of them. That’s why it’s important, because we are the only really true national football code, and we have to take advantage of that.

Tasmania has a very strong history in football. It has a strong development system, and it has the right to participate in a national football competition. I’d love to see a team come from here.

WP: SBS was the flagship of Australian football. Do you think it’s been side-lined a little bit by pay TV and, if so, are you disappointed?

CF: Well, I’m not sure it’s been side-lined, but, my view on the issue is simply this, that I’m not a huge fan of sporting rights, of sporting competitions, being pay-per-view.

I just don’t, philosophically, I don’t really agree with that in the sense I’m from Lismore, which is a country area. Many of the people there, and in country and regional areas, cannot afford to pay monthly sums just to watch the sport that they love. So, there are many, many kids missing out.

Now, if the A-League has to be on pay TV because of the revenues, it needs the money, then okay, we can accept that. But I can never accept the Socceroos, the national team, being on pay TV.

I think it’s a disgrace. I think that the government was wrong in not having it on the anti-siphoning list and, to me, to think that Indigenous populations in central Australia, regional and country areas, and this huge population base of Australian kids can’t see the Socceroos play because they can’t pay, I think it’s disgraceful.

In terms of SBS, the game is growing and SBS has to remain relevant. This is the beauty of the growth of the game. Pressure is on everyone to perform, to maintain a role. That’s the nature of growth in the sport. I think it’s fantastic for the sport and there’s no problem whatsoever.

WP: You mentioned the Indigenous factor. Do you think Australian football taps into the Indigenous population enough?

CF: Well, no. We’ve always neglected it and Australian football has neglected many, many things, and it’s all starting to come around now.

I know there are concrete plans at the governing body, at the FFA, to put some programs in place to start to really support Indigenous kids. We’ve had some wonderful success in the last year with Travis Dodd and Jade North both being captains of their respective A-League teams and Jade North, the first Indigenous captain of a football team to win a national league title. It was wonderful stuff. Those two are great ambassadors and the game needs to utilise them more as well.

But, I often say to people, okay, well you tell me which Indigenous area in central Australia has FOX? You tell me which Indigenous community, you know, can pay $80 or $100 a month to watch the A-League?

I mean, you need to also promote your game whilst you need to show the kids, you know, and then give them an opportunity, and, you know, I’d question how much we’re doing that when you’re charging also for people to be watching it. I think, you know, there’s a bit of mismatch there.