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| 24th. April |
Riverside
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1
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3
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Kingborough Lions
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Neil Roper
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Ross Iles
Stephen Chetcuti
Tim Dale
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Match report
This was a game of two halves. In the first the Lions seemed
disorganised. Crowding in the midfield was the
order of the day.
Riverside started the match showing more initiative and desire but the
Lions started to claw their way back
into the match after 20 minutes. But attacking moves tended to breakdown
in the midfield. I don't know if it
was nerves or just eager anticipation but a few of the players were
struggling to retain their positions.
One of the shining lights in the first half was the runs being made by
Scott Pepper. Riverside had no answer
to Pepper's attack or defence and he continued to create headaches all
day. But the Riverside team were
starting to find holes in the defence aided, primarily by their speedy
forwards. The only Riverside player not
making any impression was the one marked by Mr Reliable, Nathan Vagg.
The more I see of this lad, the
more I am convinced he is the best 'man marker' in Tasmanian soccer
today.
Deservedly, Riverside scored the first goal on the twenty minute mark.
But this was the medicine needed by
the Lions for it was one way traffic from then on.
Tim Dale hit the post from a Pepper cross and Ross Iles, who was
starting to push forward was creating havoc
for the Riverside defence. Iles was working well with Chetcuti (the man
formerly with no nickname...but
more on this later!), feeding off little flick passes. Ross was leaving
the Riverside defence in tatters with his
explosive speed and ability to run at defenders. And it was Iles who
found the equaliser 8 minutes before half
time with a wicked shot that could not be held by the keeper.
Half time : 1-1
The second half was all Kingborough, especially when Coach Calvert
swapped Dale into attack and brought
Sanita into a midfield role.
The Lions were finding holes in the Riverside defence at will. Pepper
was putting some beautiful, pin point
crosses into the goal mouth. Only the scrambling defence was denying the
Lions a deserved goal to take
them into the lead. In the 58th minute Pepper placed a beautiful cross
onto the head of an unmarked
Chetcuti who was lurking at the back of the eighteen yard line, and a
well placed ball over the keeper put
the Lions in front. This was also the first Kingborough goal for the
'big guy' and if all the rest are just as
pretty he will have earned his transfer fee (sic)!!
It was only 3 minutes later that Chetcuti appeared to have done it again
after receiving an identical ball to
an identical position, and placing it to the same spot. Only the
keeper's outstretched fingertips denied him.
Riverside looked like they may have had an equaliser soon after when
they beat the offside trap and with
only the keeper to beat. Lucky the Riverside striker hadn't heard of
'Spider' Beardwood, who with
outstretched body, gathered the ball and the striker in one fluid
motion. This was the last time Riverside
seriously threatened the Lions goal.
Iles, Dale, Sanita, Parker & Chetcuti were lining up to add to the score
line and even Brian Reynolds looked
like he was eager to have a go after venturing well into the opposing
half.
It has to be said that once again, Ian Parker was playing out of his
skin and if he keeps playing like he has
been in the past two weeks, he is a real possibility for the Vic Tuting
Medal. If this were to happen, Parker,
at xx years (your secret's safe Ian) this would set some kind of record
in Tassie soccer.
Tim Dale spent twelve months playing (and coaching) at Riverside in 1998
while attending Uni. While with
Riverside, Tim was a runaway leading goal scorer in the Northern
competition and he wanted, above all else,
to show that he can still slot them away with the best of them. In the
78th minute Tim got his chance when
he received a ball from the right and with a first time shot, slotted
the ball past the keeper and into the right
side of the goal. An exquisite goal from a master craftsman.
It ws also good to see Ben Daley (for Wade Barker) and Michael Wells
(for Ross Iles) getting a run. Both
players made an immediate impact and the intensity was maintained until
the final whistle
The only concern for the match was the replacement of Michael Driessen
(with Charles White) with a slight
groin strain but on examination it appeared to be fairly superficial and
Driessen should be fit to take his
place against Eagles next week.
Full time saw a deserved 3-1 win to the Lions and advancement into the
next round.
On a final note, it was great to see the support received by this team.
I am sure this will not be the last time
when the Lions supporters well and truly outnumbered the home teams'
supporters. The "LION PRIDE" made
their way to Launceston in many vehicles and we were still able to fill
a coach. Thanks to all those
supporters who made this journey. Your support means more to the players
than you realise. Now wouldn't it
be great to get some singing and chants going. Who knows maybe next time
we can take two buses.
Oh yeah!! The-man-with-no-nickname (Chetcuti)?? Well, he now has one.
If anyone has seen this blokes feet, it was SO obvious. They are broad,
flat, hairless and the toes are so
small they almost appear to be webbed!!!
Steve Chetcuti is now known as DUCK!!!!!! It is even more obvious when
you see him run (especially on a
heavily sloped ground); from the hips up he looks composed and smooth
(like a duck on water) but you know
only too well that (underneath) those legs are pumping for all they're
worth. So DUCK it is!!! (It's a bit scary
though when you think that Kingborough's strike force are knownrespectively as,
Duck & Turtle
(could be handy on a wet pitch though!!!)
C'MON 'BOROUGH
BCH
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