Saturday 28 June 2014

Saturday and Sundays results

Only one game was played out today in terrible conditions, the other two were cancelled for two different reasons.
At Burnie united the game did not even start or players warm up due to the referees agreeing that both Burnies grounds were unsafe to play on. The reserves game was called off at 63 minutes as well, which if had gone on for two more minutes would have counted as a result.
Devonport v Launceston City never went ahead due to City not being able to provide enough players for the day.
At Ulverstone the game started and finished in shocking conditions but I would have to state that the show grounds do have the best drainage system on the coast. Rains all day and the pitch socks it all up. Even back when they used to hold state cups it would always drain well.

Ulverstone 2 drew with Riverside 2

Sundays results at the NTCA
Scores from the NTCA Today.

NPL:
Northern Rangers 7 (J.Wani 2, S.Hamilton 2, G.Tams, A. McIntyre, J.Harrison) def Launceston United 0
HT 3:0

Women:
Northern Rangers 1 lost Prospect Knights 5.
HT 1:0

League 1:
Northern Rangers 2 def Launceston United 0
HT 1:0

U18s:
Norther Rangers 5 def Launceston United 2

League 2
Norther Rangers 5 def Launceston United 1

Thursday 26 June 2014

Wet Weather Has Set In For Round 12

This weekend will see more mud than goals. With wet weather right across the state, it will play havoc on the top teams and will not allow teams to play their styles. This is where any team can win on the day and there may be a few surprises this week.

Burnie United V Somerset Sharks 2:30pm Montello
This is defiantly game of the round with it not only just the derby but for the first time in a long time both teams are sitting in the 4 and looking to play finals while Somerset are still keeping an eye on their second consecutive title.
United ground can be seen from far away when coming from a certain direction and there is more brown than green on the ground atm and may play a huge factor in this game. Add 2 games before it, It could be who can build the biggest mud pie instead of how many goals can we score.
United are in fine form and Connor Parke is showing that he has his Dads and Granddads talents and nearly scoring in every game.
Trent Potts and Andy Gibbson have been dominating the middle this year and will be a stern test for them tomorrow coming up against what may be the best midfield in the competition.
Somerset have been setting the net alight over the past 4 weeks scoring a massive 36 goals for and only leaking 3.
The move by Jeremy DeBomford to play Captain Chris Smith on the field is paying him back in 10 folds. Smith has also scored in every game he has played on the field.
President Nigel Brown said this"same story as last week but expecting a much harder match and is forecast cold and windy, so Montello it will not be condusive to very pleasant playing conditions.
We expect this to be a real ding dong affair as there is little love in the local Derby.
I watched Burnie 2 weeks ago and was very impressed with the work rates of Trent Potts and Andy Gibson in midfield. Their battle against Kaimon Johnson and Chris Smith will be worth the entry cost alone. I am expecting fireworks.

Ulverstone V Riverside 2:30 pm Ulverstone Show Grounds
Ulverstone are coming off the bye last week and will be fresh and ready to take on the unbeaten Riverside at home. Riverside only beat Ulverstone in the first round 3-1, So the Red swill be full of confidence knowing they are at home.
Connor Meanie and his brother are the go to men for the Reds and Josh Smith in the sticks is always strong.But will they be able to with stand the on slaut of Olympic.
Riverside are the team to beat and will be very hard in doing so. Not one player is weak and even their bench bolsters some great young talent.
Chris Wademan and Todd Mitchell scored against the Reds last time and will be looking to do the same again.
Wayne Penfold said this"This week we travel to the coast and take on a dangerous Ulverstone side. They pushed us all the way last round. We played with 10 men for the majority of the 2nd half but still managed to take the points. Home ground advantage is a big factor on Saturday as I have heard that the Ulverstone pitch is a little smaller than others.
 
Ulverstone have some good attacking players and have a solid defensive unit. They are coached very well and are a disciplined side who have had some good results.
 
If we can pressure Ulverstone into making errors and then capitalise on them, then we should be able to get on top of them. Creating chances hasn’t been an issue for us of late, it’s just a matter of finishing off our good build up play and putting the ball into the back of the net. Last week we managed to do that and I'm expecting us to keep up to the standard against the Reds.
 
Taylor Neilson played last week after a fitness test, but pulled up sore midway through the 2nd half. He is still troubled by his injury but we will be smart and leave him out this week as we have the bye next week. So that should give him sufficient time to come right. His place will be taken by Mitchell Neilson who deserves his chance to come into the side.

Devonport V Launceston City 5pm Valley Road

Northern Rangers V Launceston United 230.pm SUNDAY
Rangers host United in the last game of the round and the Rangers will be looking to get back on the winners list.Rangers have been hit hard by injures this year and that has effected their results.
Rangers should get the win at home. 
Coach Donk said this"This week we have come off a tough result away to Somerset, but given the players available at present in the club due to a woeful run of injuries, I am prod of the way the lads battled under trying conditions.  We started two players from the under 18s who had played a full 90 minutes and made the best of a bad situation.  Take nothing away from Somerset though, they deserved their win.

Unfortunately we lost another two of our young players to injury in that game, Chris Collins is out for the season and Alex Fulton we are not sure on, so to date we have lost at some point nearly everyone of our under 20 players to injury when playing against a side that has none of the restrictions, the educated pundit can draw their own conclusions around whether or not FFT as stewards of the game are doing the right thing by matching boys against men, but I have been a long standing critic of this rule on Victory league clubs, and for this week we have just 7 players to pick a side from.


Our Victory League side have four players injured out of their list too, so we just cant take a trick at the moment.


The number of available players may improve after the Victory League game if Tim Lunnon does not use all of his substitutes, but its a battle under these rules, while perfectly able bodied players sit in our league 1 and league 2 sides but can not take the pitch for the Northern Premier League because they are over 20 and not in the Victory League list of players.


We will be forced to use even younger players this week against Launceston as we need to draw from our Under 18s to fill the positions on the park.  


Josh Burk is an outside chance to come back into the group but he will be given until kick off to decide, and the same goes for Adam McItyre while Dylan Headland is now almost certainly out for the year to injury after playing just 4 games.


Launceston have had some good results, so its going to take a super effort from our remaining fit players to get over them at home.  I expect a tough battle, but have great belief in all of our players, and I believe we can get the job done, all I can hope for is an injury free weekend.


Friday 20 June 2014

Saturdays and Sundays results

Launceston United 1 lost to Prospect 3 (Rhys Kinslow 2 Anton lapolambara 1)

Riverside 7 DEF Devonport 1

Launceston City 0 lost to Burnie United 2

SUNDAYS RESULT
Somerset 6 def Rangers 0

Second round starts tomorrow

Burnie can jump into the 4 this week with a win and a few games going their way. With no games on the coast Saturday football fans may find the time to mow their lawns and spend time with their family's, UNTIL Sunday when Somerset host Rangers at Shark Park.

Launceston United V Prospect Knights 2:30 pm Birch Ave
Launceston look good on paper but over the years have struggled to convert from paper to the actual game. This week they host the Knights and will be looking to do the double over them this year after beating the Knights 2-0 in the first round.
Ray Heald and the Knights would be angered by the first round result and would be looking to turn the result around tomorrow. After last weeks big loss to the Sharks the Knights are slowly getting senior players back from injury and this week would probably be the strongest they have been this year.
Ray Heald had this to say"We still have some injury concerns  but welcome Mark Baker, Greg Duffy and Lachie Farrell this week, Mitch Duffy still out rolled angle  ,   after playing the top two teams in the last three rounds, Somerset are the stand out when they have their full squad available, rumor has it some are also playing Footy could have an impact if true, we will be looking to improve on our first round defeat of 2-0 against united the first half of the season we struggled to score goals, but are finally getting some players back that can improve  our averages in front of the goals.
 
Launceston City V Burnie United 2:30 pm Mitsubishi Park
City find them selves with the daunting task in hosting the inform Burnie United. United were very unlucky not to take a point last week at home against ladder leaders riverside and would be drooling at having the chance to play bottom side City at home with no V League team playing there.
Ray Parke has selection issues this week, But not the bad and in a very long time Burnie have a full 16 senior players to choose from. Their Brisbane import Peter Van Ek is back for this game and may find him self as the general in the back line with the every ready Josh Daily.
If Burnie win this and Sharks beat Rangers and with Ulverstone having the bye, United will be in the top four and will be hard to get back out.

Riverside V Devonport 2:30 pm Windsor Park
Riverside are at home and will be looking to keep its unbeaten record for this year and keep the 3 point gap against the Sharks. Even though Riverside controlled the game last week they found them selves only just taking the three points Wayne Penfold would not be happy and would of ironed out the little issues at training through the week. Riverside are strong all the way across the park and their defence over lap like any professional team does and that is one of so many reasons why Olympic are at the top undefeated.
Coach Penfold said this"We were perhaps a little lucky to get the win against Burnie last week. Its always a tough assignment at Montello, just like the Devonport Strikers are always a difficult opponent. They are very well coached and will pose a threat to our unbeaten run.
There is an injury cloud over Taylor Neilson this
week, so if he doesn't come up, he will be replaced by his brother Mitchell.
Devonport seem to have a more settled line up this time around and have had some good performances since their last loss in Rd 4 against Somerset.
We expect another hard fought game and every game is effectively a Cup game for us, so we will be pushing hard for a victory.

Somerset v Rangers Sunday 230 pm Shark Park
Somerset will be looking to keep pressure on Riverside. Nigel Brown has this to say"We have moved our home game to Sunday at Rangers request. The reason being that I raised the issue at a presidents meeting that when VL clubs travel they rarely bring supporters, this means that a third of our home games bring very little revenue into the club and will eventually cause non VL clubs financial hardship.
Rangers asked for the transfer as they have a double header on the Saturday and this will allow them to maximize the numbers to this attraction.
Likewise they have assured us they will better support the Sunday match.
The Sharks will be at full strength and several players from last weeks Division 1 win are pressing their claim for a senior berth. With 16 players in the senior squad the selection panel will have a difficult job on Thursday night.
After Olympic escaped against Burnie last round we will need to keep on scoring, and winning, as goal difference may end up bring crucial at the end of the year.
The pitch has had a five week rest and is in excellent condition, so I expect three cracking good matches, and with the matches being in Sunday they should attract a good crowd.

Ladder after round 9
1Riverside99003382527
2Somerset98014764124
3Devonport961232191319
4Nth Rangers93241821-311
5Ulverstone93151716110
6Burnie93061219-79
7Prospect93061131-209
8L'ton United8116930-214
9L'ton City9117938-294

Friday 13 June 2014

Saturday and Sunday results

Burnie 2 lost to Riverside 3

Devonport 3 beat Ulverstone 2

Prospect 0 lost to Somerset 9 (kyrone Johnson 4, James Nettelton 2, Andrew Willcox 1, Chris Smith 1, own goal)

Sunday at the NTCA

Vic League:
Rangers 1 lost to South Hobart 6

NPL:
Rangers 5 (M.Dent, D.Sparrshot, C.Collins, D.Headland, J.Wani) def Launceston City.  HT 2-0.

League 1:
Rangers 3 def City 0

U18s:
Rangers 7 def City 0

Burnie are looking to settle in the 4

Burnie face top of the table Riverside in Round 10. 
Burnie’s Coach Raymond Parke is expecting an uphill battle against the league’s current benchmark but is ready for the fight.
“Riverside are the form team in the competition, they gave us a proper touch up in the first round but hopefully we’ve learnt from that game and have a more settled line up a lot fitter and maybe a surprise is on the cards,” said Parke.
Clubs are playing for 3rd and 4th place we are where we are due to our inability to score goals and this puts extra pressure on us,” added Parke.
Parke is looking for application from his side.
Riverside are not only a skillful unit but also a tough unit as results show but we will try hard to find a chink in their armour
“ Not to concede early goals, win the battles in the vital areas and improve on our goal scoring.”
Somerset Sharks travel to Prospect Park to tackle the Knights.
The Sharks enter confident of securing a result.
"We will be taking a full strength squad up. Elliot Stewart, Kaimon Johnson and Keiran Whitehouse all back in the mix. Just eager to put another big score card in,” said the Somerset Coach.
The Sharks President Nigel Brown is hoping his boys are on their game.
"Start of the second round and we need to keep winning to keep pressure on leaders Olympic. Prospect Knights have some quality back in and are tough at home so we will need to be on our game as we cannot afford a slip up."
Devonport and Ulverstone tussle in a northwest derby.
Rangers and Launceston City also face off in a Northern Derby, Rangers enter the clash disappointed with their output to date.
“To say we are disappointed with the first half of our season would be an understatement.  Seventh place is simply not good enough for the squad that we have, even with the restrictions put on us by FFT.  During the last couple of weeks, we have had some discussions around what we expect as a group and what would be a pass mark at the end of the season, and nothing short of a top four finish will be good enough for our group,” said Northern Rangers Coach Brendan Lichtendonk.
“At the start of the year I really felt we would still be in a position to challenge for the title at this point, and I take responsibility for that, the aim now is to let history be that, and move on and do everything we can to achieve our goals from this point.
“We still have some injury concerns, but this week we welcome back Dylan Headland, who we have sorely missed since he was injured, having only played 2 games for us, he is still our leading goal scorer I think, so its exciting to get him back this week. 
“Adam McIntyre is fully fit again, and he was great when he came on against Riverside last match, and with a little more composure with his challenges, he will be one of our most important players for the rest of the season.
“We will continue to work on our front three, we just aren't getting a return for our efforts in the front third, and something needs to change this week.  Mitch Dent will come back and join the Premier League this week to get some time in his legs after some games in the Victory League from the bench, we will throw him up front and give him some licence to get at City's back four and hopefully do some damage, but he needs to also play to our system and ensure he works for the team, something that will be tough having not played with us before.
“We have lost our midfield play maker in Ash Fisher up to Victory League this week, he has been really consistent for us, so we will miss him, and we are still waiting on Josh Burk to return from injury too, hopefully next week as Josh has simply been outstanding in nearly every game. 
Its a different looking side from our last match with Riverside, but we are confident we can get the second half of the year off to a good start, and build towards a strong finish.

Friday 6 June 2014

People's thoughts on where this year is heading

As we are half way through the year, I really thought I would struggle from not playing this year and though the season would drag on. But WOW it has flew up until this date.
Who would of thought Riverside would be sitting pretty at the top and undefeated after having a dismal year last year. Wayne Penfold must deserve his credits as his percistance in playing and coaching quality football is paying off.
Somerset are doing ok but not as well as I expected. Yes they only have lost one game and scored 21 goals I. Their last to games, but with the squad they have I though they would be the bench mark. But - loss is still phenomenal and they will be out to prove some thing I. The second half.
Devonport are sitting third and probably will stay there all year.
Ulverstone after a very slow start has had a good back half of the round after beating the Rangers and Devonport they find them selves still in the 4 only just after loosing to Burnie last week but should be there abouts come finals time.
Burnie united have jumped to 5th at the half way mark with the win last week and they also have had an up and down start to the season but will be looking to finish in the 4 and have a real crack come finals time.
Prospect sit in 6th spot and are on the same points as Burnie. It's really amazing this year that with only 3 wins and both. Pubs only find them selves 1 point out of the 4. Prospect were bit hard from the start of the season with injures but are now slowly getting senior players back and with the likes of Mitch Duffy returning can only excite coach Ray Heald for the second half of the season.
Rangers would be disappointed where they are sitting and will look to still try and make the top 4 but with the V League and the restrictions that fft have implemented and ruined for these clubs that have V League teams may find it hard to make the 4 now.
Both Launceston City and United are equal bottom on points and will be a fight till the end


POSTEAMPWDLPTS
1Riverside880024
2Somerset870121
3Devonport851216
4Ulverstone831410
5Burnie83059
6Prospect83059
7Nth Rangers82248
8L'ton United81164
9L'ton City81164

POSTEAMPWDLPTS
1Riverside880024
2Somerset870121
3Devonport851216
4Ulverstone831410
5Burnie83059
6Prospect83059
7Nth Rangers82248
8L'ton United81164
9L'ton City81164
g whistle to see who decides which club will finish last. It may be a long  second half for both clubs.