Goals Of March and April.

Time to have your say!  Vote on our poll as to which goal or goals you believe should be crowned goal of March and April.

We are aware there are a couple of errors in the video, but it is difficult when having to deal via email for all correspondence.  Please accept our apologies, I believe the poll has the info correct though.

A big thank you to Stefano Lufi (Mr Video) for compiling the clip, Mark Poulson and Ayden Demijer for also contributing footage this year.  The more cameras pointing at the goal, the better chance we have of capturing these goals.  If you have filmed games or just captured a good goal on tape, please forward us the info for the next two months package.

Vote away and tell your friends to do the same.

Match Report Ulverstone v Launceston City

Ulverstone 4 - 1 Launceston City

We scored 2 goals in the first ten minutes. The first was a Michael Grey tap in after Kyle Baldock had 4 shots blocked by defenders. The second was the first goal of Conor Meaney's hat trick. He took the ball down well and rocketed home from about 15 yards.

2-0 at half time.

The second half started with 2 quick goals. Meaney's second goal came only minutes into the half after shouts of a penalty were turned down and he finished with composure. City hit back straight away after Sam Wood had some trouble with the sun. He had to look away and the ball ricocheted of his back. City put a good cross over and scored. Meaney's 3rd came from the penalty spot after Michael Grey was taken down as he was about to shoot.

We played some really good football for most of the game and we kept up the pressure defensively. We didn't give City much of a chance when they had the ball hence they weren't at their best. Key word for us now is consistency.

Results

Sorry the Blog was out for a while!!

Ulvie 4 - 1 Laun City

Somerset 1 - 2 Burnie

Devonport 3 - 1 Riverside

Prospect 4 - 2 Launceston Utd

This Weekend's Fixtures

Somerset v Burnie Cardigan St
Somerset’s Chris Smith will face his old club for the first time since leaving Burnie after round three. Although Smith and Sam Cocks are good mates, there may be some tension between Chris and some of the other senior players. This will be a good test to see if Burnie can turn around their disciplinary problems and show that they are focused more on getting wins on the board than holding a grudge. Burnie should perhaps think like Billy Birmingham’s Tony Grieg. ‘To me, a grudge is nothing more than a place to park your car!’

Ulverstone v Launceston City Ulverstone Showgrounds
These two teams both have three wins on the board against the same three teams; Burnie, Somerset and Launy Utd. If either team is serious about making the top four then this is a must win game. City are the form team out of the 2 at this stage so there confidence should be up but Ulverstone will be keen to make up for their poor performance last week against rivals Devonport. The last time these 2 met in the league it was a 6-5 victory to Ulverstone I believe so this should be an entertaining contest.

Prospect v Launceston United Prospect Park
Prospect will need to win by 7 goals if the wish to go top of the table this week. A task that will near be impossible against a much improved Launceston United, who will be freshened up after a bye last weekend. I’m sure the Ranger army will be out in force to cheer on United so they stay 3 clear at the top.

Riverside v Devonport Windsor Park
Strike that last thought. Rangers will probably be in attendance at Windsor Park as their next league match is against Devonport. Devonport will be looking to make it 3 wins on the trot; however they take on a side looking to leapfrog the Strikers and push themselves back into the top 4. There have been calls of there being a ‘big 3’ this year. Those teams are Rangers, Prospect and Dev. Riverside get their chance to prove this ‘big 3’ theory wrong.

Rangers – Bye
Adam Whitemore will have the weekend off. It will give him a chance to reflect on his performances so far, a chance to check out his next opposition, and a chance to get the ultimate sheen on his Escher-like orb.

Match Report Ulvie v Dev

Match Report - Ulverstone 2 - 5 Devonport

It is hard to give an accurate match report as I am basically useless at remembering details, especially goal scorers from the other team. I’ll give it a shot though but apologies to the Dev players if I don’t remember.

To be honest, we started really well. In the first 10-15mins I thought we were going to smash them. That all changed with a moment of muppetry from a Daniel McGinn corner. An ordinarily taken corner somehow found its way to the back of the net. Josh Laing was covering the front post and was about to clear when keeper Will Cox-Haines called for the ball and made contact with Laing. The ball went in off Cox-Haines and the heads dropped. We lacked a bit of leadership on the pitch at this point and the game started to become a battle. I can’t remember the order of their goals but one was a well built up goal down the left after Kenny flicked the ball on for McGinn who knocked a quality ball over for I think it was Jordan Douce to head home. I think their other goal for the half came from a corner and was well headed home.

3-0 at half time and probably the most disappointing thing was that every player walked off with their head down. It is important for the leaders in the group to step up and try and get the younger ones up and enthusiastic again in these situations but this didn’t really happen.

In the second half it was a fairly even battle but Devonport were doing what was required in that position to see out the game fairly comfortably. We pegged a goal back with about 20 to go after Joel Stone dribbled the ball across the box and laid off to Kyle Baldock, who finished with aplomb. Our hopes were lifted for a little while but when Brad Chilcott hammered home from the edge of the box, the game was all but over. Each team scored a goal each after that. Ulverstone’s was an own goal after Keep was pressured by Michael Grey and he punched the ball into his own net. Kenny scored the final goal for Devonport, outjumping Adrian Foote at the back post to head home.

Devonport weren’t doing anything overly special with the ball however, when they were attacking, they were all on the same page and they have a good understanding where the ball is going. They have this understanding in defence also but there were holes that we were unable to take advantage of. I feared for Connor Lizotte’s safety at times. Man that kid can jump!

After the first 15 our attack struggled to have an impact in the game. There has been something missing in attack in the last 3 games and that will need to be addressed this week. We were also poor in the air defensively and that will also need to be addressed. With a young group, inevitably, you get young leaders and they have bad days. I’m not saying the leaders played particularly poorly but we didn’t have anyone stand up and lift the group with positivity and encouragement. The players I’m referring to are not just our co-captains, Ben Foote and Joel Stone, but also Adrian Foote, and Kyle and Dallas Baldock. They showed in preseason that they can be positive when things get tough but that was missing on Saturday.

Interview with Burnie United Coach Sam Cocks

I asked Sam a few questions via email and received the following responses.

Nick Owen - I'm sure there are a few, but what do you think the number one reason is
for your poor results this season?

Sam Cocks - The biggest 2 problems have been very poor finishing and people thinking it is ok to get a red card during a game.

O - Does Burnie have a problem with discipline?

SC - Yes, But until the city game they were all for dissent. I’m not going into them because everyone will have a different view. I know some can’t keep their mouth shut and trust me I will be using tape on their mouth instead of their socks from now on. But also, not just from B.U.F.C point, I know a lot of other clubs also think this so called GREAT rule about swearing is a joke. It has effected many results and players self moral.

O - What are your goals for the rest of the season?

SC - I think the title is long gone...But we can still have our own targets to meet and still try and win as many games as we can and still make it hard for the top teams to win when they play us again. Also we still have the cup to look forward to and will be concentrating on that as well.

O - Have there been any positives to come out of this season so far?

SC - Sure, if we can beat the reigning premier for the last 2 years it does show that somewhere behind all of the things that are happening we can mix it and beat the best. Also to me a positive is the way the senior boys are responding to this poor run. They are all so positive and are taking this as a challenge and not let it get to them.

O - You play Somerset and Launceston Utd to finish off the first round, what sort of improvements do you hope to see in these games?

SC - Wins are the only acceptable improvements we can ask for. We control the games and create chances but can’t finish. So this week, no running, no passing, just shooting and shooting with our mouths tapped up.

O - When the results don't go your way, do you think there is extra focus on you as a player/coach?

SC - No not at all. The only focus is what I put on myself. At the start of the year I have stated Stuart Grahem is my assistant coach. He is there Tues and Thurs nights and come Saturday he takes over and allows me to concentrate on playing.


I asked Sam about the effect of Chris Smith’s departure and he said they were still great mates and they talk every week and he’d rather not comment. Fair enough.

Thanks to Sam for the time. Like he said, if you’d like him to answer a question then just post it. If it has a name on it I’ll almost definitely post it. If it is from Anon and I think it’s just stirring the pot then there is no chance.
P.S. NO (Nick Owen) is kind of confusing if your brain is small so I just use O.