MATCH OF THE WEEK
TILFORD ZEBRAS
V
LAST TIME THEY MET
31/08/13 - Devonport City (Ben Foote 52', Brayden Mann 63',67', 90') def Tilford Zebras (Aaron Cairns 13', Mark Page 47') 4-2
HEAD TO HEAD
Strikers 2, Zebras 1, Draw 1
Richard Welsh
FFT CEO
South
Zebras
Rangers
Olympia
Damian Gill
FFT Media Officer
South
Zebras
Rangers
Olympia
Walter Pless
Media
South
Zebras
Rangers
Olympia
Alex Luttrell
Mercury
South
Zebras
City
Olympia
Expert Tips
TILFORD ZEBRAS
Matthew Ferguson
Nathan Pitchford
Dwayne Walsh
Jonathon Ladic
Andrew Telega
Ethan Engels
Mark Page
Marcello Marchioli
Andrew Clark
Kurt Engels
Henry Fagg ©
Alex Leszczynski
Adam McKeown
Jordan Muller
Josh Fielding
Nick MacDonald
Harrison Thomas
Andy Brennan
David Cox
Joel Stone
Ryan Smith
Expect there to be a bit of feeling in this opening league encounter as there were words said by both parties when Devonport City playmaker Joel Stone made the move to the southern based Zebras side.
Stone is a huge acquisition for the Zebras and a equally huge loss to Devonport.
Nonetheless both sides will be looking to put some early pressure on each other and settle in to the game as quickly as possible.
Zebras looked the goods earlier in the Summer Cup after they easily dispatched their rivals including Champions South Hobart. But they were found wanting when they played Olympia in the Summer Cup final having no answers to their quick transition and it will be up to the likes of Joel Stone, Jon Ladic and Marcello Marchioli to stop the same thing happening this week.
Strikers had a relatively quite pre season preparation until the late departures of Stone and Brayden Mann. Though Nick Owen is confident that their two new imports can fill the holes left.
“Our new English import is Callum Moore. He went to College with Cory Vickers and Cory thinks he will be a good fit for our standard
of football so he asked him out here. He will play in the 9 or 10 this
week as we are low on options in these areas. There is only one way to find out if he’s up to this level so we’ll stick him in an see how he goes. I expect him to tire late due to the travel but hopefully he slots a few before then.
“It will be important for our back 6 to be settled throughout the game but I’d love to see our forward 4 as chaotic as possible. It is no secret that their defence is their weakness so we will be unsettling them as much as possible. Brody Denehey and Michael Holden have improved with the absence of Joel and Brayden and stepped up to a new level, so I look forward to seeing how they perform with added responsibility.”
Zebras coach Jed Donoghue is also keen to get on top of Devonport and is hopeing to use the home ground advantage after a long pre season.
“I think everyone is keen to start the season, and I am glad to be playing Port at KGV rather than at Valley Road first up.
“We will have to apply constant pressure in the middle of the park and try to force them to play longer. Their two wide attacking players (7 and 11) are quick and sharp on the ball so we will have to deal with them defensively.”