Gungahlin United confident of edging out Tigers FC in FFA Cup
Date
June 9, 2015 - 4:39PM
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Zac Lawrence


A 4-1 loss to Cooma three weeks ago hasn't dented Gungahlin United coach Claudio Canosa's belief his side has what it takes to snatch victory from Tigers FC in their FFA Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

But Canosa knows his side must be better at working as a unit if they are to overcome the challenge of the Tigers this time around.

"We are confident that we can put in a better performance and improve all over the field. The players are looking forward to this game," he said.

"We have to perform well as a unit; we will try to work as a team a little bit more. We are hoping that our strikers can rise to the occasion and score the goals, but we are definitely looking for an overall team performance."

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Tigers FC's in-form striker Alex Oloriegbe has downplayed the importance of his side's round 7 victory over Gungahlin, insisting that anything can happen in cup fixtures.

"Psychologically we may have an advantage, but you can't put your expectations on a previous match," Oloriegbe said.

"Gungahlin are a very tough side, a very difficult team to play against. We have to approach the game just like any other game."

The National Premier League's equal top scorer is hopeful of winning the tournament and earning the right to represent the ACT on a national scale, but says the team haven't thought that far ahead.

"The guys are honestly not talking much about it, but we all know that deep inside ourselves we want to make an impact and have that chance."

The winner of the match will progress to the final against Belconnen who knocked out cup specialists Tuggeranong United last week.

The match will kick off under the lights of Gungahlin Enclosed on Wednesday night at 6.30pm.

Faulty smoke detector causing problems at Morshead Park By Michael Pollock June 9, 2015, 11:56 p.m.


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THE City of Ballarat has spent about $15,000 this year on call-outs to false fire alarms at the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility.

Ballarat City Fire Station has made 11 trips to Morshead Park since January on the back of a faulty smoke detector in the newly built stadium.

CFA operations manager for Ballarat and surrounding districts Gavin Hope said the expense for two trucks and a crew of five or six firefighters per call-out was about $1500.

“The payment scheme was brought in as a deterrent many years ago,” Mr Hope said.

“It encourages businesses and companies to keep their alarms in tip-top shape.

“Our resources are finite – we have to cover the costs of providing them.”

Most of the call-outs were triggered by steam from the players’ change rooms setting off the alarms.

The most recent trigger was caused last Saturday, midway through the Ballarat Red Devils’ FFA Cup clash against Hume City, forcing an evacuation from the grandstand.

Ballarat City fire brigade operations manager Anthony Pearce said the call-outs were a great “frustration for all parties concerned”.


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Mr Hope said the alarms in the showers may have to be changed in order to avoid unnecessary visits in the future.

“The premises or owners need to adjust those protection systems – maybe to thermal or heat detection,” he said.

“It puts the community at risk when we’ve got fire trucks roaring around for false alarms.

“We have to treat it as a fire, because the day you don’t is the day that it’s real.”

The $5.3 million Morshead Park soccer facility was completed in 2014.

In an email to The Courier, the City of Ballarat said it had paid for the call-out expenses and planned to replace the faulty detector.

Pine Rivers United to take FFA Cup battle to Football Brisbane big guns Lions FC in quest for national glory
June 9, 2015 5:39am
Jacob GramsPine Rivers Press

PINE Rivers United will leave nothing on the pitch in the ultimate FFA Cup battle at Football Brisbane Premier League giants Lions FC tomorrow (Wednesday).

The Predators are the lowest ranked Queensland team left in the knockout competition and just 12 months ago were languishing in mid-table of Brisbane’s second-tier Capital League 1.

But victory tomorrow night could earn them a place and exposure on a national stage, potentially against A-League opposition.

Pine Rivers spies eyed off their opposition, unbeaten in 13 matches and averaging close to three goals per game, in an impressive 3-0 win over Peninsula Power,.

But Predators’ coach Andy West believes the Lions are not infallible.




“We’ll just play our normal high-tempo style. We’ll go there with no fear,” he said.

“They’re not top of the Premier League for nothing but we’re not going to go there just to get the numbers up.”

West said success in this game would also help the club attract sponsors and “get Pine Rivers back on the map”.

If anything is on their side it may be the address of Lions’ home ground at Richlands, where the two teams do battle from 7.30pm tomorrow.

The field is on Pine Rd.

Lambropoulos thrilled as South Springvale keep surprising
Lou Verga June 10, 2015   Leave a comment


South Springvale head coach Bill Lambropoulos hailed his side’s achievements as a weekend triumph over North Geelong Warriors sees them just one win away from entering the national FFA Cup stage for a second year running.
The State League 1 outfit again defied the odds by eliminating NPL battlers North Geelong 2-1 over the weekend.
“I think that’s the beauty of this competition,” Lambropoulos said.
“The boys aspire to play at a higher level and on the big occasion they like to stand up and show that there is some quality there.”
“It was a very difficult game, a physical game. We made the most of our opportunities and held the win in the dying minutes.”
South Springvale embarked on an inspirational cup venture to the Round of 16 last year, before being knocked out by Palm Beach Sharks in a narrow and controversial 1-0 loss.
This campaign, Lambropoulos is delighted to see that the impressive run wasn’t just a one-off.
“I never believed that we would have had another cup run like this, like we did last year,” he said.
“We’re still in it. For us it’s a phenomenal achievement, for a community club to still be in the limelight of such a wonderful tournament.”
Another tough test stands in the way of ‘Aris’ in a week’s time as they again take on NPL opponents in the shape of Oakleigh Cannons.
Having a connection with the club, Lambropoulos is relishing the challenge, but recognises the mountainous task ahead.
“I used to coach at Oakleigh. I go and watch them very regularly and follow them, there’s no doubt about that. I know a lot about Oakleigh and I know that Arthur Papas has made a big effort to turn the team around, which has shown in their last few appearances,” the manager said.
“It’s definitively going to be a very hard game. We know we are the underdogs and nothing has changed from any other game that we’ve played. We are going to adopt our team philosophy and treat each game as a grand final.”
In State League 1 South-East, which also contains FFA Cup surprise package Frankston Pines, South Springvale sit equal second on goal difference. Lambropoulos has been largely pleased considering the circumstances, although he admits Mornington SC look unreachable with a perfect record after ten matches.
“We started the year with a very deep squad. Unfortunately we had six or seven players injured from the outset but we’re just about back to full strength.”
“Mornington have had a fantastic run. I don’t think anyone can catch them in the league this year. But we’re definitely going to try to sneak a point when we play them in a week from Saturday.”

Just so nobody gets confused -
Hollandia-Inala Soccer Club changed their name to Brisbane Lions. They then sold the name to the Brisbane Bears who became the Brisbane Lions and changed their name to Queensland Lions. They then changed to Queensland Roar. But Queensland Roar allowed Queensland Lions to play again after ownership restructure. Queensland Roar are now called Brisbane Roar. The original Hollandia-Inala Soccer Club are now known as Brisbane Roar and Queensland Lions.

Fire blown out of FFA Cup tilt by Noosa after own goal

Scott Sawyer (11th June 2015 5:00 AM)

The Fire's Kenya Takahashi. Iain Curry
FOOTBALL: The Sunshine Coast Fire has been bundled out of the FFA Cup by a local league team for the second year running.

While last season it was Caloundra that doused the Fire's hopes, on Tuesday night it was McDonald's Premier League outfit Noosa which extinguished the chances of the region's National Premier League team in the cruellest way.

A Rhys Roberts own goal with five minutes of extra time remaining handed Noosa an upset 3-2 victory, propelling them into the next round of the lucrative, nationwide tournament.

Fire coach Paul Arnison was shattered, ranking it up there with his lowest moment in football.

"It was terrible, absolutely terrible," he said.

"The first half was probably the worst game of football I've been involved in.

"Noosa came out with all guns blazing, nothing to lose and found themselves 2-0 up after 20 minutes."

Led by former Fire man Alex Barlow, Noosa took it to their more-fancied opponents before a home crowd of about 700.

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While Cahn's side ran out of puff in the second half, they had enough left to see the full 120 minutes out, thanks in large to the heroics of goalkeeper Sam Nickolls.

"Sammy Nickolls in goal, that was as good a goalkeeping display as I've ever seen," Cahn said. "It doesn't get much better than that. It was very emotional.

"Barlow was tremendous too, it's the most motivated I've seen him for a game in a long time."

The former Fire player haunted his old club, setting up Noosa's first goal and scoring one himself.

Lions now turn their attention to the next phase of what they hope will be a fairytale cup run, which

could see them face NPL champions Palm Beach.

"We're just enjoying the ride and seeing where we end up," Cahn said.

Arnison said the bitter disappointment of the result had left his side with plenty of soul searching to do, if they were to turn their form around before facing Far North Queensland in the NPL this weekend.

"I don't think I've ever felt so bad after a football game," Arnison said.

It won't be simple for the Fire to turn their fortunes around coming off the back of a four-game losing streak.

The local lads must travel to Cairns on Saturday night in a difficult away trip, but the fifth-placed Fire should be able to take three points against 10th placed FNQ, as long as they can put the disappointment of another premature FFA Cup exit behind them.

LIONS ROAR:

Noosa 3

(C Hawkins, A Barlow, Own Goal)

SC Fire 2

(Own Goal, K Takahashi)

can we do a roll call of the teams that are in and qualified and how many other spots are still up for grabs?

surely we are in it's final stages nationally.

[size=8]2015 FFA Cup Qualified Teams[/size]

* Bold = Still in competition | * Italics = Yet to Play | *Strike-through = Knocked out

[size=7]New South Wales[/size] [size=6] 8 teams: (5 state, 3 A-League) (8/8)[/size]
• Sydney FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• Western Sydney Wanderers FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• Central Coast Mariners FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• Balmain Tigers FC [NSW State League Division 1] (1st appearance)
• Blacktown City FC[NSW NPL 1] (2nd appearance)
• Rockdale City Suns FC [NSW NPL 1] (1st appearance)
• Sydney Olympic [NSW NPL 1] (2nd appearance)
• Sydney United 58 FC [NSW NPL 1] (2nd appearance)

[size=7]Victoria[/size] [size=6] 6 teams: (4 state, 2 A-League) (6/6)[/size]
• Melbourne Victory FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• Melbourne City FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• South Melbourne or Frankston Pines
• Hume City or Kingston City
• South Springvale or Oakleigh Cannons
• Heidelberg United or Goulburn Valley Suns

[size=7]Queensland[/size] [size=6] 5 teams: (4 state, 1 A-League) (5/5)[/size]
• Brisbane Roar FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• Queensland Lions [Brisbane Premier League] (1st appearance)
• Far North Queensland FC (QLD NPL 1) (2nd appearance)
• Brisbane Strikers FC (QLD NPl 1) (2nd appearance)
• TBA

[size=7]Northern New South Wales[/size] [size=6] 3 teams: (2 state, 1 A-League) (3/3)[/size]
• Newcastle United Jets FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• TBA
• TBA

[size=7]Western Australia[/size] [size=6] 3 teams: (2 state, 1 A-League) (3/3)[/size]
• Perth Glory FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)
• TBA
• TBA

[size=7]South Australia[/size] [size=6] 3 teams: (1 state, 1 A-League, 1 2014 NPL Champions) (3/3)[/size]
• Adelaide United FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)*
• North Eastern MetroStars SC [NPL 1] (1st appearance)
• Adelaide City or Croydon Kings

[size=7]Tasmania[/size] [size=6] 1 team: (1 state) (1/1)[/size]
• South Hobart FC [Tasmania NPL] (2nd appearance)

[size=7]Australian Capital Territory[/size] [size=6] 1 team: (1 state) (1/1)[/size]
• TBA

[size=7]Northern Territory[/size] [size=6] 1 team: (1 state) (1/1)[/size]
• TBA

[size=7]New Zealand[/size] [size=6] 1 team: (1 A-League) (1/1)[/size]
• Wellington Phoenix FC [A-League] (2nd appearance)

comprehensive, cheers

should all be resolved in the next two weeks I hope?

comprehensive, cheers

should all be resolved in the next two weeks I hope?

Would like to see Sydney hold FFA Cup qualifiers a little later next year.