SPORT Sloppy Azzurri slump to Mindil Tired Dragons By GREGOR MACTAGGART throughout the 90 minutes of seventh-placed Hellenic, who Round 9 ready for rest and lacked cohesion, creativity were leapfrogged by Darwin PORT DARWIN 5 (R Hood, A Tsarpalianas, M Tsirbas, G MINDIL FC punished a sloppy Hill, D Dale) def HELLENIC 0. From Back Page University Azzurri to earn a 1-0 and imagination. Dragons following Dragons 2-0 DARWIN DRAGONS 2 (K Rkein 14, W Tamba 94) def PALMERSTON 0. Habitat Premier League win at Sweeper Josh Pruis win over Palmerston on Satur- chance of a call-up for State of Origin day night. DARWIN OLYMPIC 8 (M Tsounias 5, 28, M Amidy 20, II and putting flyer Lote the Italian Club yesterday. exemplified the Padres no- 77, S Dunning 34, 56, E Dos Reis 62, B Kathopoulis 90) def nonsense approach to be a clear The shock loss proved costly CASUARINA 1 (J Thorning 21). Tuqiri in the box seat for his first Daniel Cardellini’s 37th min- MINDIL FC 1 def UNIVERSITY standout, while fellow defenders for University Azzurri, who (D Cardellini 37) interstate game in eight ute goal proved the match- AZZURRI 0. years. Dragons coach Wayne Bennett Scott Ross and Douglas Black have dropped to fourth place, winner as Padres belied their admitted his players were starting to also stood tall for the winners. with Port Darwin jumping ranking as Top End soccer’s Ladder feel the workload. Goalkeeper Simon Jackson up to third after its 5-0 demo- bottom team. Team P W D L F A Pts ‘‘I’m elated with this, we’ve been had a couple of nervous mo- lition of Hellenic. Olympic 9 8 0 1 44 11 24 going 13 weeks straight without a Mindil produced a resolute, ments, but made some telling The best news for Port was Casuarina 9 7 1 1 30 17 22 break and we’ve played a lot of good determined display on the back interventions to fully earn his that they had five different Port Darwin 9 4 1 4 22 19 13 football,’’ Bennett said. Uni Azzurri 9 4 1 3 20 20 13 of getting major numbers be- clean sheet. goalscorers in the win, Dylan ‘‘Today wasn’t our prettiest effort, hind the ball. Palmerston 9 3 1 5 14 17 10 but we’re tired and we’re looking for The win was just Mindil’s Dale, Adoni Tsarpalianas, D’Dragons 9 3 0 5 18 28 9 This approach frustrated second from nine appearances Rory Hood, Mario Tsirbas and Hellenic 9 2 2 5 12 24 8 the break. Azzurri, who were sluggish in 2010 and sit two points adrift Gary Hill. Mindil FC 9 2 0 7 13 36 6 ‘‘No other team in the comp has gone 13 weeks straight and we’ve been consistently winning as well, it’s not as though we’ve been playing well below our best.’’ After the towelling by the Tigers last weekend, Warriors coach Ivan Cleary was proud of the way his side pushed the Dragons. Fit Harry’s feeling fine ‘‘I thought they were great today, they tried as hard as they could,’’ he said. From Back Page But the Tate injury, following so many to other key players, was a hard

PUB: ‘‘I feel good and I’m very happy. About a month ago I probably pill for Cleary to swallow. wasn’t in a happy place because it ‘‘We’ve just got to hope for the best, was frustrating, but now I am,’’ a that it’s not too bad,’’ he said. TNEWS NT smiling Kewell (pictured) said. ‘‘Everything seems to be fine. We ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 22 (M Cooper 2 J Nightingale J Soward tries J Soward 3 goals) d NZ have got a plan and we are WARRIORS 20 (I John J Maloney S Mannering tries sticking to it and it seems to J Maloney 4 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: be working.’’ Ashley Klein, Bernard Sutton. Crowd: 8312. Asked whether he was on sched- ule to play against Germany, he remained coy: ‘‘I’m not letting DATE: anything out because I don’t want Raiders able to to get my hopes up and I don’t want to get everyone else’s hopes up. We’re just concentrating on tough it out 7-JUN-2010 training but at the moment every- thing’s looking good.’’ CANBERRA coach David Furner Kewell’s importance was high- praised his side’s mental toughness lighted in yesterday’s 3-1 loss to despite the Raiders almost surrender- USA, where the Socceroos lacked ing a 20-point lead in their 28-24 NRL imagination in the attacking third. win over Gold Coast at Canberra Verbeek chose the cautious op- Stadium yesterday. tion by not using Kewell — who The Raiders scored five tries to the

PAGE: was named as a sub — although he Titans’ four in a nail-biting match completed an hour-long session which came down to the afterwards with Australia’s un- dying seconds. used subs. The Titans had a chance to pull Verbeek admitted he was close level right on the fulltime whistle, but 36 to giving Kewell game time. backrower Anthony Laffranchi was ‘‘I think if you ask 100 coaches if caught with possession on the last

COLOR: you should bring in a player who after opting to go for the had one training session with the tryline himself. team I think you would probably Furner admitted the Raiders were get 100 different opinions,’’ forced to scramble for the win. Verbeek said. ‘‘You give a good side like that that ‘‘But I am in charge. I had been much possession, you put yourself under pressure,’’ Furner said.But he

C thinking of bringing him in dur- ing the game but I thought it was said a big display of courage under

M better to let him train after the fire ultimately got them across game, to have a session over there the line. Y at the moment. We still have eight ‘‘Our first half, with our shape and everyone knowing their roles, was K days to go. ‘‘That’s much better than play- pretty good,’’ he said. ‘‘Then that ing in a tough game like this.’’ fatigue set in, in the second half, and a lot of things happen when players ... are in that position. ‘‘You need to be strong mentally Tate injury Origin blow to and I thought our team showed that.’’ THE first cracks in Queensland’s Tate seemed assured of a Illawarra in Auckland yesterday. CANBERRA 28 (T Campese J Dugan J Thompson T greatest Origin dynasty have recall until breaking his jaw in It’s left dual international Thurling D Vidot tries T Campese 4 goals) d GOLD begun to appear with a broken the opening minutes of the and Broncos Jharal COAST 24 (A Laffranchi M Minichiello S Prince J Tomane tries S Prince 4 goals) at Canberra Stadium. jaw to centre . Warriors’ loss to St George Yow Yeh vying for a berth. Referee: Gavin Badger, Phil Haines.

Folau on the mark for Broncos ONLINE: birch.com.au SYDNEY: AFL recruit Israel Folau important away vic- BUY MOBILE: m.birch.com.au showed a possible glimpse of the future tory for the Broncos. TICKETS DOWNLOAD FREE on iPhone: by taking a huge mark to score one of The Sea Eagles POCKET CINEMA at the app store his two tries in ’s gutsy 22-6 ROBIN HOOD (M) didn’t look like scoring MON 12.50, 3.40, 6.30, 9.20PM NRL victory over Manly at Brookvale CASUARINA in the second half, but ALL FILMS THE KINGS OF MYKONOS: 3 D * WOGBOY 2 (M) MON 10.10, 2.40, 9.30PM Oval yesterday. were still in the match NO FREE TICKETS STREETDANCE 3D (PG) THE LOSERS (M) MON 12.30, 4.50, 7.00PM The Broncos conceded a try after just until the 68th minute MON 10.00, 12.10, 2.20, 6.50, 9.00PM THE BACK UP PLAN (M) two minutes, but Folau’s dominant when some Sam SEX AND THE CITY 2 (MA15+) MON 10.00, 4.30PM NO FREE TICKETS IRON MAN 2 (M) MON 4.40, 9.30PM leap over Sea Eagles fullback Ben Thaiday brilliance secured the game MON 10.30, 11.30, 1.30, 2.50, 5.10, 6.10, Farrar and subsequent surge to the try 8.20, 9.20PM LETTERS TO JULIET (PG) MON 10.20AM for the visitors. PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OPEN CAPTION SESSION line in the 18th minute saw the Broncos OF TIME (M) ENGLISH SUBTITLES The in-form Queensland forward MON 10.50, 1.30, 4.00, 6.40, 9.10PM take control in soggy conditions. (M) WED 10.00AM popped a beautiful inside pass to a LEGION (MA15+) MON 12.15, 2.30, 7.15PM THE BACK UP PLAN A precise bomb flying Josh Hoffman on his inside who PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS found Farrar flat-footed, and Folau OF TIME (M) raced 20 metres to score and give the CITY MON 11.20, 1.45, 4.10, 6.50, 9.30PM (pictured) used the size, skill and SEX AND THE CITY 2 (MA15+) A NIGHTMARE ON ELM Broncos a 16-6 lead. NO FREE TICKETS STREET (MA15+) MON 2.30, 4.30, 9.00PM power that AFL officials are hoping he MON 11.10, 2.20, 6.00, 9.00PM THE LAST STATION (M) can use to become a success for Greater THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON MON 10.40, 1.00, 9.15PM BRISBANE 22 (I Folau 2 J Hoffman B Hunt tries C TATTOO (MA15+) MON 11.10, 3.15, 6.15PM Western Sydney in 2011. Parker 3 goals) d MANLY 6 (T Williams try S Rodney ROBIN HOOD (M) 102 IRON MAN 2 (M) MON 6.30PM MON 10.30, 1.10, 3.50, 6.30, 9.10PM er500 Folau also crossed under the goal) at Brookvale Oval. Referee: Chris James, Jared *STREETDANCE 3D is a special event screenings. Screensavers and Gift Vouchers can be used Maxwell. Crowd: 11,316. with payment of applicable surcharges. Complimentary and other discounts cannot be redeemed. posts with five minutes to go to This applies for 3D screenings in traditional, Vmax and Gold Class auditoriums. Session Times put the icing on the cake for an NRL ladder in tomorrow’s NT News Copyright © 2010 - Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinemas. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. 36 — Northern Territory News, Monday, June 7, 2010 www.ntnews.com.au