Full article:
BY ANDREW BOARD
Another shake-up of players at Tasman United has been confirmed today with two more leaving and four new faces arriving.
Earlier this month Nelson App reported that Tasman had let go three players – Robbie Pearson, Kieran Smith and Alex Ridsdale – and would be unlikely to see much more of Abdulla Al-Kalisy as he had broken his foot.
At the time, Tasman coach Davor Tavich told the App that he was happy with several youth players that had been training with the squad since the start of the year. Two of those players, Matt Tod-Smith and Callan Elliot have gone on to star in the last two ISPS Handa Premiership games that has seen Tasman pick up a draw and a win.
Now midfielder Cory Chettleburgh and defender Brian Kaltack have also been allowed to leave the club to pursue O-League contracts in Fiji. To replace the five departed players, Jordan Yong, Ben Wright, Ed Sillars and Samueka Kautoga have been added to the squad.
The first two names will be familiar to local football fans with Yong a former Richmond Athletic player who has been playing for Kings Lynn Town FC in his native England since leaving Richmond in 2011.
Ben Wright is well-known as a classy centre forward for Nelson Suburbs in the Mainland Premier League. Before that he also had a brief stint at Richmond Athletic.
The other two additions won’t quite be as well-known locally but should help add depth to coach Davor Tavich’s team.
Edward Sillars is an experienced midfielder who previously played for Waitakere United in the ISPS Handa Premiership. He moved to Nelson to live last year and has been training with the Tasman squad since the start of the season.
The fourth new-comer, Samuela Kautoga is a Fijian defender with 16 international caps to his name. He is a straight swap for Kaltack.
Tasman chairman Mark Sheenan says it’s been a busy few weeks for the team with player movements but he’s happy with the outcome.
"Davor is pretty relaxed about it. We’ve been very keen to promote youth and give them a go and that has paid off.
"With Chettleburgh and Kaltack, they both got very good contract offers and what do you do? We weren't going to stand in their way. But we're very happy with the new guys coming in and the youth coming up. We're one point off fourth and looking pretty good."
Tasman’s next game is against Team Wellington at Saxton Field this Saturday, kick off at 2pm.