Launceston City picked up just their second win at home this season in a comfortable 4-0 win against Clarence. With this win, City managed to leapfrog the Glenorchy Knights and move into sixth place on the NPL Tasmania table.
It is now a tight race between Knights, Kingborough and Launceston City for fifth place, with all three sides sitting within two points of each other. However, City does maintain a slight advantage, having played one fewer game than their competitors.
Both Launceston City and Clarence seemed to be testing the limits of their squads, with Clarence only naming two substitutes for the match. City were without several of their young stars, including Jarrod Linger (away), Charlie Dyer (suspension), as well as Joe Dorazio and Alex Turner who played with the club's Championship side. With a rather shuffled side, Lino Sciulli named three of the club's under 18's players on his bench, looking to give them a taste of NPL action.
The home side controlled the opening 20 minutes of the match, but other than Mitreski's strike in the 13th minute, were unable to translate that onto the scoreboard. Mitreski beat his marker on the left flank before shifting onto his right foot and letting an audacious effort fly from a tight angle inside the box. He managed to curl his shot past the keeper and into the far right corner of the goal to give his side an early lead.
Despite being wasteful in the early moments of the match, in the 20 minutes prior to half time, they tidied up their shooting and put a further 3 goals past the visitors. The first of which came when Millington sent Hancox through on goal with an over-the-top through ball. As Downham came out to pressure the striker, Hancox calmly chipped the keeper to double his side's lead.
City's third goal came through a Tom Ottavi header in the 35th minute. Cartwright sent his corner kick towards the back post where Ottavi rose above everyone to head it into the top left corner. Degetto completed the goals just before half time when he beat the keeper one-on-one at his near post.
Although the first half was filled with goals, the second was a stalemate. For the third week in a row at home, City dropped off in the second half and were not able to keep up the standard they set in the first half. They will have to be at their best for a full 90 minutes next week when they host current league leaders, Devonport. Clarence will face a tough task against Kingborough Lions at home.