Just three weeks now remain in the NPL TAS season, and with the Champions hoisting the trophy on Wednesday night, it's just the minor places that now need to be settled.
It will be fourth v fifth on Saturday when the Hobart Zebras take on the Glenorchy Knights at KGV. The two traditional rivals will meet for the third and final time this season having played out two tight battles already this season. The first clash was a 2-2 draw before the Zebras edged out the second game 2-1, demonstrating there is not much between the pair and we should be in for another close one.
The Zebras are locked into fourth spot at this stage and will be looking to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat last weekend at the hands of the Kingborough Lions. With three games left in the season they will be hoping to end with three victories, with all three games against sides below them on the table. Consistency has been their issue this season though and last week against the Lions was a patchy performance. The Knights meanwhile are locked into a three battle to finish in fifth place, fighting with the Kingborough Lions and Launceston City. Wins from the Knights and Lions last week leave the pair on 26 points, four ahead of City, who Knights downed 3-0 last weekend in a good performance. Having given Devonport a tough game the week prior to that, and won their two games before that, their last month has been solid as they look to finish the season with the winning run that they had hoped might have come earlier.
At Warrior Park, Olympia will be taking on a Kingborough side riding high after their win over the Hobart Zebras as they continue to battle away for fifth place. It's been a pretty good second half of the season for the Lions, who are now 5-3-1 in their past 9 games and have been pretty well competitive in all their games. That record could have been even better had they held on to defeat Olympia the last time they played, squandering a 2-0 lead, to lose 3-2 in stoppage time. It was one of the most dramatic and stunning games of the season and hangs heavily over this game, with the Lions desperate to atone, whilst Olympia must feel they hold some psychological edge as as result of it. This should be a tightly fought game as Olympia look to try defend second spot on the table.
At Wentworth Park, Launceston City will be expecting to bounce back after a flat game last week against Glenorchy Knights, when they take on Clarence. City have slipped four points behind their two rivals for fifth place, but can hope to make up some of that ground with a win this week. 4-0 and 6-0 wins over Clarence in their two previous games suggests it should be comfortable enough, despite a few issues with consistency this year. The finish line can't come quickly enough for the embattled Reds, who shipped 13 to South Hobart last weekend, but at least end with a pair of home games. This will be their penultimate game of the season, as they look to salvage something from their season late on.
On Sunday, Riverside Olympic face another big challenge when they take on South Hobart at Darcy Street. After facing the Strikers a pair of times, they now travel south to take on the Lakoseljac Cup champions. Defensively they had no answers to the Strikers, but they did have some impressive moments in attack and the 4 goals they scored in those 2 games is a fair effort given the Strikers have conceded just 17 from their 20 other games in the league this season. There is still a gap between this young Roos side and the top teams, but it has been closing as the year has gone on and they will be eager to test themselves against a South Hobart side with their eyes firmly on second place, and coming off the back of some 13 goals last weekend.