Glenorchy Knights produced a solid defensive display to overcome the Hobart Zebras 2-1 at KGV on Saturday afternoon in what was another tight affair between the two sides.
Going into the clash the Zebras sat in fourth; ten points ahead of the fifth place Knights, meaning it was mathematically impossible for the Knights to leapfrog them.
But there was motivation for the Knights, as they had drawn and lost narrowly to their opponents and would be looking to get one back.
The Knights were dealth an early blow pre-game, as key midfielder Declan Brown went down with a knock in the warm-up and was removed from the starting XI as Aaron Marney filled his spot.
Still, it was clear from the start that the Knights were looking the hungrier of the sides, going close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute when Zebras keeper Samuel Whatman tipped over a lobbed effort from Naden over the bar.
The Zebras had their fair share of the ball, but they looked lackluster going forward as they struggled to create any real chances; a goalmouth scramble and a deflected Riley Dillon volley were their most notable chances.
But at the other end Jade Clay put the Knights ahead in the 27th minute during the second phase of a corner which Tyler Harrison nodded back in the area for the Knights veteran to head home.
The Zebras best chance of the half came in the 37th minute and was created by Knights keeper Lachlan Hart’s poor clearance which landed at the feet of Mathew Sanders but the NPL TAS leading goal-scorer blazed his effort well-over the bar when most would expect him to score.
The Zebras came out in the second-half looking more fired up than in the first and it only took them three minutes to equalise when Dwayne Walsh brilliantly nutmegged Clay before cutting in from the right and slotting the ball across the keeper and into the bottom-left.
The reignited fire in the belly of the Zebras was put out three minutes later when a half-clearance from Ryu Yonezawa only landed as far as Nicholas Naden who took a bobbled touch before firing a vicious volley into the back of the net to put his side back in the lead.
The Zebras looked deflated again, and although they had a lot of the ball again, their most common route forward was high-balls played in from deep, especially after the introduction of Luke Huigsloot, who found some space to volley from six yards out but Hart in goal was equal to it.
The Knights must be commended for the way they defended, as soon as they lost the ball they were very quick to get men back behind the ball and when they won it back they used it well to counter-attack.
Knights coach James Sherman subbed himself on in the 88th minute and caused havoc in his five-minute cameo, when he could have had two assists had Alex Bellini managed to tuck-away his chances, before Sherman had a chance of his own which he blew over the cross-bar.
It mattered little though as the full-time whistle would sound and the Knights would get their first win over the Zebras.
Knights coach James Sherman was happy with the way his team went about their business.
"It was a good result, I thought we were really good today. For large parts, in the second half in particular, where we were pretty compact from the middle to quite deep. But we set ourselves up that way to nullify the players in their front third,
“They’re the side above us, we needed to make sure we were difficult to beat and to offer something going forward. I think it’s pretty clear that we were pretty dangerous when we went forward today”as this season.
Zebras coach David Smith accepted that it wasn’t his sides day.
“They were very disciplined, we tried to break them down but were too slow to move the ball. At the end of the day, in the final third we weren’t smart enough,
“We had probably 70% possession, but we were just too slow to move it,
“It wasn’t the day for it, we were never going to nick anything today. No matter how many times we put the ball into the box.”
The win keeps the Knights ahead of Kingborough in their race for fifth spot.