Launceston City have claimed their first win of the NPL Tasmania season, with a late Jarrod Linger goal sealing a 3-2 win over rivals Riverside Olympic. City fell behind by two goals after just 11 minutes at Buckby Motors Park, but a quick response saw them draw level before Lingers strike with just minutes on the clock saw them claim all three points.
It was a frantic start to the game from kick-off, and it took Riverside just four minutes to open the scoring through Sam Davis. The pace of Fletcher Fulton saw him sneak behind the City defence on the right and his low cross made it right into the heart of the penalty area. That was where Davis was waiting, and he tapped home from point-blank range to give his side the perfect start.
Their lead was quickly doubled just minutes later, and again it was the brilliance of Fulton that opened the door for Riverside. After stealing a loose pass in the midfield he skipped past his marker and split the defence with a perfect ball into the area for James Hall. With defenders still on his back, he calmly cut back past them, steadied and slid a shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
The visitors had a chance to add their third goal from the next play after the restart, with Fulton again teeing up Davis who forced a sharp save from City gloveman Lachlan Clark. Not to be deterred, Launceston immediately responded with their opening goal moments later. After winning a handful of corners in the opening exchanges, Yasin Mohammadi sent another to the near post where it was blocked back towards him. Regaining possession just barely inside the byline, he curled a ball towards the back post that drifted over goalkeeper Dan Nash's head and flew in at the back post. It was a brilliant goal from the dynamic midfielder and it quickly put his side back in the contest.
A handful of minutes passed, and they were just as suddenly back on level terms. It was another set piece from Mohammadi that set up the chance as this time he stood over a free kick right on the edge of the penalty area. His low shot curled past the wall and forced a low diving save from Nash, but the goalkeeper couldn't quite secure the ball as it bobbled in front of him and out of reach. While the Riverside defenders were caught standing and spectating, City's Dan Smith reacted quickly to pounce on the rebound and slam it home into the empty net to level the scores.
With the momentum on their side Launceston continued to threaten largely from set pieces, with a handful more corners delivered dangerously but without a finish at the end. Mohammadi loomed large over the contest, curling a pair of free kicks just barely off target and sending a shot from the top of the box over the crossbar. Riverside managed to move the ball forward on occasion but struggled to find space to shoot, with a bursting run and shot from Fulton their only real chance that was easily saved by Clark.
After the frenetic end-to-end action of the first half, the second half saw more of the game spent scrapping in the midfield. That's not to say there weren't scoring chances, and it was City shooting more often with Mohammadi, Will Fleming and Will Compagne all firing but missing the target. Fulton continued to play something of a lone hand for the visitors, again forcing Clark into a diving save with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Despite all of that action, there was no further score until the 89th minute. It looked like Riverside would be the ones to steal the lead, with Hall played in on the right but denied by a brilliant save from Clark. City immediately moved the ball forward from there, and Stefan Tantari had time and space through the midfield as he waltzed through all the way to the edge of the area. His delicate scoop cleared the defence and fell for Linger at the right of the area, and from a tight angle he hit a shot that flew across the goal and in at the far post. Riverside threw plenty of numbers forward in stoppage time, but they couldn't find a late equaliser to deny City their first win of the season.