A late Noah Mies strike stole a point for Launceston City and broke the hearts of the Hobart Zebras, as an enthralling NPL TAS clash finished 2-2 at KGV on Saturday evening.
The Zebras dominated the second half and missed a handful of point-blank chances, and those misses came back to haunt them as Mies buried the equaliser in the 96th minute. That was an exciting finish to what had been an end-to-end thriller, with both teams giving themselves plenty of chances to win it.
The game started at a frenetic pace, as both sides could have taken the lead within the first ten minutes. The Zebras looked to have hit the front when Matthew Sanders was played in on goal and blasted his shot home. His celebration was cut short by the linesman's flag, as an offside call saw the goal disallowed.
Minutes later at the other end, City's Jarrod Linger looked to be chopped down from behind in the box, but his appeals for a penalty were turned down by the referee. Replays showed that there was possibly enough contact to warrant a spot kick, but the play continued.
City found their rhythm and had the better of the play early, and they were rewarded with the opening goal in the 20th minute. A goal kick from Lachlan Clark was flicked on by Mies at halfway, and the bouncing ball found Greg Roller behind the defence. Spotting the keeper off his line, he finished with a delightful chip from well outside the 18-yard box and gave City a well-deserved lead.
Chances continued to fly for both sides, but it was the Zebras who struck soon after to draw level. A quick breakaway found Riley Dillon on the left, and his cross was met by the head of Matthew Pace. His effort hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out, but the linesman ruled that the ball had crossed the line to make it 1-1 heading into half time.
The Zebras looked to have found their feet after the break, and Sanders once again found the back of the net but was once again offside. The NPL TAS leading scorer was luckless all day, and having his two best finishes disallowed summed up a horror evening.
Despite finding themselves on the back foot, City also had chances to re-take the lead early. A Roller volley flashed just over the bar, while Linger looked certain to shoot into an open net before a goal-line block from Zebras centre back Thomas Little saved the day.
Still the chances came thick and fast at both ends, as Sanders missed a handful more and City's forwards threatened on the break. There were no more goals until the game's final minutes, and it was the Zebras that struck just before stoppage time.
Substitute James Ackerley found himself in space on the right hand side, and he played a bouncing cross into the heart of the area. Waiting in the middle, Nicky Edwards hit the shot first time, and his volley whistled into the top corner and gave Hobart a very late lead.
[caption id="attachment_10236" align="alignnone" width="588"]
Edwards superb strike had seemingly won the game- Solstice Photography[/caption]
The Zebras looked to have won the game with that goal, and they should have buried it ten feet under in stoppage time. Both Pace and Sanders had golden chances to kill the contest, but neither could hit a shot on target from point-blank range.
Those misses hurt a whole lot more moments later, as Linger won a tough 50-50 contest in the forward third and played the ball to Mies. With a defender on his hip the whole way, he forced his way into the area and rifled a left-footed strike across the keeper and into the bottom corner.
The last minutes of stoppage time ran down without a sight on goal, as City celebrated a stolen point and the Zebras rued two points lost. Launceston remain second from the bottom on the NPL TAS table but have now picked up consecutive draws, while Hobart sit in third place, four points adrift of Devonport, undefeated but with just two wins from five games.
https://youtu.be/UTqQAaUOk98
Edwards superb strike had seemingly won the game- Solstice Photography[/caption]
The Zebras looked to have won the game with that goal, and they should have buried it ten feet under in stoppage time. Both Pace and Sanders had golden chances to kill the contest, but neither could hit a shot on target from point-blank range.
Those misses hurt a whole lot more moments later, as Linger won a tough 50-50 contest in the forward third and played the ball to Mies. With a defender on his hip the whole way, he forced his way into the area and rifled a left-footed strike across the keeper and into the bottom corner.
The last minutes of stoppage time ran down without a sight on goal, as City celebrated a stolen point and the Zebras rued two points lost. Launceston remain second from the bottom on the NPL TAS table but have now picked up consecutive draws, while Hobart sit in third place, four points adrift of Devonport, undefeated but with just two wins from five games.
https://youtu.be/UTqQAaUOk98