Welcome to the Friday Forecast ahead of Round 5 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania season. This week looms as the most interesting set of fixtures across a round we have had to date. All four contests have no significant favourites unlike in previous weeks and any side winning any of these matches won’t really be considered an upset. It’s a week that should provide some closely fought games and potentially significant results in shaping the title race.
Lions and Knights Under Friday Night Lights
The Round will kick off at KGV on Friday night with the Kingborough Lions taking on the Glenorchy Knights. This is nominally a Kingborough home fixture, but with Lightwood Park currently out of action, it shifts to the home of the Knights at KGV, giving them a nice little bonus home game.
The Knights will look to build off last weekend’s victory over South Hobart and could move temporarily at least to the top of the table with a victory. Having conceded just one goal through the opening four rounds of the competition, the strength of this Knights side at the back is clearly evident. With a solid defensive group and star goalkeeper in Jackson Gardner, they are proven an extremely difficult team to score on. Scoring power remains a slight question mark, and at times they appear ponderous in possession at the back, though I suspect there is also an element of wanting to draw the opposition to press up the pitch onto them in order to unlock some space in behind for their attackers.
The Lions appear well-equipped to test that stellar defensive record with a potent attack, producing a league-leading 15 goals through four rounds. Kobe Kemp is responsible for five of those goals and he has also chalked up six assists through four games! He has been the most dominant player in the competition, and his chemistry with Noah Mies, who has scored five times has been clear to see. The defence has been a little more suspect, and they shipped four last in a defeat to Launceston City, but they were always up against it by playing with 10 men for most of the contest.
Summer Cup Final Rematch at Darcy Street
Saturday’s action will start with a huge clash at Darcy Street as the competition’s only remaining undefeated team, the Devonport Strikers travel down to take on South Hobart.
The pair met in the pre-season Summer Cup final, with Devonport triumphing 2-1 though it was a game that could’ve gone either way in what was a tightly fought contest. I’m expecting more of the same here on Saturday.
The Strikers have started the season well with three wins and a draw from the opening month, but this will be their biggest test to date after opening the season with a three-week home stand, before their first road trip last week to last-placed Riverside, where Taylor Last shone by paving three assists in the 5-1 win. Now the difficulty kicks up a gear against a South Hobart side whose form has been a bit up and down throughout the opening rounds.
South will feel their work in general play was deserving of a positive result last week against Knights but they just couldn’t find a way past Jackson Gardner in what became a goalkeeping duel. Their own goalkeeper Nicholas O’Connell had a fine game in goals himself, making some important saves and he will need to be similarly sharp to keep out this Devonport attack led by the lethal Roberto Fernandez Garrido. Whilst it was a solid enough performance, it was the second time in their first four weeks they’ve dropped points and they can ill afford to do so again here if they want to keep pace with their title rivals.
Zebras Host City in Italian Derby
This feels like the most interesting Italian Derby we have had since Zebras came into existence. The level the two sides are playing at right now feels like a high point for both squads across recent years and it sets the stage for an intriguing battle here.
The Zebras got their breakthrough victory last week after opening the year up with a pair of impressive draws against Devonport and South Hobart. Xuan Cappellino once again stood out and was desperately unlucky to not have multiple goals. He is a top-tier player who can win a game off his own boot and given the struggles City had at the back last week in containing Noah Mies, he looms as a particularly difficult match-up here. His addition to the attack has really transformed the threat they carry, but the Zebras' youngsters are also stepping up to complement that injection of star power. Curtis Miley has been mighty impressive with his bursting runs from midfield and he looks like a real player of the future.
City meanwhile will be delighted with their opening month of the season under the guidance of the Daniel Syson and Nathan Pitchford team. They had a slight wobble last week against the Lions and nearly threw away a 3-0 lead against a side with a player less, but they refocused and got the job done. Outside of the Devonport game, it’s been three exceptional displays that has them sitting in third place and just a point off top spot. If other results fall their way this weekend, it’s not inconceivable that they could well be sitting on top at the end of the weekend, provided they can continue that strong run of form here.
Opportunity Presents Itself For United and Riverside
The final game of the round pits the league’s current bottom two sides against each other as Launceston United welcomes Riverside Olympic to Floorworld Park. With both sides posting 0-0-4 records across the opening month and their goal differences sitting at -13 and -15 this obviously stands out as a particularly crucial game for both teams. Something has to give here and at least one of the sides will be guaranteed to get off the mark.
The constant pressure both sides have faced has allowed their goalkeepers to shine, and the goal difference situation may well have been worse if not for each side’s respective glovemen.
Aidan Piper has been simply outstanding for United and despite conceding six last weekend, was comfortably his side’s best player as he bravely held out against the onslaught till the dam wall finally burst late on. Riverside’s Daniel Nash had his colours lowered slightly against Devonport last week, but his first three weeks were similarly exceptional, earning him selection in the team of the month for his string of highlight reel saves. These two should expect less work this weekend, but both have the ability to be big difference-makers when the time comes.
Also key to their side's chances will be each side’s star import in attack, with David Owusu for United and Andre Chamusca for Riverside both getting amongst the goals in recent weeks and looking like potential match-winners. They’ve both been somewhat starved of service in some of these heavy defeats but should see more opportunities this week and their teams will be leaning on them to deliver the goals that will lead to their first points of the season.
McDonald’s NPL Tasmania Round 5
Friday 21 April
Kingborough Lions v Glenorchy Knights, KGV, 8:15pm
Saturday 22 April
South Hobart v Devonport Strikers, Darcy Street, 2:00pm
Clarence Zebras v Launceston City, Wentworth Park, 2:30pm
Launceston United v Riverside Olympic, Birch Avenue, 3:45pm