Welcome to the Friday Forecast as we return to league action for Round 6 in the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. After a cup weekend, the focus turns back to the league for the final fortnight of fresh fixtures, before another pause for the Lakoseljac Cup Semi-Finals and then we start getting into rematches from Round 8 onwards.
Following Wednesday’s Cup draw, we now have our matchups for that Semi-Final weekend. Flying the flag for the Southern Championship, Hobart United have been given a boost with a home draw but will face a stern test against a South Hobart side who dismantled the Knights 7-2 in their Quarter Final and will fancy themselves to advance. The other Semi-Final will be a rematch from the opening Round of the McDonald's NPL Tasmania season, with the Devonport Strikers hosting the Clarence Zebras at Valley Road. The pair played out a 1-1 draw on that day, but the home draw certainly makes the Strikers favourites to progress as they go in search of a third consecutive Lakoseljac Cup triumph and what would also be their fifth in the last eight seasons.
Launceston Derby To Kick off Under Friday Night Lights
In what must surely be a first for the NPL Tasmania, we have two Friday night games this week to mix things up, one in the North and one in the South.
Starting in the North where we have a Launceston Derby between City and United at Buckby Motors Park. City will head into this one off the back of consecutive defeats to the Clarence Zebras in the league and cup. Both times they took the lead early, only to ultimately fall to 2-1 defeats. Throwing away winning positions is not a habit sides want to get into and maintaining their level after these sharp starts is what Syson will be wanting from his side.
The two sides have met once already this season in the Lakoseljac Cup, where City registered a 4-1 win in the Round of 16 at Floorworld Park. Aidan Rigby put United a goal to the good in that clash before City began to take over and worked their way in front. With the score at 2-1 after 78 minutes, United were in the contest before City put things away with a pair of late strikes. It was a competitive showing from United but one that suggested City simply have a higher gear to shift to.
City will still be expecting to win this one against an opponent who are yet to claim a first point in the competition. Perhaps the Derby can throw up the old adage of form going out the window but City have undoubtedly played at the higher level so far this year. Prior to the setbacks of the past fortnight, things were going rather well for them and they do head into this game sitting in third place on the table.
Stunned Knights Look To Rebound Against Surging Zebras
Elsewhere on Friday night we have the Glenorchy Knights playing host to the Clarence Zebras at KGV. They will be two sides heading into this game off the back of very different Cup weekends. The Zebras will be riding high after claiming a big come-from-behind road win over Launceston City to advance to the final four, whilst the Knights will be reeling from the 7-2 thumping they copped at the hands of South Hobart.
What to make of the Knights performance against South Hobart? The hallmark of their play in the opening couple of months of the season has been how hard it is to score on them, conceding just once in six games prior to last weekend where they suddenly shipped seven. That said, it’s not like the high-danger chances weren’t coming against them in the weeks prior, it’s just that Jackson Gardner was producing a host of world-class saves to cover them. With Eli Luttmer out injured, the defence was brutally exposed by South and it will have to step up against a Zebras attack led by one of the stars of the league, Xuan Cappellino, who has scored in every game he has played.
The Zebras have continued to impress week after week. Their only loss this season came to the Kingborough Lions, and outside of that day, they’ve put up good performances in every game they’ve taken the field. The two sides have met 8 times in the NPL Tasmania over the past 3 years since the Zebras inception and all 8 times the Knights have taken the three points. The Clarence Zebras have already taken points from South and the Strikers this season, could this be the weekend they finally get the Knights monkey off their back? It certainly appears to be their best chance yet of doing so.
South Looking To Carry Cup Form Into League
At Windsor Park on Saturday, Riverside will be looking to string positive league results together as they entertain South Hobart who will be eager to carry their form from the Lakoseljac Cup.
The Roos will surely be frustrated at letting such a glorious opportunity in the Cup slip last weekend. Drawing a home tie against a side from the division below in the Quarter Finals is as good of a cup draw as you are ever likely to get. But they must refocus quickly and can’t afford to dwell against an opponent this dangerous. They did get their first victory of the season in their last league outing against Launceston United, but this will be a step up in the quality of the opposition.
South Hobart snapped back to life last weekend, producing what was comfortably their best display of the season to completely dismantle the Glenorchy Knights. Just a fortnight after they were shut out by the Knights, they were suddenly scoring on them for fun. It was the type of performance they had threatened to produce for much of the year, but something hadn't quite clicked in the final third before then. So was it an outlier, or a break-out performance that will kick their season into life? We may not know for a while yet, but regardless of what it means, they should have the firepower to take the win this week.
Strikers Host Vanquished Cup Foe
Also kicking off at 2:30pm on Saturday we have the Devonport Strikers taking on the Kingborough Lions in a rematch of last weekend’s Cup quarter final.
This time around the Strikers will have the home-ground advantage, and given they got the job done on the road last week in a comfortable fashion, this appears an uphill task for the Lions. Certainly, the Lions will need to offer more than they did in the first half of last weekend’s game, as the Strikers struck twice to take control of a game they would eventually win 2-0.
The Lions were better in the second half and started to create a bit more, but that does come with the rather large caveat that the Strikers had a 2 goal lead they seemed perfectly content to sit on and were in no mood to overextend themselves going forwards. It was more ‘protect the lead mode’ from the Strikers in that second 45, which they did extremely effectively, ultimately conceding one late goal from the penalty spot, but never looking like they were going to be overrun by the Lions. In the first half when they forced the issue and played slightly more open and attacking manner, Dulleh and Fernandez Garrido were giving the Lions defence all manner of problems. Perhaps the halftime tactical switches were the reason for their lessened influence in the second half, but it seemed more to my mind that it was more to do with the intent of Devonport.
Round 6
Friday 5 May
Glenorchy Knights v Clarence Zebras, 8:15pm, KGV
Launceston City v Launceston United, 8:15pm, Buckby Motors Park
Saturday 6 May
Riverside Olympic v South Hobart, 2:30pm, Windsor Park
Devonport Strikers v Kingborough Lions, 2:30pm, Valley Road