Welcome to the Friday Forecast ahead of Round 8 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. We have now returned back to the start of the fixture, with every side now having played each other once and it’s now time for the second full round of fixtures and the rematches they bring.
Before launching into the preview for the Round, congratulations to all the players who were selected in the season's second team of the month. The team was selected based on performances in Round 4-7 of the competition.
Friday Night Derby Launches Second Full Round
Round 8 will kick off just as the season did, with a Friday night Derby between Launceston City and Riverside Olympic. Launceston City proved too strong back on that opening night back in March, scoring a 2-0 win with two former Riverside players in Simeoni and Humphrey playing prominent roles in sinking their former side.
Since then, City have strung together a strong opening set of fixtures to sit in third place on the table. They are firmly in the mix for a top-four finish that would secure a spot in the end-of-season finals series and new coach Daniel Syson would be pleased with what his chargers have produced so far. Stefan Tantari is enjoying a breakout season in attack, looking amongst the most dynamic attacking players in the competition and he isn’t alone in enjoying a breakout campaign. Jack Woodland has highly impressed in midfield, whilst Alex Jacobs and William Humphrey have formed a reliable defensive pairing in front of Lachie Clark. Finals should be the expectation now for this group and ensuring they don’t slip up in these matches will be important to that cause.
Riverside’s season has been a struggle so far, though they do have the victory over Launceston United that keeps them from occupying the foot of the table. Their keeper Daniel Nash has put together a fine season to date, but he is consistently being asked to do too much. If they are going to take points from the sides above them on the table in the second full round, then they simply must clamp down on the number of high-danger chances and ask him to do less. He has shown himself capable of making the big stops that make an upset possible and with Andre Chamusca offering a goal threat in attack, the building blocks are there. Typically they’ve had their best performances in the Derby since coming into the league, so perhaps the occasion will draw out one of their better performances, which their Round 1 display was for the most part.
Early Start For Lions and South
On Saturday the Kingborough Lions will take on South Hobart the Kingston Twin Ovals.
This fixture will be unique for a couple of reasons, as per the stats man Benjamin Smith, it will be the first time an NPL game has been played at the Twin Ovals and it will also be the first morning kick-off in the competition’s history!
The game will get underway at 11:45am with both sides looking for a crucial three points as they look to continue to get their season’s back on track. Both sides have seen promising starts to the season slide somewhat and consistency has been lacking thus far.
The Kingborough Lions have just three points from the past four games, which came last round against Launceston United, snapping a three-game losing skid. They risk falling 5 points behind the top four if they were to drop this and will want to take advantage of the first real home game they’ve had this year, with their fixtures having to be played away from the presently being developed, Lightwood Park.
South Hobart have just the four points from their past four league outings, though they have come in their past two games and given their form in the Lakoseljac Cup, they seem to have steadied the ship somewhat already. Sitting 8 points back of the Devonport Strikers could already be a terminal blow to their title hopes and they know they can’t afford to slip up again here.
The Round 1 meeting between the two sides was a tale of two halves, as the fast-starting Lions found themselves overrun in the second half by South Hobart who claimed a 2-1 win. It was a game that really could’ve gone either way and I’m expecting much the same here.
Zebras Seeking Vengeance at Wentworth Park
The Clarence Zebras will be out to avenge last week’s Cup elimination as they take on the Devonport Strikers at Wentworth Park. In a rematch of last weekend’s thrilling Semi-Final, the Zebras will be hoping the shift down South to Wentworth Park can flip the script and see them emerging victorious.
On the balance of chances last week, the Strikers will feel they deserved to advance, but given the Zebras led 2-0 and also missed a late penalty whilst the score was at 2-2, it’s hard to look at the result as anything other than a big, missed opportunity for what would’ve been comfortably the biggest win in the Zebras short history. They remain the only side to have taken points from the Strikers this year, which came in the Round 1 draw they claimed at Valley Road, so that combined with last week’s effort seems to suggest they match up well with the Strikers.
Devonport meanwhile just continues to get the job done and Round 1 is looking increasingly like a minor blip on the radar, winning their next 6 league games consecutively. They now have some breathing room at the top of the table and history would suggest that the Lakoseljac Cup, or potential Australia Cup Round of 32 berth are unlikely to slow them down in the back half of the season. They will want to quash any notions of Zebras being a bogey side with a victory here and continue to build their lead atop the table.
Knights Look To Bounce Back at Birch Avenue
At Birch Avenue Launceston United will be looking to claim their first points of the season as they take on the second-placed Glenorchy Knights who will be looking to rebound after their defeat to Devonport last time they played.
The first meeting between the two sides at KGV saw the Knights controlling most of the possession and the match in general, but United held out well at the back. The 2-0 win for the Knights was a reasonably comfortable one in the end, though they were made to work hard to break down United's determined rear guard. Whilst it was a strong effort at the back, the attacking threat United offered was limited.
That’s an area United have improved in as they’ve adapted to life in the top division, offering more of a threat back the other way, but their first points have still alluded them. If the first block of fixtures was about finding out what the top division was all about and the standard that would be required, they will be hoping that the second block will see them start to get some positive results. Whilst their last home outing against the Lions was disappointing, they’ve played their best football at home, so will be looking to utilise that advantage here to try and shock the Knights.
Knights have had a fortnight to lick their wounds after falling to 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Devonport Strikers in their last outing. That result leaves them on the back foot in the title race, now sitting four points behind and this is not the type of game they can afford to drop if they want to continue to push Devonport. Under James Sherman the Knights have always done a good job winning the games you expect them to and this certainly falls in that category. Whilst the loss was a setback, they still boast the strongest defensive record in the league and loom as the most likely challenger to the Strikers. This should be a good bounce-back spot for them.
Friday 26 May
Launceston City v Riverside Olympic, 8:15pm, Buckby Motors Park
Saturday 27 May
Kingborough Lions v South Hobart, 11:45am, Kingston Twin Ovals
Launceston United v Glenorchy Knights, 2:00pm, Birch Avenue
Clarence Zebras v Devonport Strikers, 2:30pm, Wentworth Park