Welcome to the Weekend Wash-Up for another week as we take a look back on all the action in Round 4 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. It was an exciting weekend of Football, with Knights and Launceston City claiming victories in wildly entertaining games and moving into second and third place respectively. The Clarence Zebras converted their strong early season play into their first victory as they downed Launceston United, whilst Devonport did as Devonport so often does and continued their winning streak by beating Riverside 5-1. The last time the Strikers lost in the league was Round 2 of last year, that's quite the run they are on!
Impassable Gardner Shuts Out South
The Round began on Friday night with the Glenorchy Knights scoring a 1-0 victory over South Hobart in an enthralling encounter that may have lacked goals, but certainly not action.
Youngster Rowan Pitt broke the deadlock in the 58th with his spectacular shot from range that picked out the bottom corner of the net. It was a wonderful strike from a young player who has seriously impressed across the campaign's opening weeks.
The stand-out performance and story of the game however was undoubtedly Knights goalkeeper Jackson Gardner. The Canadian import produced an absolute goalkeeping masterclass to protect his clean sheet and ultimately secure the win for his side. As South pushed hard for the equaliser in the second half, Gardner proved utterly immovable and made some stunning saves.
His full-extension diving save to deny Gus Higgins powerfully hit strike on 62 minutes was world-class and very few keepers are capable of making that save. He was already the man of the match in my eyes before his stoppage-time heroics stole the show but his double save to deny Lachie Semmler and then Nick Morton in the 92nd minute of the game was as clutch as it comes. It was a demonstration of the value of a good keeper. South will be disbelieving that they didn’t take something from this game, but they just couldn’t solve the Canadian.
It wasn’t just the big reflex saves that stood out in this performance. His marshalling of the penalty area was utterly commanding throughout the 90 minutes, plucking crosses out of the air all evening with supreme authority. His spryness off his line also stood out, there were multiple through balls played in that surely would’ve led to good scoring chances against most sides, but Gardner’s speed in springing out to get there first was downright electric at times.
We’ve seen the impact a star import keeper can have on this league; his compatriot Niko Giantsopoulos certainly springs to mind. If the Knights can sharpen up in attack, then with Gardner playing like this at the back, it could well take this Knights side a long way in season 2023!
City Win a Thriller over Brave 10-Man Lions
At Buckby Motors Park, Launceston City won a seven-goal thriller, 4-3, over a 10-man Kingborough Lions side in a game that had everything. Seven goals, two penalties and a red card, this was an explosive contest.
City took the lead when Lions defender Tom Prince crazily decided to play goalkeeper on the line in just the 10th minute and block a shot with his arms. It was probably just pure instinct to block the ball to be fair, but it was an action that really hurt his side. It’s one thing to do that in the 80th minute of a game as a calculated play, but in the 10th you’re surely better off just conceding the goal. As it happened, William Humphrey made no mistake from the spot and City led 1-0 regardless and now had the numerical advantage.
It seemed that extra man was going to prove overwhelming for the Lions, as City quickly raced out to a 3-0 lead with Stefan Tantari and Toby Anderson scoring in the 29th and 36th minutes.
Returning to his former haunt, it was Noah Mies who haunted Launceston City here and provided the Lions a lifeline just before halftime when he strode in and stroked home to cut the lead to 3-2.
A penalty to Kobe Kemp allowed Mies to score again just after the restart and suddenly it was game on once more! It was a gutsy fightback from the 10 men of the Lions, but ultimately City wouldn’t throw away the golden position they found themselves in and livewire Stefan Tantari put the game to bed in the 86’ minute with a stunning turn and strike from outside the box. It wasn't the first eye-catching goal of the season from Tantari and he is quickly developing into a major weapon in the final third.
Kobe Kemp ensured further late drama when he scored his fifth goal of the season, but with just a couple of stoppage time minutes remaining, City were able to see it out and get the win to move up into third place on the table.
Zebras Make Every Post a Winner against Launceston United
At Wentworth Park, the Clarence Zebras claimed their first win of the season, as they overran Launceston United 6-1 and scored four times in the final 23 minutes of the match.
It’s fair to say Launceston United are not on great terms with the goalposts at Wentworth Park. Two of the Zebras' goals were own goals that came as a result of the ball ricocheting off the upright, back onto a United player and then rolling back across the line. Throw in a David Owusu penalty that bounced back off the upright and United’s luck was completely out in this fixture.
Not to say that the Zebras weren’t fully deserving of their victory, they absolutely were and from the moment of Owusu’s penalty miss that might’ve made it 2-1, they took control of the game, with Cade Smith sending them into the break 2-1 ahead.
Xuan Cappellino was once again a dominant presence leading the line powerfully, scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot and it was his 2 shots that were the ones that deflected back off United bodies. That was unfortunate for his own personal goal tally and Golden Boot quest, but they all count the same on the scoreboard and they helped the Zebras to a big win. Riley Dillon and Sam Tooze joined him on the scoresheet as they added late goals to make the final score line more emphatic.
Angelo Amato was the man on the scoresheet for United, making a well-timed run into the penalty area before blasting a shot home that beat Jones for power, but again they were overwhelmed at the back. It continues the run of tough results for the competition newcomers and sets up a massive clash next weekend where they will take on similarly winless Riverside in a game that represents their best chance of scoring some points.
Strikers Remain Locked In On Top
At Windsor Park, the Devonport Strikers overcame a slightly sluggish first half to cruise to a 5-1 victory over Riverside Olympic in a physical clash and remain in top spot on the table after 4 Rounds.
Coming into the game as major outsiders, Riverside did a good job of making themselves hard to break down in the first half, looking compact and organised. The Strikers only goal prior to the break came early on via Kieran Mulraney bundling one home from close range after a free kick was swung in by Nick Lanau-Atkinson. Daniel Nash looked for a flag for a foul, but none was forthcoming and the Strikers led 1-0.
The second half saw Devonport snap back into their usual free-scoring ways as Lanau-Atkinson slid one under Nash from distance shortly after the restart, before wheeling off in his usual joyous celebration. I’ve always liked that about Nick LA, the man certainly knows how to celebrate his work and the more of that sort of stuff the better as far as I am concerned.
He was joined on the scoresheet two minutes later by Lachlan Van Neutgem prodding home a rebound from close range after Lanau-Atkinson rocked the crossbar with a hit from outside the area. Roberto Fernandez Garrido then made it 4-0 after 60 minutes from close range before some late drama saw Riverside getting on the scoresheet.
A penalty was awarded for Brody Denehey infringing on Riverside striker Andre Chamusca, which seemed to spark a furious response from the Strikers as tensions threatened to boil over. The Portuguese frontman converted from the spot and he let Keegan Smith know all about it in the Devonport net in resulting celebration.
It was Kieran Mulraney who had the final say however, the Strikers captain nodding home a towering header from Taylor Last’s expertly placed free kick to make it 5-1 and have Mulraney walking away with a brace.
Round 4 Scores
Glenorchy Knights 1 (R.Pitt 58’)
South Hobart 0
Clarence Zebras 6 (X.Cappellino 12’, C.Smith 43’, A.Piper 68’ (OG), W.Spicer 75’ (OG), R.Dillon 84’, S.Tooze 90+3’)
Launceston United 1 (A.Amato 22’)
Riverside Olympic 1 (A.Chamusca 87’)
Devonport Strikers 5 (K.Mulraney 9’ 90+4’, N.Lanau-Atkinson 49’, L.Van Neutegem 51’ R.Garrido 61’)
Launceston City 4 (W.Humphrey 13’, T.Anderson 29’, S.Tantari 36’ 86’)
Kingborough Lions 3 (N.Mies 45+3’ 50’, K.Kemp 90+1’)