Welcome to the Weekend Wash-up after an entertaining Round 5 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. It promised to be a weekend of close games and that was precisely what we were served up. All four games were decided by just a single goal in what must rank as one of the more tightly fought weekends in the league’s history.
Knights Grind Out Another Win
The round got underway on Friday night with the Glenorchy Knights taking on the Kingborough Lions at KGV, in what basically amounted to a bonus home fixture for the Knights with Lightwood Park out of operation. For the second Friday night in a row, the Knights claimed a 1-0 win in a game that could have gone either way.
Once more the result was in no small part to the efforts of Jackson Gardner in the Knights goal, who again produced the clutch moment late in the game to preserve his side's lead. Noah Mies appeared for all the world to be set to level things up in the 89th minute when he finally found some room in the penalty area, but there was Gardner making the big save to deny him and secure another crucial victory.
In a game that was more of a tactical chess match than end to end thriller, the Knights produced the breakthrough on 62 minutes when Adam Gorrie crossed superbly for Lucas Dzalakowski to powerfully head home at the back post.
This is precisely why the old adage of defence win titles has persevered for so long. The Knights might be struggling somewhat for a spark in the attacking parts of the pitch, but despite scoring just two goals in the past two weeks they have six points to show for it. 1-0 not a scoreline we see with particular regularity in the McDonald's NPL TAS, a league which has a very high goals-per-game ratio. You need to go back to Round 18-20 of the 2016 season when Devonport won three consecutive 1-0 victories to grind out the league title for the last time a side has had back to back 1-0 results. That 2016 Strikers title triumph was in no small part due to the form of their star Canadian goalkeeping import Niko Giantsopoulo and the Knights will be hoping they can follow that script with their own star goalkeeper. Whilst I think they will need to improve if they are ultimately going to dethrone the Strikers, they currently sit hot on their heels, sitting just a point behind them and have remarkably conceded just once in five matches.
Dillon Stunner Secures Zebras Win
A stunning goal from Riley Dillon helped propel the Clarence Zebras to a 2-1 victory over Launceston City in an action-packed Italian Derby at Wentworth Park. The chances flowed in a see-sawing encounter before the Zebras overran the visitors in the second half, with Dillon securing the win with a truly stunning strike.
It was City who got the jump on the home side, taking the lead in just the third minute of the match as Mason Smith snuck in behind the defence from a throw-in before blasting a shot home at the near post. Stefan Tantari came within a whisker of doubling that advantage and continuing his trend of highlight-reel goals when he whipped in a wicked free kick that clattered into the crossbar on 32 minutes.
The Zebras then passed up a chance to get back on terms when Samuel Tooze had his spot-kick turned aside by Lachie Clark, as the City skipper came up with the big stop for his side.
After City shaded the first half the Zebras came storming back in the second and restored parity shortly after the restart when Liam Toselli caught out City’s high defensive line and was able to fire home after a long ball was launched over the top. With Simeoni having come close to scoring just before the break only to be denied by Jones, it was a particularly bitter blow for City who were close to having that two goal cushion.
With the Zebras starting to lift, Riley Dillon then produced the moment of the match when he drove inside from the left wing, surging past City defenders before unleashing a firecracker of a shot that flew top corner. It was a moment of individual brilliance and ultimately what won this game.
City tried to rally and had a late flurry of shots, but couldn’t find the equalizer and it was the Zebras who walked away with three points that sees them jump up into the competition's top four.
Strikers See off South to Extend Streak
At Darcy Street it was a familiar story as the Devonport Strikers overcame their toughest test of the season to date and scored a big 2-1 win over South Hobart to remain on top of the table.
Despite playing almost the entire second half with 10 men following Ali Dulleh’s dismissal, the Strikers were able to hold on to claim the win as South Hobart fought back in the second half.
The Strikers took the lead from the penalty spot in the 31st minute after Ewan Sloane was penalised for a handball. Up stepped Roberto Fernandez Garrido, who equaled Brayden Mann’s NPL TAS record of scoring in 10 consecutive games by slotting home with a penalty he simply could not have struck any cleaner.
Two minutes later and Nick Lanau-Atkinson doubled the lead as he capped off a superb move involving Garrido and Dulleh that unlocked the defence and allowed a tap-in from close range.
South had strong shouts for a penalty of their own turned aside moments later when Sam Berezansky was clattered in the box, but their protests were waved away. It wouldn't be the last time their cries went unheeded in that regard for the afternoon.
They were then offered a lifeline early in the second half however when Dulleh was given his marching orders following an altercation with Jackson Dent on the touchline that sparked a furious response from South players as the game threatened to boil over.
When play resumed, South made the most of their numerical advantage to get back into the game as Sam Berezansky halved the deficit on 62 minutes, sweeping home from close range.
But the Strikers are champions for a reason and they locked the game down and effectively defended their end for the next half an hour, restricting the chances South were able to generate and grinding out the victory. It wasn't always pretty, but it was very effective and sees the Strikers maintain their position atop the league and extend their unbeaten streak in the NPL to 24 games.
Riverside Claim Breakthrough Victory
At Floorworld Park it was Riverside who won the battle of the previously winless sides, accounting for Riverside 2-1 in a local derby that meant plenty to both sides.
With both teams entering the match off the back of four consecutive defeats to start the season, this match was always going to be of significance and the three points hotly contested.
It was Andre Chamusca who rose to the occasion and conjured a moment of pure brilliance just five minutes in. His free kick from 25 yards was absolutely exquisite as it dipped perfectly under the bar and into the top corner.
The lead didn’t last long though with the hosts hitting back in the 24th minute via Lochie Dean, who finished classily after some nice interplay between Da Silva and Owusu in the build-up to draw United level.
Riverside reclaimed their advantage 10 minutes later when Austin Marshall was played in behind the defensive line and just lifted the ball over the advancing Aidan Piper, with the ball picking up a crazy amount of spin from the keeper which took it away from the defender tracking back to the line.
That would be the end of the goalscoring as the game remained at 2-1 for the rest of the afternoon. The second half didn’t generate a host of scoring chances, but the chances that did arrive fell largely to Riverside who appeared more likely to extend the lead than United did to cancel it out. It meant the final result of Riverside claiming the three points was a fair reflection of the game and provides their first points of the year, sparking joyous celebrations from the playing group and coaching staff.
United meanwhile will look to regroup with a week off for the Lakoseljac Cup. As their coach Fernando Munoz pointed out post-game, they are still learning at this level and are showing improvements as they make that adjustment. It was always going to be tough for them in their maiden season, but they’ve shown in their home games that they can compete, it’s just a matter of finding a way to translate that into points.
Round 5 Results
Kingborough Lions 0
Glenorchy Knights 1 (L.Dzalakowski 62’)
Clarence Zebras 2 (L.Toselli 49’, R.Dillon 62’)
Launceston City 1 (M.Smith 3’)
South Hobart 1 (S.Berezansky 65’)
Devonport Strikers 2 (R.Garrido 32’, N.Lanau-Atkinson 34’)
Launceston United 1 (L.Dean 24’)
Riverside Olympic 2 (A.Chamusca 5’, A.Marshall 34’)