Welcome to the Weekend-Wash Up following Round 6 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. It was a weekend with few surprises as results largely played out as expected. The Strikers continue to hum along atop the table as the chasing pack sorts itself out. Whether a side can emerge from that group to pose any threat to the defending Champions remains to be seen. With the top four all winning this week, no ground was gained by anyone in the top half of the standings.
Friday Knight Specialists Strike Again
The round began on Friday night at KGV with the Glenorchy Knights claiming a 1-0 victory over the Clarence Zebras in a tightly contested affair that was the pick of the action from the weekend.
The Knights are now making a habit of producing these results on a Friday night. They’ve won their last three NPL games by this scoreline, at this venue and in this timeslot. Given how rare a scoreline that has proved down the years in this usually high-scoring league, it really does stand out. The only other time in NPL history a side has won three consecutive fixtures by that scoreline was the Devonport Strikers in Rounds 18-20 of the 2016 season. After an off week against South in the Cup last weekend, they were back to grinding out a victory here on Friday to deny the Zebras. Once again, their keeper Jackson Gardner was at the heart of it, making his usual handful of top-drawer saves to preserve the clean sheet and protect the lead including a crucial 1 v 1 stop on Riley Dillon nearing the half-hour mark. Josh Jones was also on form in the Zebras goal in a game that the two keepers were the two best players.
The Knights lead came courtesy of a wonderful solo goal from Kyle Vincent, storming from his own half to the top of the box before launching a rocket that picked out the corner to perfection. It was a stunning effort and gave Knights the lead inside the opening quarter of an hour.
In the 66th minute there were penalty shouts, but they were waved aside and instead the Knights had to endure a tricky final 20 minutes as the Zebras pushed hard for a leveller. The closest the Zebras came was when Gardner denied Cappellino for the third time in the game by tipping his well-taken free-kick onto the crossbar. The result ensures that Knights remain in second place in the standings, just a point behind the Devonport Strikers, whom they meet next weekend in a decisive clash.
City Get Back On Track In Home Derby
Elsewhere on the Friday night, Launceston City shrugged off a disappointing fortnight to claim a 3-1 win over Launceston United in the first NPL meeting between the neighbours. A blistering 12-minute period either side of the half-time break saw City scoring all three of their goals, and make it four wins from their first six games of the season to sit in third place.
United defended grittily for the opening half hour at Buckby Motors Park, but eventually, the building pressure told and Stefan Tantari was able to pick out Toby Anderson who nodded home the opening goal.
Moments later and Will Humphrey had the chance to double that advantage from the penalty spot after an ill-timed challenge from Warrener sent Tantari tumbling. City’s centre back made no mistake from the spot this week, cooly picking out the bottom corner.
Tantari was once again instrumental in goal number three, making a surging run down the left wing before the ball eventually fell to Mason Smith who made fired home.
United pulled one back shortly after with a sharp move through the middle. Connor Reading, Aidan Rigby and David Owusu combined to perfection with some slick passing and movement that unlocked the city defence and saw Owusu race in behind to pull it back to 3-1. It was a lovely flowing move and the type of play that shows what United are capable of conjuring. They just need to do it more consistently.
It would ultimately be as close as United would get, though had Lachie Clark not denied Owusu with an incredible reflex save in the 67th minute then it might’ve gotten really interesting late on as United pushed hard but ultimately couldn’t find a second goal to apply the late pressure.
Dulleh Inflicts More Misery On Lions
For the second week in a row, the Devonport Strikers sunk the Kingborough Lions, this time downing them 5-2 at Valley Road in the league. Fresh off tormenting the Lions in the Lakoseljac Cup last Saturday, Ali Dulleh again proved too much to handle and they simply had no answers to him as he fired in a hat-trick.
Perhaps the only major surprise from this game was the absence of Roberto Fernandez Garrido from the score sheet, ending his bid for an outright record of scoring in 11 straight league games and meaning he remains tied for the record on 10 with former Stikers marksman, Brayden Mann.
Before Dulleh took over the contest it was Charles Bidwell who got the scoring started, bundling home a scrappy goal in the box in the 14th minute.
The Lions responded almost immediately as Phil Kantzos produced a tidy finish just a minute later to finish off some nice build up play from Taylor and Mies and square it at 1-1.
Dulleh’s pace was causing problems however and on 29 minutes he got on the end of a long ball and in behind.
Strength at set pieces has always been a hallmark of this modern Devonport dynasty and the next 2 goals came from corners, as first Dulleh, then Barton turned efforts home from close range to see the Strikers disappear out of sight and suddenly leading 4-1 at the half time break.
Shortly after the restart, they had their fifth as Dulleh was allowed far too much time and space at the back post to side-foot home his hat-trick.
It might not have been the Lions day, but Kobe Kemp provided a highlight when he scored an incredible solo goal to cut it back to 5-2, taking it at halfway, beating a defender all ends up before rounding the keeper and scoring.
Any hopes it sparking a miraculous fightback were quickly put to bed when Taylor was given his marching orders for a reckless tackle that earned him his second booking of the match shortly after though, the game ending 5-2 in favour of the Champions.
Morton Masterclass Sinks Riverside
At Windsor Park, Nick Morton ran riot as South Hobart cruised to a thumping 6-0 win over Riverside Olympic. The hosts had no answer for the South attacker, who scored three times and set up another in a glistening display.
Morton wasted no time leaving his mark on this contest, pouncing on a turnover at the back before picking out Lakoseljac in the box to fire home in just the sixth minute.
A pair of goals in quick succession around the half-hour mark then saw South motoring away as first Berezansky then Dent bobbed up in the penalty area before Morton then bagged his first of the afternoon as his deflected strike left Nash with no chance in the Riverside net.
Morton went on to score two more goals in the second half to complete his hat-trick as he continued to skip round defenders for fun.
The Roos have shown in patches this season that they are capable of testing out the best sides in the competition, but in this contest, they were simply outgunned from start to finish. If not for some quality saves from Daniel Nash this one could have gotten a whole lot uglier on the scoreboard. The Roos keeper’s audible frustrations at his defence for the sixth goal were certainly understandable.
South meanwhile have left themselves with some chasing to do, but appear to be hitting their straps and finding their goal-scoring swagger. They can leap Launceston City into third with a win next week in what shapes as a hotly anticipated clash.
Round 6
Glenorchy Knights 1 (K.Vincent 13’)
Clarence Zebras 0
Launceston City 3 (T.Anderson 37’, W.Humphrey 43’, M.Smith 48’)
Launceston United 1 (D.Owusu 52’)
Devonport 5 (C.Bidwell 14', A.Dulleh 30' 38' 53', T.Barton 41')
Kingborough 2 (P.Kantzos 15', K.Kemp 62')
Riverside 0
South Hobart 6 (B.Lakoseljac 7', S.Berezansky 30', J.Dent 34', N.Morton 39' 57' 88')