Despite pitting the top 4 on the table against the bottom 4, Round 13 of the McDonalds NPL Tasmania was a weekend of largely tight encounters across the board. Whilst Devonport won with a relative ease over Riverside, Knights and South were made to grind out narrow victories over Olympia and the Clarence Zebras whilst Launceston City upset the Kingborough Lions to claim a second big win on the road South for the year.
City Stun Lions
A stunning solo goal from Stefan Tantari fired Launceston City to a surprise 2-1 win over the Kingborough Lions. The promising youngster is growing by the week and his brilliant solo goal in the 89th minute landed the knockout punch on the Lions to secure City’s second big win on the road south this year, following their 1-0 win over Knights earlier this season.
Originally scheduled to play at 2.30pm at the Den, the game was moved to Empire Couriers Park at 4:30pm due to ground drainage issues. Both sides traded half chances in an even opening 25 minutes with the Lions perhaps narrowly shading things in a game with a good tempo about it.
The best chance came from a mazy Jaden Fidra run that drew a spectacular save from Roan Gillam on 25 minutes.
Five minutes later and the Lions took the lead as Kobe Kemp pounced on a ball at the top of the box and drilled a shot into the bottom corner.
The script was then flipped in the second half, as Lachie Clark made a fine save to deny Kemp his second, only for his side to then go and score five minutes later.
Albert Amankwa finished off some nice work from Gedi Krusa down the right and fired home to level the game with 34 minutes still to play.
The Lions looked the more likely side to go ahead in the final half hour and they had the better of the second half chances, but they just couldn’t find the finish and it remained locked at 1-1 with time close to expiring.
Then it was Tantari time, as he received the ball in his own half before tearing up the pitch at the retreating Lions defence. Downes seemed to have him covered as he continued his run to the box, sitting off him slightly, but Tantari skipped away from him to buy some room to shoot and then picked out the far corner with a wonderful shot.
It left the Lions little time to respond and would be the last real chance of the game securing a huge win for City. They are showing themselves to be a much better side on the road this season, and a pair of top 4 scalps has them in the mix for a top 4 finish, and has surely ended any faint hopes the Lions may have still had to win the title.
Knights Overcome Warriors
The Glenorchy Knights downed Olympia 2-1, but were made to work for it, shaking off a sluggish start to claim a crucial win to remain in second place.
Simon Vivarelli handed the Warriors the dream start as they took the lead 10 minutes in via a wonder strike. The midfielder picked the ball up in space 35 yards out and picked out the top corner with an absolute world class strike. It was top drawer stuff and had the young Warriors buzzing early.
It was very nearly 2-0 just a minute later as Reef Murfett had to produce a big kick save to deny Anthony Mamic.
Fortunate to not be down by 2, the Knights then got their footing in the contest as Nick Naden laid one back to Austin Yost to finish off and square the game at 1-1 after a furiously paced opening 12 and a half minutes.
Mitch Stalker saved well to deny a Luttmer header from a corner before Adam Pickup nearly scored the goal of the season for the Warriors.
Spying the keeper off his line, Pickup launched a long range chip from the edge of the centre circle that lobbed the keeper but bounced too sharply and just carried over the bar. On a non-artificial pitch at this time of year it would’ve been a certain goal but fortunately for the Knight’s sake, Murfett’s blushes were spared. Mamic also attempted a similar effort just before half time as the Warriors were clearly looking to take advantage of the keeper’s high line but this one also fizzed over the bar.
Despite not finding the second goal, it was shaping as one of the Warriors better halves of the season which made the goal they then conceded in the final minute a real gut punch to take.
Tyler Harrison took the game on, storming out of defence and broke the Warriors lines before sliding in Adam Gorrie wide on the right. Gorrie squared it for Naden who made no mistake and the Knights suddenly had a lead to take into the half time break.
The Knights shut things down in the second half and having seen the chances flow in the first 45 they really dried up in the second half. They couldn’t produce a third goal to kill off the game, but the Warriors didn’t really look like getting back level either. The goal they conceded just before the break seemed to have taken the wind from their sails and so Knights were able to hold on for the three points to keep themselves in second place. It’s been the theme of the year for the Knights really, they’re getting results, but the performances aren’t exactly inspiring belief they can haul in this massive Devonport lead.
Morton Fires South Past Zebras
South Hobart snapped a run of consecutive defeats to bounce back and defeat the Clarence Zebras 2-0 at Wentworth Park. A goal in each half from Josh Divin and Nick Morton secured the points for South in an overall scrappy game.
The Zebras started brightly and only some solid shot blocking from Luke Bighin denied them an early goal as he twice made important stops from goal bound efforts.
South were largely restricted to shots from outside the box until Morton stormed down the left on a counterattack just past the half hour mark. Carrying the ball from in his own area to the final third at the other end, Morton sent a cross in that took a touch en-route to Josh Divin who was able to react quickly and poke home the opening goal from close range.
Both sides came close to scoring before the break, with Sam Berezansky coming closest but finding his low drive nicely saved by Matt Dyson.
Hopes of a Zebras fightback took a big blow early in the second half however as Isky Van Doorne was brought down in the box on the hour mark. Up stepped the skipper Morton to convert the spot kick and give South a 2-0 lead.
It seemed unlikely the Zebras were going to be able to overturn that and South were relatively untroubled in the final half hour, with the crossbar denying Toby Herweynen a stunning goal about as exciting as things got from that point on. A result South needed to get back on track, but not their most convincing performance by any stretch.
Strikers Cruise At Home
In the final game of the Round it was Devonport doing it easy at home against Riverside Olympic and winning 5-0 to maintain their comfortable lead atop the table. The Strikers had this one wrapped up early on and were able to rest some key movers like captain Kieran Mulraney in the second half with an eye towards some bigger games coming up.
With the score at 3-0 after 25 minutes it didn’t take long for the Strikers have this one firmly under control and they took the lead 15 minutes in via Nick Lanau-Atkinson who finished off a nice move with an accomplished finish. Yasin Mohammadi doubled the lead from all of a yard out as he finished off some slick work from Ali Dulleh.
Brody Denehey grabbed his first for the afternoon soon after as Lanau-Atkinson won the ball back high up the pitch and picked him out in the box with a nice cross to make it 3-0.
At that stage it was looking ominous and as if another cricket score could be on the cards for the Roos, but they dug in and the Strikers had to wait till late in the second half to extend their lead any further.
Denehey got his second with one of the scrappier goals you are ever likely to see before Henry Andrews bent home a long-range stunner in the final minutes of regulation to seal the 5-0 result.
It was always likely to be a comfortable win for the Strikers and so it proved as they continue to storm away on top. They have bigger fish to fry in the coming weeks, but they still have to take of these sorts of games which they did in their usual professional manner.
For Riverside, well no side is ever going to be pleased with such a big defeat but given their recent results this was at least a step in the right direction for the Roos as they embark on a very tough stretch of schedule.