Welcome to the Weekend Wash Up for another week as we hit the 2/3 mark of the season. Barring that one South Hobart v Launceston City game that still needs to be caught up on, everyone has now played each other twice and has one more remaining head-to-head against each other left to play. With the Lions big win over the Knights this weekend coupled with Devonport beating the Zebras, the Strikers are now 11 points clear on top with 7 rounds left to go. Barring one of the more spectacular implosions in the game’s history, the title race appears all but over and it’s pretty safe to say that the Strikers are going to be crowned champions. This final round should be somewhat of a victory lap for them and they’ve earnt it. They’ve won 12 straight games since their Round 2 loss to Knights and again on the weekend they just found a way to grind out the result.
Whilst they are storming away on top, beneath them a very tight battle is starting to develop for the remaining places in the top four. Launceston City are starting to move on up with another positive result on the weekend that puts pressure on a South Hobart side that slipped up again, held this time by Riverside who put in their best effort of the season to claim a commendable point on the road. Let’s take a closer look at each of those games.
Lions Roar Past Knights
We will start with the Kingborough Lions and their highly impressive 4-1 win over the Glenorchy Knights. In a game that was expected to be pretty closely fought, the Lions came out and handed out a thumping win with Declan Taylor firing in a hat-trick. A week after their surprise defeat to City the Lions showed here that was merely a blip on the radar as they recorded their 5th win from their last 6 games and continued their strong season that has them on track for a record points tally.
It certainly didn’t start off that way, as the Knights took the lead just 8 minutes into the game via Hugh Undy. A well worked set piece saw Undy heading on target and despite getting a hand up, Gillam couldn’t keep his effort out.
The Lions responded shortly after as Taylor grabbed his first of the day, waiting on the doorstep for a rebound after Noah Mies drew a save from Murfett. He dinked it over the keeper and squared things up.
Moments later the Lions took the lead through some fine play from probably the best player on the ground for the day in Freddy Hess. Hess slid a pass out wide to start a move before rushing into the box to finish it off, by chesting down a cross from Vilar and firing past the keeper. It was slick football from the Lions and in the blink of an eye they had turned a deficit into a lead.
Any hopes the Knights had of charging back into the game in the second half evaporated almost instantly after the restart as the Lions landed a hammer blow in the opening minute of the second half. Taylor was on hand for a poachers finish to prod Kobe Kemp’s cross home and give the Lions the dream start and a 3-1 lead.
Taylor completed his treble soon after as he got the better of Bowman and picked out the far corner with a surprise shot from the top of the area. At that point it was curtains and clear the Lions were not going to let this one slip. There would be a few more chances for both sides, but no more goals
The win means that Lions still sit in third, now level on points with the Knights superior goal difference keeping them just ahead. These situations can often open up a debate around which is the superior tie breaker procedures for leagues to use, between whether goal difference or head to head record should be used as the first tie-breaking procedure. I generally prefer head-to-head as a tie breaker myself, but only in leagues with an even home and away schedule. In a competition like this one with 3 fixtures against each side and a home/away imbalance it simply has to be goal difference. Regardless this is a very tight battle for second place that is shaping up now and it’s one I can see going all the way to the final day when these sides will meet for the third and final time.
Strikers Rally and Move Further Ahead
The Knights defeat left the door ajar for the Devonport Strikers to further extend their lead on top of the table and they are not ones to knock back such an invitation. The Clarence Zebras made life tough for them at Wentworth Park, but the Strikers fought back after trailing at half time to win 3-2 and open up an 11 point break on top.
The Zebras took the lead on 14 minutes in bizarre circumstances with Riley Dillon opening the scoring from miles out. His long-range free kick didn’t really get near a teammate in the box, but there was confusion at the back for the Strikers, with the keeper Pearce who must have thought his defence was going to deal with it, opting not to go for the ball. The end result was a rather comical opening goal and left the Strikers with some work to do.
The goal buoyed the Zebras and they had the scent of an upset as they dug in doggedly and held the lead to half time in what was a dour first 45 minutes of action. The chances weren’t exactly flowing and if they could continue to limit them, then a shock result was on the cards.
But time and time again this Devonport side has found a way to get the result and early in the second half they got back on terms. Kieran Mulraney headed a corner back across the face of goal where Ali Dulleh was arriving to finish and square the game at 1-1.
So often one goal can lead to two and this was the case as three minutes later the Strikers had the lead as Dulleh turned provider. He skipped into the box, drew the keeper out and slid a pass through to the waiting Joel Stone who could hardly miss from point blank range.
The insurance goal was route one football, as Pearce smashed a clearance over the top of the Zebras defence and Brody Denehey won the foot race before producing a deft chipped finish over the head of Randall to make it 3-1.
They ended up needing that third goal as the Zebras closed it back to 3-2 with 10 minutes to play as Michael Eugster’s cross from out wide turned into a shot that lobbed Pearce and rolled into the back of the net to make it a pretty rough day in net for the Strikers deputy keeper.
They would hold on though and claim the three points, once again getting the job done and unless they were to lose 4 of their final 7 games along with the Knights or Lions winning all 7 of their remaining games, then they will reclaim the NPL crown.
Spirited Riverside Hold South
Perhaps the biggest shock of the round came at Darcy Street where Riverside Olympic claimed just their second point of the season by holding South Hobart to a 1-1 draw on a frustrating afternoon for the hosts.
It didn’t portent to be the sort of afternoon for South early on, as they took the lead in just the second minute of the game. Van Doorne crossed for Alex Brown who smashed a sumptuous volley home and at that point it felt like it would probably be the first of many. Unfortunately for South, that crisp finish from Brown would be the last, as they squandered their chances from there on out.
They had a few opportunities to extend the lead in the first half but couldn’t convert and so the game was all square when William Coert scrapped home a goal for Riverside just before the half time break from a rare moment in attack for the Roos.
The second half saw South dominating possession, having stacks of the ball around the penalty area and firing off plenty of shots, but for all their dominance they didn’t really create a whole lot of clear cut chances that you can look back on and say that definitely should’ve been a goal. It was a heap of half chances and dangerous moments, but they probably had their better chances to get a second goal in the first half before Riverside had even drawn level.
Having endured such a tough season, Riverside sensed their chance and the deeper the game grew the more their belief they could get something from the game grew. They defended stoutly and with total commitment, protecting the high danger areas as the game wound to its conclusion.
Stoppage time was dramatic as it looked like South had snatched it late when Toby Herweynen put the ball in the back of the net in the 93rd minute only for the assistant to raise his flag for offside. The camera angle isn’t the most conclusive but if you pause when the ball is flicked on by Nick Morton in the box, it does seem as if the South Hobart attacker had just strayed. So I think the AR Noah Menner has got this call spot on and made a fantastic decision in a crucial moment. So well done to him. And well done to Riverside on grinding out the point. It’s been an extremely tough season up there and results like this take considerable resilience. Hopefully it can be a springboard for a breakthrough win in the final full round of games.
Clark The Key As City Down Warriors
In the final game of the Round Launceston City made it back-to-back wins as they accounted for the Olympia Warriors 2-1 at Buckby Motors Park.
City took the lead just after the half hour mark as Jaden Fidra took advantage of a misplaced defensive header and turned in a header of his own to put City ahead against the run of play.
They were certainly fortunate to be ahead at this stage, with only the heroics of Lachie Clark keeping the game level in an opening 20 minutes that saw the Warriors with 4 good chances that were all denied by quality saves from City’s number one. Clark is to my mind the premiere keeper in this competition and he showed his enormous value to his side here, keeping it level early on as his City side struggled to find their footing.
Olympia finally found a way past him just after having ceded the lead as they responded five minutes after going behind to square the game. Alex Holmes stretching out to get on the end of Vivarelli’s ball into the area and directing it home.
City reclaimed their lead early in the second half as the hero of the first clash between these sides, Gedi Krusa again made himself the match winner. The Warriors didn’t fully clear Tantari’s cross into the box and waiting for it at the top of the box was the Lithuanian who drove a bullet of a shot into the bottom corner.
From there City saw the game out though Olympia certainly made them sweat out the second half, with some dangerous moments in attack. Clark wasn’t forced into any saves as tough as the ones he had to make in the opening half though and when the final whistle rung out, City were the victors thanks in no small part to their star skipper.