Welcome to the weekend Wash-up for another week and it once again it’s a case of another week, another step closer to the league title for the Devonport Strikers. As they have continued to find a way to do all season long, they simply got the job done over South Hobart and are now looking just about uncatchable atop the table. Whilst the gap remains the same to Knights and Lions as it was a week ago sitting at 8 points, this was one of the tougher fixtures left on their slate and if they aren’t dropping points here, it's hard to see them doing it the 3-4 more times they would need to for them to be caught. This was a weekend where Knights and Lions would’ve hoped to close some ground and whilst they both held up their end of the bargain, with 9 games left play a Strikers title is looking more and more likely. The most eye-catching result of the round came at the other end of the table however, as the Clarence Zebras annihilated Riverside Olympic, whose season lurched from bad worse. Let’s dive in.
Strikers Get It Done Again
The Devonport Strikers capped off a massive week for the club by claiming a 2-1 win over South Hobart at Darcy Street and in the process took another enormous stride to securing the NPL title.
South saw more of the ball throughout the game and won the territory battle, but just as it was back in Round 5 they struggled to translate that into clear cut scoring chances. Credit must go to the Strikers defensive unit who once again defended stoutly under pressure and were the foundations upon which this win was built.
South comfortably had the better of the first half play and were looking the more likely side to score though notably their closest chances all came from shots from outside the box. Three of those came from Canadian Isky Van Doorne, whose performance was as eye catching as his hair do and he came close to opening the scoring with a series of thumping hits from distance, but it would remain at 0-0 as half time approached.
Then just before the half time break an absolute gut punch for the hosts as Ali Dulleh struck to give the Strikers a half time lead completely against the run of the first half play. It was so quintessentially Devonport; they seldom create a heap of chances in these big games, but they are very good at taking them. Having absorbed the pressure that South could throw at them, they seized their chance and suddenly had a lead to take into the break. Bend but don’t break at the back then take your chances when they present themselves, it’s easier said than done but the Strikers outfit are the masters of that approach.
South looked to regroup in the second half but just 15 minutes in the Strikers struck once more from a set piece to make it 2-0. A deep free kick wasn’t handled by Hayers allowing Toby Barton to bundle it home from close range and give the Strikers some breathing room.
To their credit, South would go onto pull it back quickly as Luke Bighin scored a wonderful goal, working the ball into the back of the net on the volley from the extreme angle, but recovering from 2 down against this Strikers side was always going to be a difficult task.
South nearly managed it though as Herweynen smashed a good chance into the side netting before Van Doorne drew a clutch save out of Keegan Smith in the dying moments as the home side pressed furiously for a late leveler they would’ve felt they deserved.
The final whistle rang out soon after and time ran out, consigning South to defeat and ensuring the Strikers remained firmly in the box seat for the title. South have probably had the better of both meetings with the Strikers in the league this year but they have 0 points to show for it. The Strikers have been the more decisive in the big moments and have this incredible ability to win games when they aren’t at their best. Call it what you want, clutch, culture, the skill of winning: ultimately when the chips are down, they just continue to get it done and it’s why they stand on the precipice of another league crown.
Fast Starting Lions Sinks Warriors
The Round had begun the night prior at Empire Couriers Park where the Kingborough Lions downed the Olympia Warriors 3-1 to move temporarily into second place on the table.
It wasn’t the Lions most convincing performance of the year, but they still won handily, and they had the game firmly in their grasp from the very early exchanges.
They took the lead just 2 minutes into the match courtesy of an own goal from Lutfi Baddiley. He redirected what had looked a fairly innocuous cross into the box from Kobe Kemp past his own keeper providing the horror start for the hosts. When Noah Mies guided his near post flick on from a corner into the back of the net on five minutes it was suddenly 2-0 and in the blink of an eye it was clear which way the game was going to go.
After the early excitement the rest of the game was a fairly dour affair, with the Lions not needing to overextend themselves and the Warriors struggling to get much going but probably pleased to have stemmed the early bleeding.
Kobe Kemp rose highest to thump home a header early in the second half to kill the contest off by making it 3-0 before Olympia managed to pull one back from a corner of their own, as Alex Holmes headed home just after the hour mark.
That was the extent of the scoring, the game ending 3-1 and fizzling out in the final thirty minutes. It makes it 4 wins in a row for the Lions as they continue their strong run of form and push up the table.
Knights Grind Out Win
At Buckby Motors Park the Glenorchy Knights downed Launceston City 1-0 to remain in second place at the end of Round 12. In a game they really should’ve won by more, getting the result was always the most important thing for Sherman’s men and they took care of that. Though they will likely need to be sharper in front of goal in the coming weeks if they’re any chance of catching the Strikers.
Nicholas Naden should’ve opened the scoring on 2 minutes when he fired a golden chance straight at Lachie Clark who did well to save, but either side of him and it was a certain goal. Unfortunately, that would become something of a theme in this game for Naden, who did everything bar put the ball in the back of the net.
The early miss mattered little when the Knights took the lead a minute later anyway as some really poor marking from a set piece allowed Thomas Walpole a simple header from close range to open the scoring.It gave Knights the lead and would somehow be the only goal of the game, though just how Naden didn’t end up with a goal in this game is beyond me.
Twice throughout the first half he was denied by some quality saves from Lachie Clark and another occasion saw him putting a close range shot wide after it deflected to him in the box. Then on 45 minutes he was both denied by Clark making a good initial stop and the upright when put his follow up header into post before it was cleared off the line. He was doing brilliantly to get the chances, but just couldn’t put one away which must have been extremely frustrating for both he and James Sherman.
Fortunately for his side it really wouldn’t matter as their profligacy didn’t come back to haunt them thanks to a rock solid second half performance. At no point in the second half did the Knights really look like conceding. They killed the contest expertly and defended calmly and confidently. The final 10 minutes saw City stepping up and trying to snatch a point late, but they were restricted to shots from distance as the Knight closed out the match and claimed a vital three points from a tricky trip.
Zebras Annihilate Roos
In the final game of the Round it was the Clarence Zebras completely obliterating Riverside Olympic 11-2 at Windsor Park in what must be a seriously concerning result for the competition stragglers.
This is a new nadir for the Roos. It’s one thing to lose heavily to the likes of Devonport, but the Zebras had just 2 wins for the season and had scored just 10 goals in total for the entire season heading into this one. In the space of 90 minutes, they more than doubled that tally. It’s an alarming result and whilst you must give some kudos to the Zebras, it’s one that says a lot more about their opposition than them. Riverside has been hit hard by injuries and player availability this year, but that only explains away so much. This was a disastrous result and leaves them scratching about to try and salvage anything from this season.
Riley Dillon scored four times for the Zebras whilst Samuel Tooze also notched a hat-trick and there really isn’t a whole lot more to say about this one. It was an absolute blood bath as the Zebras took out their frustrations from what had been a disappointing season for them up to this point and won in as emphatic fashion as you will ever see.