An Intriguing Opening
The first weekend of the new McDonald's NPL Tasmania season is officially in the books and it was a weekend filled with tightly fought matches. All four of the games were close-run affairs, with no blowouts in sight. That’s something that history would suggest has been a bit of a rarity in this competition so let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come and we continue to get four good competitive games of football a week because this was a very strong opening act to set the tone for the year.
Launceston City got things started on the Friday night by claiming a 2-0 win over Riverside, with Stefan Tantari scoring a superb goal to light up the season opener. Speaking of superb goals, Lucas Dzalakowski scored two of them for Glenorchy Knights as they spoiled Launceston United’s McDonald's NPL bow at KGV. South Hobart did typical South Hobart things, staging a second-half come-from-behind victory over the Lions, whilst the big shock of the weekend came at Valley Road. The Clarence Zebras suggested they could be the big improvers this season by holding the Devonport Strikers to a 1-1 draw in a shock first-up result. Is it a case of Devonport blowing the cobwebs out? Or are there larger concerns brewing for the Strikers? We won’t know that for a few weeks yet, but it does suggest they won’t be as far ahead of the rest of the competition as they were last year which bodes well for a potential title race. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at the games.
City Start Season in Style
The Daniel Syson era is officially off to a successful start at Launceston City. Under the watchful eye of the local wildlife, City produced an accomplished display in the season opener to down their local rivals Riverside Olympic 2-0. Riverside have typically raised their level against City and produced some of their best performances in the Derby, so this was always going to be a tough game and the Roos started brightly, drawing City skipper Lachie Clark into action to make an important stop 10 minutes in.
It was City who struck first though and the opening goal would’ve undoubtedly stung the Roos faithful, given that it was two former Riverside youngsters conspiring to produce it. Making an immediate impact for their new side, William Humphrey played a delightful ball over the top of the defence for Toby Simeoni to run onto and slam home with a thumping finish just 18 minutes into the contest.
City spent much of the evening in search of a second goal but found themselves frustrated by a rearguard well led by Zac Reissig and Campbell Young. It took a moment of inspiration for it to finally arrive as Stefan Tantari cut inside and smashed a left footed shot into the top corner from 20 yards out. It was a quality finish from an impressive young player who started to break out last year and now appears primed for a big season in 2023.
It could’ve got better still for City, but Simeoni was unable to convert from the penalty spot, as Riverside skipper Daniel Nash got across to keep his spot kick out and ensure it ended 2-0.
Strikers Held at home by Zebras
The surprise of the weekend came from Valley Road where the Devonport Strikers were held to a 1-1 draw by the Clarence Zebras.
It’s probably the most impressive result the Zebras have produced since the merger given they’ve struggled against the top sides since their inception. It certainly gives them a wonderful building block for the season ahead and should ignite the belief within the group.
It’s largely the same playing group from last season, with an injection of international star power with Dutch defender Pritchard Adjei and Argentine attacker Xuan Cappellino bolstering the side.
It was the Argentine who got them back on terms in this match, finishing off in style after Riley Dillon pounced on a rare error from Keegan Smith passing out from the back to make it 1-1 after 20 minutes.
That was to cancel out the opening goal from Roberto Fernandez Garrido, who made no mistake, volleying home 10 minutes into the clash when Ali Dulleh found him in the area with a cross from the left. After wasting no time to hit the lead it seemed like a familiar script was set to play out and it would be business as usual for the Strikers. That wasn’t to be this time, finding themselves unable to breakthrough for a second time and ultimately forced to settle for a point. They certainly won’t be panicking back at the Portress, we could well look back on this at the end of the year as being only the most minor of blips, but it certainly does build the intrigue and give heart to their title rivals.
New Season: Same Old Story at Darcy Street
At Darcy Street it was a tale seemingly as old as time, or at least as old as the McDonald's NPL Tasmania, as South Hobart staged a second-half fightback to rally from a goal down and defeat the Kingborough Lions 2-1.
Given the respective form lines of the two sides throughout the Summer Cup, I was anticipating the Lions to be off the pace if anyone, but they shrugged off a sluggish preseason to produce the much stronger first half performance, more reminiscent of what we saw from them in 2022. It was a timely reminder around the futility of leaning too heavily into pre-season scores where motivations and player fitness status can be questionable.
The Lions led here through Noah Mies, playing his 100th McDonald's NPL Tasmania game, who tucked home Ahmad Othman’s cross 7 minutes into the game. The Syrian fullback Othman caused all manner of headaches for South in this game with his overlapping runs and looks a real player to watch this season.
The Lions couldn’t convert their control of general play into a second goal however and it left the door ajar for a much improved second half showing from South Hobart. With Morton having missed a pair of chances you’d expect him to take, it was Bradley Lakoseljac who offered them a way back when he headed home Lachie Semmler’s cross despite the best efforts of Hess on the goal line.
Five minutes later and South led, as Roan Gillam coughed the ball up at the back to Isky Van Doorne, who received a backheel from substitute Jaden Fidra and deposited it into the empty net. It was a soft goal and a cruel blow for the Lions, who will feel on balance of play they probably deserved something from the contest.
Dzala-GOAL-ski Delivers Knights Victory
Finally, to KGV where a pair of stunning strikes from Lucas Dzalakowski saw Glenorchy Knights spoil Launceston United’s competition debut as they ran out 2-0 winners.
Dzalakowski has primarily played as a centre-back when I have watched him, but on the evidence of these strikes you can see why he has been pushed up into the attack. After missing a couple of decent chances early on, Dzalakowski showed that apparently he only deals in worldies, by firing a howitzer from the top of the box that nearly burst through the back of the net on 34 minutes. He then scored an even better goal early in the second half, turning sharply before again finding the top corner from long range. If his first hit was a hammer blow, then this was more the finesse shot. Both hits were of the highest quality and they were what it ultimately took to get through a spirited Launceston United defence.
United were pinned back deep in defence for most of the match, absorbing pressure and doing a wonderful job throwing bodies in the way of Knights shots. You couldn’t fault the endeavor or fight they showed, but Knights certainly controlled the game and always appeared set for the 3 points. They looked in command from start to finish and passed the ball around the midfield nicely.
United goalie Aidan Piper did some really nice work between the sticks to limit the damage, but for all Knights dominance and shot count, he wasn’t really called upon as often as you might expect, thanks to the defence and midfield working back hard in front of him, As far as road performances go, this was a reasonable opening salvo from United. Up against a Knights side who are fancied to fight for the title, it was always going to be tough sledding and a 2-0 scoreline is a fair effort and something to build from in a season that is going to be largely about building for the future.
Round 1 Results
Launceston City 2 (Toby Simeoni 20', Stefan Tantari 73')
Riverside Olympic 0
Devonport Strikers 1 (Roberto Fernandez Garrido 10')
Clarence Zebras 1 (Xuan Cappellino 20')
South Hobart 2 (Bradley Lakoseljac 66' Isky Van Doorne 71')
Kingborough Lions 1 (Noah Mies 7')
Glenorchy Knights 2 (Lucas Dzalakowski 33’, 51)
Launceston United 0