Match of the Round: South Hobart v Glenorchy Knights
Top Two To Meet In Early Season Blockbuster
Round 4 in the NPL Tasmania is headlined by a huge top-of-the-table showdown between the Glenorchy Knights and South Hobart. Both the Knights and South have started with a perfect 3 wins from their opening 3 games and are the only sides yet to drop a point so far this year, setting the stage for a massive clash at D'arcy Street on Saturday.
South Hobart assistant coach Josh Dingjan was expecting a good game worthy of such a crunch fixture.
"Yeah (it will be exciting) considering the magnitude of the clash, with both sides sitting at the top of the table, I think it just sets the tone for the start of the season, it shows how close the teams are already and I think it should be a good game," he said.
Dingjan said the early Lakoseljac Cup exit aside, things were tracking well for the squad in 2024.
“The preseason was fantastic and I think our results in the league have reflected that. Obviously the Cup defeat didn’t go our way, but I don’t think we will dwell on that too much; it does sting but we move on.”
Dingjan suggested that finding a more clinical edge in attack to put away the chances they were creating had been a priority for the side.
“We’ve had plenty of games where we’ve had plenty of chances," he said.
"Most games we had in the preseason, we had 3 or 4 in the first few minutes and just haven’t been able to finish, so we’ve made that a bit of a priority in training, looking to get just that repetition in for the players so they can get to game day and be ready to put those goals away when we get the chances.
"I think against Knights it will be definitely a game where we only get a few chances, I think it will go that way for both teams and we just need to take them more than they do.”
When asked for his thoughts on the opposition, Dingjan highlighted the Knights' play in the final third as impressing.
“I think they’ve had a positive start, obviously some fantastic results and scored quite a few goals too which is always a good start to the season, that’s probably the hardest thing to do at the start, finding that rhythm to put the goals in the back of the net, but they’ve done that well," he said.
"Their first big test is against us, so hopefully we come away with the win.”
Glenorchy Knights Coach James Sherman was likewise looking forward to the contest and felt his squad was well-placed for success this season based off their strong start to the campaign.
“We are (excited for the game), we're looking forward to it," he said.
"We’ve had some excellent clashes with South Hobart the past few seasons, so we hope to give them a good game on Saturday.
"It’s come together quite quickly, so far, I think we’ve probably got more of a sterner month coming up with no disrespect to the teams we’ve faced so far but I think we are in a pretty reasonable position, we’re scoring some goals and we’re competitive.
"There is a little bit of competition for places throughout the squad, so yeah, it’s good, we’re in a pretty reasonable position without getting too far ahead.”
Sherman was confident his side would be able to continue to create good scoring chances against South, having scored 21 times in their opening 3 NPL matches, and was expecting an open game.
"I thought Riverside defended quite well last week, particularly in the second half, but the chances we generated were high-quality ones and that’s essentially what has been our strength so far," he said.
"The chances we do create are very good ones. So we just need to focus on continuing to do that. South Hobart don’t tend to sit back and soak up pressure, they would like an open game and they like to be very aggressive and so hopefully that leaves us some space for us to get at them and we will look to take advantage of those spaces and hopefully capitalise on some chances.”
Goalscoring has been an issue for Knights in previous seasons, but Sherman was delighted with what he has seen so far in that department from his new look attack, with the likes of Stefan Cordwell, Joshua Redfearn, Riley Dillon and Tom Walpole all having scored 3 goals or more this season.
"It’s obvious that there is a nice bit of chemistry between the front five players whoever they may be," he said.
"I think that’s been the positive, that we’ve shifted the cards a little bit and had a bit of flexibility with who the personnel may be and we’ve still looked a threat."
In the weekend's other action, Clarence Zebras will be out to open their account for 2024 as they host last-placed Launceston United, having endured a tough run against three top-four sides from 2023 in their opening three games. United fell to South Hobart 3-1 last week, though largely had an inspired performance between the sticks from Noah Curtis to thank for keeping it so close. Mitchell Higgins from the Zebras has also impressed with his goalkeeping this year and both keepers look more than capable of pinching points for their sides this year; they could well prove the difference on Saturday.
At Windsor Park, the defending champions Strikers will look to bounce back from being shut out by Launceston City last week and get their title defence back on track. We've seen Devonport dropping points early in the season in prior years, only to then get on a roll and run away with things so they won't be too concerned at that result. Riverside will be hoping the home ground can be to their advantage, having suffered two heavy defeats in their two road games so far this season. Last time at home they put in a really strong second-half effort against City, but a sluggish start cost them any chance of points.
Finally the Kingborough Lions take on Launceston City in what looks to be an intriguing Saturday evening fixture at the Den. The Lions have looked razor-sharp over the past few weeks, scoring 21 times in the process, but this will be a tougher fixture up against a City side who should likewise be filled with confidence. City enter this one off the back of an impressive fortnight that included a Derby victory, a Lakoseljac Cup win over South Hobart and a draw away to the Strikers at Valley Road. A win here would elevate them into the top four, whilst a Lions victory could create some separation for the top four from the rest of the league after the opening month of action.
Round 4
Saturday 13 April
South Hobart v Glenorchy Knights, D'arcy Street, 2:00pm LIVE STREAM
Clarence Zebras v Launceston United, Wentworth Park, 2:30pm, LIVE STREAM
Riverside Olympic v Devonport Strikers, Windsor Park, 4:30pm, LIVE STREAM
Kingborough Lions v Launceston City, 4:45pm, Lightwood Park, LIVE STREAM