Match of the Round: Devonport Strikers v Glenorchy Knights
Strikers Host Knights In Cup Prelude
The Match of the Round this week will be taking place at Valley Road as the Devonport Strikers play host to the Glenorchy Knights in a battle of two prime contenders for the League title. The match will also act as a preview of the upcoming Lakoseljac Cup Semi Final, with the same sides set to clash at the same venue the following week with a spot in the decider on the line.
Knights coach James Sherman said he hadn't looked beyond this week and that he felt the Strikers were still very much the side to beat despite his side presently sitting on top of the table.
“I hadn’t thought too much about next week my focus has solely been on this weekend."
"I think you have to, (consider Knights title favourites) they’ve got the runs on the board and the experience managing this type of thing so I think you'd be silly to not consider them the front runners."
Sherman felt the tightness of the ladder was to be expected at this point of the year and didn't necessarily feel that would be something that lasted the whole season.
"There are certainly a handful of teams not separated by much early on, but I think it tends to be the case at this time of year. It’s the final 7 rounds at the end where we start to separate, or have typically seen Devonport start to separate but I don’t think it's uncommon at this point of the year”
The Knights were somewhat wasteful last weekend in a 2-1 win over the Clarence Zebras, but Sherman wasn't too concerned, although he admitted he would like to see his side improve at closing out games.
"I think it's important we take our chances but I like that we are going at sides more this year. I'm certainly happy with the way we are going forwards, but yeah I suppose we need to look to be as efficient as possible but you’re not going to score from every chance you create.”
"I think we can finish games off a little bit better, I think we can look to go at teams a little bit more. I’d like to see the boys just keep on going from the 80th minute onwards."
Sherman said his side needed to come out and play in a positive manner to get a result on Saturday.
"I think we need to go up there and play with some belief we need to go up there and relly try to impose ourselves on the game. Stick to what we're doing well and make sure we play the game and not the occasion. For us it's about managing the game, being composed and playing with belief."
Strikers Coach Tom Ballantyne said the title race was wide open at this point of the season.
"There are 3 or 4 teams doing really well at this point of the year, so it's still anybody's to grab at the moment.
"It normally starts to spread out a bit more in the 2nd/3rd part of the season, gaps start to appear. So depending on how injuries go, or even the upcoming transfer window, we might start to it spread. But from what I've seen so far, it certainly looks like the toughest the NPL has been in my time in Tasmania and it looks like it will be tight the whole way through."
Ballantyne was left frustrated by his side's inability to take chances against the Lions last weekend as they drew 0-0.
"We dominated the game statistically from start to finish but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net." he said
The absence of star striker Roberto Fernandez Garrido has certainly been felt, but Ballantyne said that the Striker's issues weren't quite as simple as it being a case of them missing the Spaniard.
"When you go from having a striker of Roberto's quality, and we were blessed to have him for a second season, it was always going to be tough to replace him. But right now in those clutch moments, it's not the #9 position that's missing the opportunities. Players around are not taking those opportunities.
Last year we did at times become very one-dimensional, this year we have a lot more players who can create opportunities, and we are creating a lot better opportunities than we did last season, our XG sits a lot higher, so overall we're actually playing better football, those chances just aren't going in the back of the net at the moment.
Ballantyne felt it was just a matter of time before the goals began to flow again.
"We just need to keep doing what we are doing, I'd be more worried if we weren't creating opportunities. We should've put 2-3 away against South, and the Lions. Last season we had a month where we couldn't score, but Roberto would pull us out of the fire, or Brody would with a screamer, we had a 4 game bank we couldn't create but kept winning games, this year we are creating good scoring chances but just not taking them, at some point it will click and we will put 5 or 6 past somebody."'
In other Round 7 action, Riverside Olympic will look to repeat their Lakoseljac Cup efforts as they take on a Clarence Zebras side who will likewise be looking for their second victory of the year but will need to improve on last time, having fallen 5-2 to the Roos a fortnight ago.
Launceston City will also be looking for a repeat Cup performance, having bounced this week's opposition, South Hobart, back in the Round of 16, with South eyeing a possible chance to move top and City into the top four. Whilst the Kingborough Lions will perhaps be hoping to take advantage of the sides around them on the table all facing each other and move up the ladder as they host a languishing Launceston United side.
Round 7
Saturday 11 May
Devonoport Strikers v Glenorchy Knights, 2:30pm, Valley Road
Riverside Olympic v Clarence Zebras, 4:30pm, Windsor Park
Kingborough Lions v Launceston United, 4:45pm, Lightwood Park
Launceston City v South Hobart, 4:45pm, TassieCare Park