Round 3 Match of the Round: Glenorchy Knights v Riverside Olympic
Competition Newcomers to Clash at KGV
The two newcomers to the Women’s Super League are set to meet this Saturday with Glenorchy Knights hosting Riverside Olympic at KGV.
With both teams having had byes in the first two rounds of the WSL and Round of 16 in the Statewide Cup, this will only be the second outing for each side for the season.
Glenorchy Knights Coach Ivica Bolonja admitted it wasn’t the ideal start to the season, but felt his side had done all they could to prepare in other ways.
“I think you always want to be playing games, I was hoping to have played last week, we’ve played once in four weeks and so we’ve tried to fill that with intra club games and match simulations, but as any coach will tell you nothing beats getting out on the pitch on the weekend and playing a competitive match. So that’s unfortunate, it was a really good start against Launceston, and then to not have that continuity into subsequent weeks is not ideal, but we’ve dealt with it as best we can.”
That performance against United was a narrow 3-2 defeat in a game they came close to taking something from. Bolonja felt it was a good first showing in the top division from his side.
“I think it was a good performance first up. They (Launceston United) are a good side. I think what came out of that game was a willingness to be creative with the ball, to move the ball quickly and we got into dangerous scoring positions. As I said at the beginning of the year, if you can get the processes right, and you do the right things often enough, then the wins tend to look after themselves.”
Maintaining concentration for the full 90 minutes was the key area Bolonja pointed to as crucial for correcting if they were to get their first win this weekend.
“We defended well in the main, we were compact, but we had a couple of lapses. It's something I’ve spoken about right through the preseason. There have been really good periods of intensity, really good periods of concentration, but that won't count for much if you give away five minutes of poor concentration. I think there were a couple of instances where we just saw that dip in concentration and intensity levels and that leads to goals.”
“So the focus doesn’t change for this week, it’s about how we go about playing, how we go about preventing them playing the way the brand of football they want to play.”
In their first WSL game, Riverside were downed 6-0 by the Kingborough Lions in a baptism of fire for the Northeners, who created some goal-scoring chances but struggled to contain Laura Davis at the other end of the park.
Coach Chris Rademacher said he didn’t mind having the week off for the Cup, allowing the side to focus on the training track.
“It (the bye) has been useful for us, but we’re looking forward to getting a flow of games on now," he said.
“We are progressing each week, each training session we are getting better and better, bringing in some creativity, it’s great.”
He felt his side needed to be more clinical and to work on controlling the space between the lines in a defensive sense.
“We had scoring opportunities against Kingborough and we hopefully have the same if not more tomorrow, it’s just a matter of taking them," he said.
“The biggest takeaway from a coaching perspective was that we were leaving too many gaps in between the lines when we didn’t have the ball, so we’ve been working on that. Formations and structures don’t happen overnight, but it will get better and better throughout the season.”
In the weekend’s other matches, Launceston United will host South Hobart as they look to bounce back from a narrow defeat to the Devonport Strikers in Round 2. With three home games to open the season before a long stretch of road trips, banking some early points looms as crucial if they want to thrust themselves into the thick of the title race.
South Hobart bounced back from an opening day draw with the Lions with a thumping win over Taroona, but the trip North looms as a tougher test for the defending champions, who are still adjusting to the departure of some key personnel from last year's title winning squad.
In the final game of Round 3, taking place on Sunday, the Kingborough Lions will face off with Taroona FC at Lightwood Park. Taroona have struggled out of the gates this season, shipping 28 goals across their opening three matches and will need to tighten up significantly at the back if they are to prevent a repeat against a Lions side who have so far looked every bit the big improvers that they were tipped to be. It would be a massive leap from last season for the Lions to be in the title race, but the early indicators are positive and suggest very fine margins between sides at the top. This is the sort of game the Lions just need to bank 3 points in if those title ambitions are to be realised.
Round 3
Saturday 6 April
Glenorchy Knights v Riverside Olympic, 12:15pm, KGV LIVE STREAM
Launceston United v South Hobart, Birch Avenue, 4:30pm LIVE STREAM
Sunday 7 April
Taroona FC v Kingborough Lions, 2:30pm, Lightwood Park, 2:30pm LIVE STREAM