Round 5 Match of the Round: Devonport v South Hobart
Title Favourites to Clash at Valley Road
The Game of the Round for this weekend pits the Devonport Strikers up against South Hobart in a battle of the two lead contenders for the 2024 WSL title. The pair were the top two sides last season and have already met in the Summer Cup Final this season, emerging as the two most likely title fancies through the opening exchanges of the 2024 season.
Strikers' Coach Tom Ballantyne was expecting a tough challenge against a side he labelled as the competition's benchmark.
“South have been fantastic over the past couple of years so it’s a good opportunity to see how much we’ve improved since we played them in the Summer Cup. We had a lot of players missing in the Summer Cup and really struggled in that game against South. So this is a good chance to see where we are and how much we’ve improved against the competition benchmark."
Ballantyne pointed to the speed of South as their biggest threat but suggested his side would be stronger than the one that fell in that Summer Cup Final.
“They have a never-say-die attitude, which is one of their biggest components. They’re quick up front and really fast across the park, they finish chances well and score lots of goals which we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks. We’re now closer to full strength, we’ve still got a couple to come back in and I think this should be a more even test of where both clubs are at." he said.
South Hobart Striker Josi Mamic said she was eager for the challenge of taking on Devonport with a new look side to that which won the title last season.
“We are absolutely looking forward to the challenge, it’s always great to play against Devonport, especially away. Our mentality is that we don’t stop, we just keep on going and we just love to face the challenges like this. We're such a new-look team, with our new players, but we think it's great the way that we are coming together and this should be a great challenge for us."
Mamic agreed when asked if she thought the Strikers loomed as the biggest threat to their title defence.
Absolutely, they always bring their A-game when they play us and it's always great as an indicator during the season of how we are going. It’s very exciting and always great to play against a bunch of girls who are so passionate about their football.”
Having scored five goals last weekend and 9 in the opening four rounds, Mamic has emerged as the early front-runner for the Golden Boot, but she wouldn't be drawn on discussing individual accolades, instead praising her teammates for her hot start to the season.
“It’s nice to get into the swing of things, and our team are meshing and building up to those plays which is exciting to see. A player is only as good as the team I feel, and my team is pretty epic at the moment, so it's all about the team! Every game is different, and it's all about working together towards that overall goal of winning the WSL." she said.
Home Fixtures For Competition Newcomers
In the other two games this weekend for Round 5, the competition's new sides in Riverside and Glenorchy Knights will have home games to try and bounce back in after suffering big defeats last weekend.
At Windsor Park, Riverside will host Launceston United in a historic occasion, in what will be the first Launceston Derby in WSL history. The Roos will be looking to bounce back after a 6-0 defeat at the hands of the Strikers last Friday night. United will be looking for a win to close the gap to the top sides and potentially gain some ground back in the title race having run the top two close in narrow defeats to them in the first few rounds, but ceded some ground to them.
At KGV the Glenorchy Knights face the much improved Kingborough Lions who will likewise be hoping to gain some ground at the top against a Knights team that enter this one off the back of a 10-0 defeat to South Hobart last weekend. The Knights' first fortnight had been an impressive opening to their maiden campaign, but the young side were dealt a harsh reality check last weekend. Kingborough are unbeaten through their opening three games and remain the potential competition dark horses.
Round 5
Saturday 20 April
Devonport Strikers v South Hobart, 12:15pm, Valley Road LIVE STREAM
Riverside Olympic v Launceston United, 2:15pm, Windsor Park LIVE STREAM
Sunday 21 April
Glenorchy Knights v Kingborough Lions, 2:30pm, KGV LIVE STREAM