Round 7 Match of the Round: Riverside Olympic v Taroona FC
Our Round 7 Match of the Round features Riverside Olympic and Taroona with both sides desperate to post their first victories of the season.
Riverside Coach Chris Rademacher said his side was eagerly looking forward to the match.
“The feeling in the group is positive and we are certainly looking forward to it. We had some good training sessions during the week and it's going to be a big day for us. It should be a good weekend for us, we’re looking forward to it.”
He said his side had learned plenty from playing with 10 players for much of last weekend's defeat to South Hobart
“We knew it was going to be tough going down to South Hobart, so going a player down so early on wasn’t ideal. We spent most of yesterday’s training session analyzing that and we’ve definitely learned a lot from that.”
“We've been working on what we are doing off the ball and working on the process.
The areas of focus he says, have been simple.
"Putting the ball in the back of the net and not ball-watching."
The Riverside boss said that whilst the game was winnable for his side, Taroona would be thinking likewise.
“I think it works both ways with both of us at the south end of the table, but we always head into games thinking we are a chance to walk away with something. We are certainly not going to underestimate Taroona at all”
“I think you will see a good performance from the group this week. There should be a bit more space and players will have a bit more decision time.”
Taroona's Bella McGinn felt a good training session on Thursday night had them in a good place ahead of the match, but admitted they wouldn't be at full strength with Daisy Parsell and Maeve Dunbabin set to miss.
"I think we are all pretty excited, but having an away game does make it a little bit tougher. Last week we went in with a full strength side against Knights, we were pretty keen but unfortunately the game brought us a few injuries. So we’re probably slightly less confident than we would’ve been a few weeks ago but we are all still buzzing to try get that first win and the intencity was great at training last night, so hopefully that carries through to Saturday."
McGinn suggested scoring early could be a key on Saturday.
"We’ve been working hard on our defensive efforts, but you can’t just defend for 90 minutes, so I think we are looking to try and get some goals and fire lots of shots away. I think an early goal would really help with getting that confidence and intensity across the park, and would help every area to improve."
Whilst the season has been tough results wise, Izzy Ottavi has been her usual stellar self in net and McGinn praised her leadership when asked about her impact.
"Izzy is just incredible on and off the park, she’s such a leader and even if there are six goals against, she just keeps her head up and really helps enforce that across the team. I love playing with her and Taroona is super lucky to have someone like Izzy in goals."
McGinn admitted some of the results were tough to take, but praised the resilience of her teammates.
"It's getting pretty tough, I think by now we wanted to be seeing some better results, but the group and culture we have is one that lifts each other up and supports each other so well. The players are very resilient which is essential when you are sitting where we are at the minute. "
In other Round 7 action, the Kingborough Lions face off with Launceston United with third place on the line in what should be a tightly contested encounter. Both sides have been searching for consistency this season but have produced some real quality periods of play within matches.
In the final game of the Round, the Devonport Strikers will look to extend their lead on top as they host Glenorchy Knights, with chief title rivals South Hobart on the bye, presenting Devonport a chance to open up a 5-point buffer atop the table should they win.
Round 7
Saturday 11 May
Riverside Olympic v Taroona FC, 12:00pm, Windsor Park
Kingborough Lions v Launceston United,12:15pm, Lightwood Park
Devonport Strikers v Glenorchy Knights, 12:15pm, Valley Road