McDonald’s NPL Tasmania Round 19
Knights Score Dramatic Victory Over Lions To Reclaim Top Spot
A week after ceding top spot, the Glenorchy Knights moved back to the summit of the NPL Tasmania table, by scoring a highly dramatic 4-2 victory over the Kingborough Lions on Friday night. The Knights' title hopes appeared to be slipping when they trailed the Lions 2-1 after 75 minutes, with some wastefulness in front of goal looking like it may come back to haunt them. Then the game swung into five minutes of utter madness. An Eli Luttmer handball in the box saw the Knights given the chance to square things up from the spot, but debutant goalkeeper Lochie Schofield kept out Tyler Harrison's spot kick, only for Luttmer to commit a foul in the follow-up, earning a second yellow card and a chance at redemption for the Knights skipper. Harrison made no mistake the second time around, squaring things up, before his centre-back partner Jack Glover put them ahead minutes later. Stefan Cordwell iced the match with the final kick of the game, as the Knights pulled it out of the fire and moved back to the top of the table, where they would stay following the next day's drama at Darcy Street.
Final Score
Glenorchy Knights 4 (R.Dillon 56’, T.Harrison 77’, J.Glover 81’ S.Cordwell 95’)
Kingborough Lions 2 (K.Douce 5’, O.Schwarz 61’)
Match Highlights
Devonport Strike Late To Break South Hobart Hearts
Xuan Cappellino rose to head home a 92nd-minute winner to keep the Devonport Strikers' title defence alive and deal a mortal blow to South Hobart's title hopes in the process. A scrappy game on a muddy D'arcy Street came to life in the final half-hour, with Sam Berezansky finally providing the breakthrough on 75 minutes, sparking delirious celebrations from the home faithful. But their joy was short-lived, when Charles Bidwell won a penalty just three minutes later, which Xuan Cappellino converted from the spot. Some stunning goalkeeping from Nicholas O'Connell looked like it would be enough for South Hobart to deny the Strikers and snare a point for the hosts, but with time running out, the towering Argentine rose high to nod home the most dramatic of match winners and see the Strikers leap past South into second place.
The 2-1 win means the Strikers remain masters of their own fate and if they beat the Lions at home next week, they will set up a final day, quasi-final against the Knights to decide the title.
For South it means a fairytale finish for their retiring legendary manager Ken Morton now looks exceedingly unlikely, as they are now dependent on either Devonport or the Knights dropping points next week to be any realistic chance on the final day, given the massive gap in goal difference between them and the other 2 contenders. If all three sides were to win next week, South would be effectively eliminated, barring an insanely unlikely scenario in which they were to make up 11 goals on Devonport.
Final Score
South Hobart 1 (S.Berezansky 75’)
Devonport Strikers 2 (X.Cappellino 79’ 92’)
Match Highlights
Post Match Interviews
Riverside Claim Derby Honours
Riverside Olympic claimed a fifth victory of the season and snapped a losing skid, to down Launceston United 2-0 at home on Friday night. In an open game in which scoring chances flowed, Austin Marshall fired Riverside into the lead in the ninth minute, and Gedi Krusa's long-range second in the 40th minute saw them head into the half time break with a comfortable buffer. Despite plenty of chances, that was all the goal scoring the game would produce, as Riverside made it a sweep of the derbies against United for the season.
Final Score
Riverside Olympic 2 (A. Marshall 9’, G. Krusa 40’)
Launceston United 0
Match Highlights
Zebras Rally To Claim Point Off City
The Clarence Zebras staged a second-half fightback to claim one of their best results of the season, snaring a 2-2 draw with Launceston City at Wentworth Park. The visitors had taken a 2-0 lead into the half time break thanks to a sneaky Joel Stone free kick and classy finish from Ayouba Kenneh and appeared on track to close the gap to the Lions in fourth place. But an absolute stunning strike from Jayden Hey saw the Zebras halve the deficit shortly after the restart and Ryan Cook restored parity just before the hour mark as the Zebras rallied back into the match. That was how it ended as City's hopes of a top four finish evaporated, whilst the Zebras got a much-needed positive result.
Final Score
Clarence Zebras 2 (J.Hey 49’ R.Cook 58’)
Launceston City 2 (J.Stone 12’, A.Kenneh 30’)
Match Highlights
League Table
