Devonport coach Tom Ballantyne finds himself in the unusual position of hoping to run away with one Statewide title while also stopping another team doing exactly the same thing this weekend.
Holding the reins of both senior teams this season, the Englishman is on the verge of seeing Strikers’ women secure another unbeaten double, while the men attempt to deny South Hobart the same achievement.
In what looms as a pivotal weekend in both competitions, Ballantyne could be going through a roller-coaster of emotions during the back-to-back top-four clashes at Lightwood Park on Saturday.
“I try not to think about that too much, I just turn up and coach two teams,” he said.
“It’s not easy, but I’ve had a year and a half’s practise at it now, so I feel I’m getting a lot better at being able to box it off.
“The hardest thing is being able to crossover between them. I do a half-time team talk with one team, walk into the next changing room to do a pre-game talk and then walk back to the bench for the second half of the other team.
"To box that off effectively just means I have thousands of notes so I can switch from one thing to another and I’ve got some really good support staff who know exactly how it’s going to work.”
In the Women’s Super League, Devonport may be coming off dropped points for first time this season, but still sit six points clear of South Hobart, who are in turn seven ahead of Launceston United.
Bizarrely, Strikers’ last match result with South is the only draw recorded in this season’s WSL and also the last time they took to a pitch, with a bye, gap week and washout accounting for their next three weekends.
“The biggest thing for the girls is we haven’t played a competitive game for a month,” Ballantyne added.
“Our last game was July 5 against South. So our biggest thing is just to make sure we’re prepared and ready to go.”
They face a mid-table Lions side with six wins, six losses and a desire to improve on 5-2 and 7-1 losses earlier in the season.
“We’re going to go into this game with a view to win it, as we do every game,” said Kingborough coach Simon Edwards.
“It’s been a difficult few weeks without having any competitive games, but we’re pulling together to set up for the last part of our journey this season. As I pointed out to the girls, at the moment we’re undefeated in round three and that’ll be our mantra for the round.”
If the Lions do feel they have a mountain to climb, they could call on the experience of defender Maddie Black, who used the unexpected free time to scale the heights of Frenchmans Cap, the Hazards and Mount Field West.
“I’ve just come back from doing a massive two-week hike so was a bit beaten and bruised,” said the Northern Territory-born centre-back, who has also played in the US.
“Obviously, we want to win and to play against Devonport is always a tough game, but I think we’ve figured out that we’re here to set up our season properly for next year.”
In NPL Tasmania, the teams sit fourth and third, locked together on 27 points but with Lions having played a game more due to last week’s clash with South Hobart being moved to KGV. The Lions' resulting 4-1 loss leaves the Lakoseljac Cup winners in pole position for the title with the additional advantage of playing a day before their rivals, courtesy of a Friday night match at Glenorchy.
Ballantyne said he would watch the livestream, but it would not affect how he approached Saturday.
“If [South]lose, I’ll be happy, but it will make no difference whatsoever to my day,” he said. “What South do between now and the end of the season is not really going to affect my day-to-day work.”
Kingborough coach Jon Fenech was not reading too much into the teams’ previous two meetings this season, which his side won 1-0 and 2-1.
“We’ve had two results that have gone in our favour but they were very close games,” he said. “There’s a bit of inspiration there, but realistically it’s a completely blank canvas on Saturday.
"Devonport have a huge history of winning games and are probably one of the form teams in the league over the last seven or eight games, so realistically we will probably have to give our best performance of the season to try and get over the line again.
“This game is extremely important because of how close we are and how close the league is as well.”
Lions are likely to welcome Chilean striker Emanuel Ponce back into the matchday squad while Ballantyne has the luxury of a fully-fit 23-man squad for the first time this season as his side embarks on the longest trip in Statewide football.
“We’ve been poor the last two times we’ve played Kingborough,” he said. “The last game especially we played right into their hands.
“But it’s a good surface down there and hopefully we can both play some good football.”
NPL Tasmania
Friday, August 1
8.15pm Glenorchy v South Hobart, KGV
Saturday, August 2
2.15pm Kingborough v Devonport, Lightwood Park
2.30pm Riverside Olympic v Launceston United, Windsor Park
4.45pm Launceston City v Clarence, Prospect Park
Women’s Super League
Saturday, August 2
12.15pm Riverside Olympic v Launceston United, Windsor Park
2.30pm Glenorchy v South Hobart, KGV
4.30pm Kingborough v Devonport, Lightwood Park
BYE: Taroona Football Club