A spot in the McDonald's NPL Tasmania post-season Grand Final will be up for grabs when arch-rivals South Hobart and Devonport square up on Sunday.
The second Semi-Final will see the winner progress directly to the series finale a fortnight later with South hoping to double-up from their league title and Strikers keen to land some silverware having finished runners-up in both league and cup.
South Hobart coach Pete Edwards said the club was in a strong position having achieved its primary goal of qualifying for the Australian Championships.
“That was the number one focus,” he said. “And now that the final series, which is an exciting thing added in by Football Tas, which I think is great. It's kind of adding extra spice to the end of the season, and also, importantly, more games for the players, which is so important. And now there's another opportunity for some silverware, so that’s super exciting.”
South enjoyed a week off in the first week of the series as a reward for winning the regular season while Devonport progressed via a nervy 2-1 Qualifying Final win over Kingborough.
Strikers coach Tom Ballantyne was proud of his team’s showing against the Lakoseljac Cup champions who they just pipped to second place on goal difference by winning their final roster match 6-0.
“It's always nice to be on the edge of winning silverware,” he said.
“South have been really good all season. Pete's done a fantastic job of slowly transforming South that have been under Ken (Morton) and Max (Clarke) for previous years to play in a slightly different style, a bit more direct, a bit more transitional, so that's a big thing for them.
“But for us, it's been mainly just focusing on what we do and we've played well in the last two games and hope to take that form into the weekend.”
Edwards was impressed with Strikers’ performance on Saturday.
“I thought Devonport were very professional in the way that they executed their plan, really structured and organised, very difficult to break down, and got the job done at the other end. So, we're expecting a really tough test, as always it is, against Tom and Devonport.”
The loser of Sunday’s showdown will face the winner of the previous day’s first Semi-Final between the Lions and Launceston City at Lightwood Park.
In the McDonald's Women's Super League, in-form Glenorchy can lock in second place if they register an eighth-straight win at the expense of Launceston United.
The only team to beat newly-crowned champions Devonport in the last three years, Knights also saw off closest rivals South Hobart in a stunning sequence of consecutive victories which yielded just one goal against.
Captain Sarah Bolonja explained: “I think the mentality was: if teams can't score against us, we can't possibly lose. That's kind of how we've been going into each game and our defence has definitely improved.
“Our record this year is something to be very proud of. I think we're hoping to continue our unbeaten record but also our clean sheet record as well.”
With striker Jemima Brown bagging eight goals in the last five games and Bronte Gadon and Eve Swan also regularly on target, Bolonja said Glenorchy are hoping to use this momentum as foundations for a title tilt next season.
“As a group, we're definitely just looking to hopefully win our last few games and strengthen what we've already built upon this year. I think we've had steady growth as a group and it comes down to, can we maintain that.”
United were beaten 4-0 in the teams’ last meeting in round 10 but Nate Wright’s team have looked back to their best in recent rounds with 3-0 and 7-0 defeats of Northern neighbours Riverside and Launceston City and could still finish as high as third.
Star striker Olivia De Moraes, who sits second in the golden boot standings but missed the teams’ previous meeting, is delighted she came to Launceston with fellow US import Liz Fogarty.
“I love Tasmania,” she reflected. “I would never have thought I would end up here, and I'm so glad that I have, because it's just been such a beautiful place, and every person that I've met has been so kind and pure and charming.
“I come from Los Angeles, which is the entertainment industry, so it's not as authentic, but the people here are just so real and kind - especially at United. From very early on in the season everyone was referring to me and Foggy as family, and you don't really get that in many places, so I think we've just been so fortunate to be together in a place like this.”
McDonald's NPL Tasmania Semi-Finals
Saturday, August 22
4.45pm Kingborough v Launceston City, Kitchen Centre Lightwood Park
Sunday, August 23
2pm South Hobart v Devonport, D’Arcy Street
McDonald's Women's Super League
Round 10
Saturday, August 22
12.15pm Riverside v Kingborough, Windsor Park
Round 19
2pm South Hobart v Devonport, D’Arcy Street
2.30pm Glenorchy v Launceston United, KGV
2.30pm Taroona v Launceston City, Kelvedon Park