Launceston City and South Hobart played out a 2-2 draw at Buckby Land Rover Park in Saturday evening's NPL TAS clash. City headed into the sheds at the half time break holding onto a 1-0 lead which came through Lindsay Millington just before the whistle, but a second-half fightback from South meant they would be travelling back down the Midlands Highway with one point rather than none.
City's intentions seemed clear from kick-off, with the home side looking to press the visitors and not allow South to play through them. A bold tactic was employed by City coach Lino Sciulli, as he chose to play one of City's most dangerous attacking outlets, Jarrod Linger, in the centre of defence. Despite his small stature, Linger possesses excellent technical ability and reads the game well. This came in handy when dealing with Ben Hamlett in South Hobart's attack.
Throughout the first half, City were structured and pressed hard onto South, not allowing them to play to their usual style. With limited options when playing out, South resorted to the long ball on several occasions to try and break down City, but to no avail. Although City were keeping South at bay, South Hobart were excellent at winning the ball back quickly and not allowing City to attack on the counter.
Despite only having one chance for the first 45 minutes, City managed to claim the first goal of the match through captain, Lindsay Millington. Mitreski sent a floating ball into the box from a corner and Millington steered his header past Graham Wright and into the net to give his side a one-goal advantage heading into the break.
Fresh from the break, City came into the second half pressing as they did in the first. It took them twenty minutes of the second half to see a reward for their efforts when Noah Mies doubled his side's lead in the 65th minute. Mies created space for himself between Bowman and Ludford as he received the ball from Hancox. Mies then burst into the box and beat Wright in a one-on-one to send the hosts 2-0 up.
It was clear to see the class and experience in South's squad in the final 25 minutes of the game. Despite being 2-0 down and struggling to create significant chances, their more experienced players such as Ludford, Feral, and Morton got behind their team and looked to spark the comeback.
After controlling the ball for much of the match, South were left frustrated by their lack of goals to show for it. However, that was no longer the case after Nick Morton reduced the deficit back to just one goal in the 68th minute. Morton was played through in his attacking half and buried his shot past Clark to bring the score to 2-1.
With City pressing for much of the afternoon, they were starting to tire and this allowed South to open up their passing and create more concrete opportunities. Less than 10 minutes after the first goal, South leveled the scores through Ben Hamlett. The striker's header only just got the better of Clark as it sailed in over the keeper's with 15 minutes left to play.
The final 15 minutes of the match saw South pressing hard for a winner, but it wasn't to be as City shut up shop and weren't able to be broken down. Several clumsy fouls from City provided the away side with opportunities to put the ball into the box, but none were successful.
Next week South Hobart face Clarence at home and will be looking to get back to winning ways. Launceston City will travel south to play the Glenorchy Knights at KGV.