One round removed from their first slip-up of the season, the Devonport Strikers were back at their clinical best in a 4-1 win over South Hobart.
While the contest was much more even than the scoreline might suggest, some tidy finishing at one end combined with the continued excellence of goalkeeper Nathan Pitchford ensured the result was never in doubt. With veteran goalscorer Miles Barnard named on the bench, it would have been fair to wonder where the goals might come from for the Strikers. They responded with their highest scoring game of the year on the road, led by a brace and a superb two-way performance from Eddie Bidwell.
It was the hosts that burst out of the block and looked more dangerous early, with Devonport seemingly caught off guard and on the back foot. South attacked with purpose from the kickoff and won a pair of early corners, but they couldn't produce a decisive shot on goal. That was the pattern in the first ten minutes as the Strikers tried to settle into their usual rhythm.
They eventually did so, and they found their avenue to goal very quickly afterwards. Set piece maestro Joel Stone sent his first free kick straight onto the chest of goalkeeper Nathan Reid, but his second just one minute later was right on the money. A swinging ball toward the back post was contested by the waiting pack but seemingly missed by them all, as the ball bounced freely and found its way into the back of the net. There may have been a touch on the ball somewhere along the way, but it hardly mattered-- the Strikers had grabbed the lead despite spending most of the opening exchanges chasing the game.
Many teams look rattled after conceding, but South continued to look dangerous when moving forward. They went close to equalising immediately after, as a header from Declan Foley forced the first of many impressive saves from Pitchford. While the Strikers looked comfortable as always on the ball, it was still South that were attacking with slightly more success.
That all counted for nothing just after the half-hour mark, though, as Devonport added two more in quick succession. It was Stone's delivery from the dead ball once again that set up their second, as another curling delivery to the back post was this time headed down in the area. It was met there by the run of fullback Connor Parke, who lashed a volley past Reid and in. Two became three moments later as they moved quickly to attack on the counter, with Bidwell played into space just in front of the halfway line. With time on the ball he drove it forward, beat the back-tracking Foley and slid a shot easily into the bottom corner.
Again South continued to push late into the half, and again they were denied by the brilliance of Pitchford. Another diving save saw him take a clean sheet into the break, and he continued to protect that with his best effort of the day just after the restart. An open header from Andy Brennan looked destined for the bottom corner until he got down and bunted it away, before somehow scooping the rebound away from the oncoming attackers.
Much like in the first half, South didn't look out of their depth across the park. The shot count remained even throughout, and the likes of Nick Morton and Kasper Hallam looked dangerous at times. Alas, after fighting tooth and nail to just barely stay in the contest, all it took was one slip-up to definitively end South's chances. A loose pass across goal from Reid gifted the ball to Bidwell, and after cutting it back past his marker he again finished well to snag his second.
The hosts did manage to grab a consolation goal with 15 minutes left. Brennan struggled to find his feet for much of the day, but after gliding through the midfield on the ball he played a centimetre-perfect pass that split the defence and gave Morton an easy finish past Pitchford. Still, it was far too little, far too late, and the game fizzled out with little action thereafter. The Strikers now maintain their four-point buffer at the top of the table, and a three-peat is seemingly theirs to lose in the second half of the season.
https://youtu.be/aI5SnEmEwWw