Warriors Look To Dial Up Pressure On Strikers In Round 19

The Olympia F.C Warriors will look to move into first place in the NPL Tasmania when they take on Glenorchy Knights on Friday night at Warrior Park. With the gap currently at two points to Devonport, the Warriors could take advantage of playing first up in the round and jump them on the table. Albeit the Strikers would then have 2 games in hand, but with Devonport facing a potentially tough away game to Launceston City on Saturday evening, the pressure would be dialled up on them were the Warriors to defeat the Knights. On form that should be expected with Knights currently on a horrible run, having dropped their past five matches to slide down into seventh place on the table. A horror injury run has contributed heavily to that and tonight will see their 32nd player of the season used, which is a staggeringly high number. The matches played numbers really tell the tale for Knights. The side has played 16 games this year, yet Declan Brown is their most capped player with 13 starts. Matt Nowicki 11/16 and Nicholas Naden 11/16 are the only others in the squad who have managed to crack double figures! It's hard to get results when there is no continuity in the line up, and having their star man Callum Brown out for the rest of the season, having already missed the bulk of it really stings. The Warriors will be looking to use last weekend's Houdiniesque escape against the Kingborough Lions, when they scored three times in the final 7 minutes to pull off a miraculous win, to inspire a title charge. Their form has been strong, winning their past five games to remain hot on the heels of the Strikers. With the three other sides that make up the competition's top four their next three games after this one, it's imperative that they take care of the result against Knights, just as they did in their two earlier meetings this season; winning both games 3-1. Then all eyes will turn to Buckby Landrover Park, and what will almost certainly be a very heavy pitch given the forecast. Whilst the Warriors winning might dial up the pressure, over the past couple of seasons the Strikers have not shown any inclination that such things bother them, or impact their play at all. Their ability to just get on with the job and grind out results has been a feature of their success and their record on the road suggests a squad with a tremendous mental strength. This could be a tough game for them against a City side who pushed them in their first meeting at the venue back in Round 2. Having Shane Cartwright back in that midfield group makes such a difference to their play and they do have some strong physical players who should hold their own in what will likely be a real physical grind of a game. But the Strikers have been on another level to everyone else this season and the last time they took to the pitch they dismantled a South side who had appeared to be their biggest challengers. After a week off to freshen up, they will be very hard to stop. [caption id="attachment_12271" align="alignnone" width="655"] Last time out the Strikers were inspired- Solstice Photography[/caption] Elsewhere on the Saturday the Kingborough Lions head to Wentworth Park to take on Clarence. It's obviously been a disastrous year for the Reds, but this next fortnight probably presents their best chance to add to their wins total when they host the Lions and then travel to Riverside. With Jack Turner, Keenan Douce and Kenneth Perkinson all out, the Lions will be missing arguably their three best performers since Jez Kenth took over, potentially leaving them vulnerable. Kingborough should have made it 4 wins in a row last week, before stealing defeat from the jaws of victory and it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from such a blow. They should still account for a Clarence side that's been well off the pace, beating them 8-0 and 3-0 already this year, but with key players missing that task is harder than it might have been. Finally on the Sunday, South Hobart host the Hobart Zebras in what is shaping as the battle for third place between the sides. With South having dropped 10 points off the ladder leaders following their stalemate with Riverside, they are now closer to the Zebras in fourth than they are the summit. After a bit of a wobble where they picked up just 4 of a possible 15 points from Rounds 10-15, and looking like they could fall out of the top four; the Zebras have gotten back on track to win three consecutive games to start pushing South for third place. Their last meeting was absolutely unforgettable, as South won a completely bonkers game 5-4 at North Hobart Oval in what was the game of the season. It's unlikely we see such an open and attacking display this time around, and a game more akin to their 1-1 draw at Darcy Street earlier this year seems more likely. Whilst this is important in the battle for third spot, South also really need to get back into gear ahead of their FFA Cup game with Marconi. That is coming up on Wednesday 31 July at Blundstone Arena (you can buy tickets from this link if you haven't already) and after a couple of underwhelming performances in the past fortnight, they will want to start recapturing their best form if they are any chance to challenge the former NSL powerhouse. [caption id="attachment_12407" align="alignnone" width="590"] The Anzac Day clash between the pair was a crazy game-Solstice Photography[/caption] Round 19 Friday 12 July Olympia v Glenorchy Knights, 8:15pm, Warrior Park Live Stream Saturday 13 July Launceston City v Devonport, 4:30pm, Buckby Landrover Park Clarence v Kingborough Lions, 4:30pm, Wentworth Park Sunday 14 July South Hobart v Hobart Zebras, 2:00pm, Darcy Street Live Stream