South Hobart 5-0 Launceston City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NXVtIF7brU
South Hobart have continued their dominant start to the season, cruising to a 5-0 win over Launceston City at Darcy Street. It took almost the entire first half for them to crack a stubborn City defence, but a second-half surge headlined by a brace from Nick Morton saw them claim another big win.
South looked comfortable on the ball throughout the first half and did the bulk of the attacking, but they lacked the finishing touches until the dying moments of the period. They were well held by a Launceston defence that has been hard to crack early in the season but found a breakthrough in the last minutes before half-time. A cross from Morton on the right was perfectly weighted for the run of Sam Tooze towards the near post, and his glancing header flew across the goal and in off the woodwork.
That gave the hosts the advantage at the break, and they carried that momentum into a dominant second half. They doubled their lead ten minutes after the restart when Sam Berezansky cleaned up the rebound from a blocked shot, with the midfielder able to slide a shot through traffic and into the bottom corner. Some lax defending from the visitors opened the door for South's third with just over 20 minutes left, with Ewan Larby pressing high and stealing the ball away on the left. He zig-zagged through the defence before setting up Hallam, and while the attacker's first shot was well saved, he too managed to tidy up on the rebound and finish on the second attempt.
That gave South a comfortable lead as the clock wound down, but there was still plenty of time for Morton to put some icing on the cake. His first came in the 73rd minute, as a cross from the right dropped in the middle of the area but somehow bounced deep beyond the back post. That's where Morton was waiting in space, and he hit a volley on the bounce that skimmed across the face and in at the far bottom corner. He grabbed his second in the dying minutes, with Hallam setting him up perfectly with a squaring header at the back post that rolled behind the defence and gave him a simple tap-in to complete an impressive win.
Olympia Warriors 1-5 Clarence Zebras
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4riGUfgmrBk
The Clarence Zebras have claimed their first win of 2021, taking an early lead and never looking back in a 5-1 thumping of the Olympia Warriors. A superb all-around performance bookended by a Riley Dillon brace proved to be far too much for a young Warriors side to handle even on their home ground at Warrior Park.
It was a fast start for the Zebras, with Dillon scoring his first goal in the ninth minute to grab an early lead. Footage of that goal has unfortunately been lost to the technical difficulties of live streaming, but regardless of how it came about, it was the perfect start for a side desperate for a win. They continued to dominate the general play once the broadcast did kick in, spending plenty of time forward but struggling to find the finishing touches.
Olympia were far from out of the contest, but their job became a lot more difficult when they were reduced to ten men in the 39th minute. An incident off the ball saw Joseph Mwarabu receive a red card, and from the resultant free kick the Zebras added their second goal. Dillon's initial shot from the dead ball cannoned into the wall, but from the rebound Josh Mathie hit a vicious volley that flew past the dive of Jake Hayers and into the bottom corner. The Warriors were rattled and conceded a third in stoppage time despite the best efforts of Hayers. The young gloveman made three saves in quick succession but couldn't quite keep the ball in his grasp, and on the fourth attempt Matthew Pace thumped it home from point-blank range.
It was more of the same in the second half, with Ryan Cook thumping a free kick into the top corner less than five minutes after the restart to make it 4-0. The home side did manage to pull one back just after the hour mark, with Austin Yost flicking a delightful ball over the defence and playing in Kyle Vincent for a one-on-one finish past the advancing goalkeeper. That was too little, too late, though, particularly when they had played the majority of the game with one less player. The Zebras capitalised on that fatigue for one last goal three minutes from full-time, with Pace brought down in the box by a tired challenge to win a penalty. Dillon stepped up to take the spot kick, and while Hayers did get a hand to it he couldn't keep it from crashing into the back of the net.
Riverside Olympic 2-3 Devonport Strikers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAhkdGqb4M8
The Devonport Strikers have kept themselves afloat in the title race with another close win, downing Riverside Olympic 3-2 at Windsor Park. Despite dominating the play for much of the day, it took two second-half goals and a last-ditch defensive effort for the Strikers to seal the three points.
There were ominous signs early for the Riverside defence with a pair of towering headers from the Strikers forwards flying just over the top in the opening minutes. It was third time the charm for the visitors as they opened the scoring in the tenth minute, with another aerial assault doing the damage. A corner was sent deep to the top of the penalty area, and Kieran Mulraney's centering header was flicked home on the volley by Toby Barton.
It was the perfect start for Devonport, and they should have doubled their lead a minute later when Jordan Lamb had a one-on-one shot saved and out the rebound effort wide. That double chance, along with a Brody Denehey shot that stayed out off the crossbar, were the best chances of the half, but the Strikers couldn't find another first-half goal as reward for their impressive play.
They were left to regret those missed chances in the opening minutes of the second half as Riverside scored against the run of play to draw level. An untimely slip from Strikers defender Raphael Reynolds opened the door, and a slicing cross to the back post gave Fletcher Fulton a simple finish past the oncoming goalkeeper. The scores only remained tied for a matter of minutes, though, as Joel Stone weaved his way into the box only to be brought down by a lunging defender. The referee pointed to the spot, and Denehey coolly converted the penalty down the middle to re-take the lead.
They had their third and a well-deserved buffer just after the hour mark, with some tidy interplay ending with the ball laid off to Nick Lanau-Atkinson just inside the area. His shot flew low and hard into the opposite bottom corner, giving Riverside goalkeeper Dan Nash no chance. Again there was an immediate response, this time from Riverside, as first it was James Hall forcing a save from Nathan Pitchford. The Strikers gloveman tried to punch the resulting corner clear, but he was left stranded off his line as Tom Prince rose and headed home past him to give the hosts side some hope with 25 minutes left.
A third goal for Riverside was a lot to ask as the Strikers continued to play with the bulk of the possession, but they had their chance in the 87th minute. A free kick on the right gave William Humphrey the chance to deliver into the area, but his teammate's flick from heavy traffic squirted wide and away from danger. That was the last real attack of the game as the Strikers hung on for another nail-biting win.
Kingborough Lions 2-5 Glenorchy Knights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxi3UVt6gB8
The Glenorchy Knights have continued their undefeated start to the season, holding off a Kingborough Lions fightback to win 5-2 at Lightwood Park. A hat-trick to Alex Walter kept the Knights in front despite a brace from Kingborough’s Adam McKeown, before a pair of late goals made the final margin more comfortable.
It was the Lions that looked more comfortable from the opening whistle, but they couldn’t convert that into scoring chances and watched as the Knights quickly settled and took the ascendency. Walter capitalised on a goalkeeping error to open the scoring, as Sheku Kamara came outside his area to deal with a long ball from the Knights defence but instead sent his header further towards the goal behind him. That left Walter with space to run onto it, and he finished into the open net to give the visitors an early lead.
Glenorchy had the better of the play for the rest of the half, but both defences held strong to see the score remain at 1-0 at the break. After pressing hard for much of the first half it took just three minutes after the restart for them to finally add to their lead. Played in down the right hand side, Eli Luttmer drew Kamara off his line before squaring the ball to Walter for a simple finish for his second. That gave the Knights a two-goal buffer, but that was only short-lived as the Lions scored with their first play from the resulting kick-off. Keenan Douce broke down the wing and crossed low to the middle where Adam McKeown hit a first-time shot from close range that found the back of the net.
Those two goals inside the first four minutes of the half set the tone for a second period played at a frenetic pace, and the Lions could have drawn level with a trio of chances over the next 15 minutes. They were unable to find another breakthrough, though, and that wastefulness came back to bite them in the 68th minute when Walter found space to shoot at the edge of the area and fired a shot into the bottom corner for his third. Once again, though, the Lions found a quick response just three minutes later, with McKeown running onto a long ball and lobbing the goalkeeper for his second goal to make it 3-2.
That gave the home side a glimmer of hope, but that proved to be short-lived as the Knights showed their class to put the game away. Nick Mearns headed home their fourth with 15 minutes remaining, before Adam Gorrie finished a simple one-on-one with the goalkeeper to wrap up the scoring in the final minutes.
