The Hobart Zebras have scored a thumping victory over Riverside, downing them 9-0 in their Saturday afternoon NPL TAS clash. The onslaught began early as the Zebras scored twice in the space of the first five minutes and it only got worse from there on out for the hosts.
An early corner brought about the first goal of the game as Jordan Muller marked his return to the starting lineup with a goal, hooking one home from all of a yard out. That lead was then doubled from their very next attack, Pace poking home a rebound that Murfet left on the doorstep.
Shell shocked by the swift start, the hosts looked rattled and they struggled to deal with the forward press being brought by a determined Zebras outfit. Having had a poor day in front of goal last week, the Zebras appeared keen to not repeat those mistakes.
Mathew Sanders, who epitomised their inability to finish last week, was back to his usual sharpness and he chimed in with the third goal when the Roos made a hash of things passing out from the back.
Sanders then turned provider for Edwards, as the Zebras made the most of the space they were being afforded in the final third. Edwards seemingly had all day to pick his spot and belt it home.
Seconds before the half time whistle and they added another, Riley Dillon's cross turning into a shot and lobbing a besieged Murfet, who acquitted himself well in goal and made a number of big save, but was under near constant pressure.
Sanders completed his hat-trick midway through the second half, as he fired home a penalty won by the lively Edwards, before tapping home from close range after some determined work by Mathew Pace to square the ball to him.
The crossbar twice denied the Zebras another, as Dillon and then Mckeown smashed efforts onto the crossbar in 30 seconds of utter madness in the penalty area that somehow didn't result in the game's eighth goal
That would come four minutes from full time when substitute James Ackerley got in on the act, absolutely belting one that took a big deflection and flew into the top corner.
In stoppage time, Mathew Sanders was able t0 bag his fourth goal of the game as he finished off some good work from Riley Dillon out on the left hand side.
The win moves the Zebras back into the top four and they now boast the best goal differential in the league. Riverside meanwhile have had a tough couple of weeks as they adjust to life in the top division.
Coach Dave Smith was pleased with his side's bounce back performance.
"We wanted to prove we could score and from the first moment we raised the intensity and were able to put a stamp on it."
"Nicky was superb early on he created a couple, Ryu dominated in midfield and the back four were really good, keeping that clean sheet."
Riverside boss Alex Gaetaini said days like these were tough, but to be expected with such a youthful squad.
"We've been a lot better than we were today It was a combination of Zebras being quality, their forward pressing was quite hard to deal with and us not handling that."
"When you look at our squad out there today, we've got 14 out of 16 are Riverside juniors, the other two were 15 and 17 year old's."
"With so many young players it's a challenge, but its an exciting challenge but it might mean some short term pain."
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