The Hobart Zebras opened the scoring after just 13 seconds and never looked back, as they defeated the Glenorchy Knights 2-1 in a game played amidst a veil of fog at KGV. Matthew Pace doubled the Zebras lead on 22 minutes and from there they ground the result out in a game that never reached great heights. A deflected Jade Clay strike gave the Knights some late hope, but they never threatened again, as the Zebras claimed the win.
Sanders strike had the Zebras ahead before most people had adjusted their eyes to deal with the fog floating across the ground, as a shot came in from the left that Nester spilled right at the feet of the lurking Sanders. The leagues' leading marksmen tapped home and his side had the dream start.
The Knights responded with what was one of their better spells of the game, probing the Zebras defence but finding it hard to get past a unit marshalled superbly all night by Jan Charuza.
The game was devoid of chances and from the second one of the night the Zebras doubled their lead. Luke Huigsloot dinked a lovely lobbed through ball over the centre backs which Matthew Pace ran onto. Beating Nester to the ball, he headed it past him, before volleying home to complete a classy goal.
It was the Zebras who looked the most likely to add to their lead as the half wore on, and one of many corners earned by both sides in a game filled with them, almost led to a third goal. But the veteran Nester came to the rescue to pull off a strong reaction save at close range, whilst minutes later James cleared another off the line that nearly swung directly in.
The second half took a while to get going before Whatman and Nester both made sharp saves to maintain the 2-0 scoreline, but the passing was letting both sides down in a generally scrappy encounter.
After Dwayne Walsh passed up the chance to ice the game when his one on one found only the side netting, it was the the Knights who injected some late hope with a fortuitous goal.
Jade Clay blasted a shot from the top of the box that struck Jayden Hey before looping off in the opposite direction and nestling into the back of the net to make it 2-1 with 7 minutes left in regulation.
But as they had for most the night, the Zebras had the answers at the back and they did not look troubled. Led by the imperious Charuza and Yonezawa, they did not surrender another shot as they saw out the game and claimed a deserved, albeit scrappy 2-1 win.
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