By Tanner Coad
NPL Tasmania round three was a memorable weekend to say the least and FNR are here to dissect all the action.
South Hobart 5 ( Sam Tooze, Nick Morton x2, Sam Berezansky and Kasper Hallam) Launceston City 0 at D’Arcy St.
South Hobart made it three wins from three disposing of Northern side Launceston City 5-0 at what they call their feature of dreams at D’Arcy St. The cold weather didn’t change the neutral fan coming through the gates on what was one cold afternoon in the Southern Suburbs.
Launceston looked determined from the start going forward and pressing high on South in the early stages. South soon worked their way back into the contest with City keeper Lachlan Clark standing tall with some impressive saves.
Nick Morton assisted Sam Tooze in breaking the deadlock before half-time with an exceptional acute angle cross to the waiting head of Tooze.
Sam Berezansky made it two after getting the best of a pinball situation ten minutes after the restart of play. Kasper Hallam made it three and it was academic from there as Nick Morton went up to finish City with a tidy brace.
A very comprehensive win for South who will now have a week’s break before their blockbuster clash v Glenorchy Knights while City will look forward to the league’s only Friday night clash for the year on Apr 23rd ; v Riverside Olympic at Buckby Land Rover Park.
A further match gallery provided by Nikki Long is attached below. Thank you Nikki for allowing FNR to use your shots.
Clarence Zebras 5 (R. Dillon x2 , J. Mathie, M. Pace, R. Cook Olympia Warriors 1 (Kyle Vincent) at Warrior Park.
A huge win for CZFC holding onto their unbeaten record in the new Eastern Shore derby with a 5-1 thrashing over rivals Olympia.
Warriors never seemed to get out of the starting blocks with Riley Dillon, Josh Mathie and Matty Pace all scoring before half-time with Olympia’s Joseph Mwarabu sent off before half-time.
Olympia did manage to get a goal back through Kyle Vincent but the result was put to bed after a penalty conversion by Ryan Cook.
Zebras will next host Kingborough at Wentworth Park on Sat 24th Apr while Olympia will head on the long trip to Valley Rd v Devonport Strikers
Devonport Strikers 3 (T. Barton, B. Denehey, N. Lanau-Atkinson) Riverside Olympic 2 (F. Fulton, T. Prince, at Windsor Park
Devonport returned to winning ways in a gritty 3-2 away win over fellow Northern club ROFC at Windsor Park.
Toby Barton opened proceedings for the away side capitalising off a corner ball for a tap-in past the Riverside keeper to give the Strikers a 1-0 lead at HT.
Last year’s rising star Fletcher Fulton pounced on a defensive error early on in the second period to bring it back to level pegging.
Despite the pressure now on Strikers with River pressing hard, Strikers were soon awarded a penalty after a foul in the box. Brody Denehey converted this chance to bring the lead back. River launched a late comeback through captain Tom Prince but it was too little too late as Nick Lanau- Atkinson’s late goal sealed the deal.
Devonport with a return to the top four will now play Kingborough Lions next weekend at UTAS Stadium for an A-League curtain raiser before WUFC and CCM while River will have the week off.
Glenorchy Knights 5 (A. Walter x3, Nic Mearns and Adam Gorrie) Kingborough Lions 2 (A. Mckeown x2)
Glenorchy blew away Kingborough 5-2 in a Saturday night blockbuster at Lightwood Park to finish the round second placed behind South Hobart, ironically who they play in a fortnight.
A minutes silence was observed before kick-off in remembrance of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who past away over the weekend.
Lions never looked a threat in the first-half with the away side locking down every hopeful attack they tried to conjure. Knights worked their space down the flanks while Lions could only press or watch on as they were well and truely outplayed in the opening 45 minutes.
Knights striker Alex Walter continued his outstanding goal scoring form with another hat-trick which began in bizarre circumstances Lions keeper Sheku Kamara attempted to header away a long ball but it shaved his head to feed in the lurking Walter to hit home into an open net.
Walter made it 2-0 to the good after the break but Lions striker Adam “Sunday” McKeown was able to hit a brace in his own right. The first coming from a low cross delivery from Keenan Douce to Sunday to bring it back to 2-1. This woke up the caged Lions who put the pedal to the metal only to be denied by Knights keeper Lachie Hart and a penalty call which could’ve gone either way.
After vast pressure from Kingborough, Walter went up the other end to score and hushed down the home fans completing his hat-trick as the hopeful comeback looked all but over. Sunday managed to bring another back with a great chip over Hart but Nic Mearns and super-sub Adam Gorrie soon sealed victory for the Knights.
Glenorchy put in a fantastic performance from players and staff and were by far the superior team and all involved earned the three points. Their defensive work-rate included 2 on 1 marking and their attack truely locked down any vibrant threat the Lions would hope to launch.
Lions were shellshocked tonight and were well and truely outplayed at home in front of what was a good crowd on a cold wintery night at The Den.
FNR and Mercury reporter Dan Thurley spoke to Knights Coach James Sherman after the match who revealed some unexpected news that Walter was set to have trials with Victorian State League side Port Melbourne after his impressive start to the season. It would be fantastic to see Walter tested at a higher level.
A further match gallery from Karen Murray-Cox is provided below. Thank you Karen.
