R5 saw a chaotic derby between the bottom two teams, red cards, upset results and emotional farewells. Just another week in NPL Tasmania!
Launceston City 3 (Yasin Mohammadi 14′ , Dan Smith 17′, Jarrod Linger 89′) Riverside Olympic 2 (Samuel Davis 4′, James Hall 12′) at Buckby Land Rover Park
Firstly this was our only NPL Friday night fixture for 2021. Secondly Your eyes are not deceiving you. This was the bottom two NPL teams here and if you ever wanted a shootout in a derby with both pushing each other to the wire regardless of ladder position it was this one!
Samuel Davis opened proceedings getting onto a low cross from James Hall to finish into the bottom left for the opener. Shortly after it was Hall’s turn to get amongst the scoring! Fletcher Fulton sent a lovely through ball to Hall and after some fancy footwork finished well past City keeper Lachie Clark.
City now 2 goals behind in a home derby somehow awoken from the depths of the margin. Yasin Mohammadi got onto an acute angle to hit from 30 years off the flanks and into the top right in what was a fantastic goal.
City weren’t done there after Mohammadi turned to set-piece taker. River keeper Daniel Nash could only palm away his effort momentarily with another Daniel being there to pick up the pieces to somehow make it level pegging going into half-time.
It was a twisting and turning second-half with both teams running on their last legs but it would be City captain Jarrod Linger with a marvellous hit on the outside of the boot to win the Derby before stoppage time! Linger received a great chip from Stefan Tatari to score the winner which sent the home fans in pure ecstasy.
City pick up their first win and River are left to wonder how they let an early two goal lead slip away.
Kingborough Lions 2 (OG and Adam Mckeown 53′) Clarence Zebras Riley Dillon (p) at Wentworth Park.
Kingborough have somehow gotten all 3 points away at Wentworth Park over Clarence Zebras in a 2-1 nail-biter which sent them temporarily to the top of the table.
Before kick-off there was a minutes silence to remember the life of Somerset Sharks player Kieren Whitehouse who passed away early last week. FNR sends their condolences again to Kieren’s family and friends during this tough time.
First half was a real burn to watch with neither team looking a real threat. Lions did leave the half however on top with an own goal from Zebras’ Daniel Baumgartner enough for a 1-0 lead.
Lions suddenly went down to ten men after former Zebra Buungtae Ahn was sent off for a reckless challenge on Dwayne Walsh. Adam McKeown quickly gave Lions the two goal buffer inside the box moments after the send-off. You could hear the destain from the ground announcer after another former Zebra was involved with the deciding play.
Tempers were flying as the strong Clarence crowd began to get restless. Their prayers were finally answered after winning a penalty after Joseph Juma dived in on Riley Dillon. Although referee Stratos Plomaritis did point to the spot there was fists flying and plenty to dissect. Luckily he had a reliable assistant with Claire Green telling the players and staff to hush down while they go over what decision to go with.
Tempers were flying with Andrew Taylor and Adam McKeown making their points known while referee Mr Plomaritis tries to regain control. Photo credit : Tanner Coad
Dillon eventually got the all clear and finished true past keeper Lee Mackie to give the Zebras a real sniff with under 20 minutes to go.
Despite the constant threats of Matt Pace and Walsh surging up the Zebras efforts came to nothing as Kingborough walked away with all the premiership points as they head into a big clash v Glenorchy Knights in the quarter-finals of the Milan Lakoseljac Cup.
Lions will still have that embarrassing loss a couple weeks ago to the latter on their minds so you’d imagine they would have the mindset “point to prove”
Zebras will have the week off before an away day of their own up Valley Rd to take on Devonport Strikers.
Devonport Strikers 2 (Brody Denehey x2) Olympia Warriors (Austin Yost and Joel Sammut at Valley Rd.
Olympia lost the lead twice but somehow walk away with a point in a 2-2 draw with Devonport Strikers up at Valley Rd.
Yost opened the scoring in ripping fashion inside the box right into the top left past keeper Nathan Pitchford.
Denehey managed to equalise quickly but Sammut canceled that out with a surprise lead back in the Warriors grasp.
Denehey could only complete his brace for a 2-2 scoreline which stayed that way up to FT.
Devonport will now play South Hobart next weekend in the quarter-finals of the Lakoseljac Cup while Olympia take the trip up north once more to Launceston City.
Glenorchy Knights 1 (Alex Walter) South Hobart 1 (Nick Morton) at KGV.
South Hobart have spoiled the sending off party for Knights striker Alex Walter with his seemingly winning goal cancelled out by Nick Morton in a 1-1 draw at KGV. Knights could’ve gone top of the table with a win but had to settle for a point.
A fantastic crowd in tonight had to make due with what they could see. Photo credit : Tanner Coad
Knights were forced into a change with full back Jack Bowman ruled out with a broken toe while Walter in his final game warmed the pine.
Walter turned super-sub and appeared to have netted the winner. Through the darkness Walter picked up the pieces inside the box which sent the home fans in pure jubilation.
South had one final trick up their sleeve despite being behind the play for most of the game winning a penalty kick at the death.
Up stepped Nick Morton who finished calmly to seal a point for the visitors. A huge one.
Knight’s striker Alex Walter was farewelled in his final game before making his imminent move to Hume City (NPL Victoria). NPL Victoria is one of the highest standards of NPL football in Australia so Walter now has the chance to impress on the main-land as he links up with former SH team-mate Andy Brennan.
Although a good Saturday night crowd showed up, the gamed was marred for not having sufficient flood lighting. Unfortunately that’s the same story fans in TAS have had to put up with for years now.
Knights’ attacking end in the 2H was near pitch black darkness while South’s was only mildly better.
FNR and The Mercury reporter Dan Thurley spoke to Knights coach James Sherman after the match on the debacle.
” (Knights) We shouldn’t be paying for the ground fee at all.” Sherman said.
” That’s disgraceful.
” Football Tas did a wonderful job promoting the A-League. It’s probably the first time I think we can say as a community that we can say how proud we are for what they have done. But then they let themselves down tonight.
” You have the top two sides on the table playing on a beautiful night with a good crowd and there are 1.. 3.. 5.. not far off half the lights out!
“Pick your socks up guys.”
Knights coach James Sherman interview
South coach Ken Morton interview
