Second-placed Olympia Warriors moved to within 2 points of NPL Tasmania leaders Devonport City with a last-gasp 3-2 away win over fifth-placed Kingborough Lions United at Lightwood Park on Saturday evening.
Devonport, who had the bye and now have a game in hand,
must be feeling a little bit of heat.
The Warriors effectively got out of jail against the
Lions.
They trailed 2-0 after 53 minutes before scoring three times
in the closing 7 minutes to snatch the win.
Chris Downes gave Kingborough the lead in the 20th
minute with a low drive from midfield that flew into the far left-hand corner
of the net.
Photo: Kingborough's Nick Zammit pushes Olympia's Lucas Hill away after he clashed with Kingborough's Jack Turner (No.14) [PlessPix]
Photo: Referee Stratos Plomaritis shows a yellow card to Lucas Hill, while Kingborough's Jack Turner (right) is next. His first yellow card was to be crucial. [PlessPix]
The home side suffered a crucial set-back in the 38th
minute, however, when Jack Turner received a second yellow card and was sent
off.
Despite playing with 10 men, Kingborough went to a 2-0 lead
when American import Cameron Steele played a one-two with James Hall on the
right corner of the box and drove home from 20 metres.
There was a different referee in charge by that stage. Stratos Plomaritis refereed the first half
and sent off Turner, but a family emergency forced him to hand the second half officiating
to one of his assistants, Ivan Jozeljic.
Jordan Scott, who had been a candidate for substitution,
pulled a goal back for Olympia in the 88th minute and then equalised
with a deflected free-kick in the 91st minute.
Photo: Kingborough's Jack Turner tackles Olympia's Jordan Scott [PlessPix]
Olympia coach Rob Clarke said after the game that he had
been considering replacing Scott but, in retrospect, was pleased that he had
left him on. Scott said he was certainly
a candidate for substitution but was pleased to have stayed on and delivered
the goods.
Olympia’s winner came in the 95th minute from
a Jack Ryan penalty, awarded for a handball on the goal-line by Keenan Douce,
who was sent off for the misdemeanour.
The Lions this finished the game with 9 players and this
was their first defeat in four games.
They were coached by assistants Garry Upton and Cameron Ellis because
head coach Jez Kenth is on compassionate leave and visiting his family in
Malaysia.
Upton had no complaints about Turner’s dismissal and said
Turner was a hard player and sometimes decisions go against such players. He said he had been an equally hard player in
his NSL career and being sent off was just one of those things.
Photo: Knights' Nick Naden (No.3) tackles Zebras' Mathew Sanders in the fog [PlessPix]
Fourth-placed Hobart Zebras took only 13 seconds to go
ahead against 6th-placed Glenorchy Knights at a fog-shrouded KGV
park on Friday night.
Knights goalkeeper Dmitri Nester appeared to fumble the
ball in the conditions and Mathew Sanders was on hand to hit the ball into the
net.
Matthew Pace made it 2-0 in the 24th minute
when he lifted the ball over the advancing Nester, rounded the keeper, and stroked
the ball home.
Photo: Zebras' Matthew Pace tackles Knights' Diego Gutierrez-Chavez [PlessPix]
The conditions were surreal with the heavy fog and the
Zebras’ light pink shirts almost made them blend into the mist and become
invisible.
Jade Clay replied for Knights with a deflected shot 7
minutes from the end.
Knights coach, James Sherman, pointed to a lack of effort
from some players, as well as injuries in the squad, for the defeat. Callum Brown, who proved a revelation a
couple of weeks ago after returning from a long-term injury, did not play as he
suffered a knee ligament injury the previous week and is out for the rest of
the season.
Zebras coach David Smith was pleased with the 3 points,
which drew his side level on points with third-ranked South Hobart.
Photo: Knights' Jake Stuart and Tyler Harrison warm up as coach James Sherman supervises. The Zebras squad can be seen through the fog in the background warming up, while an Aussie Rules game goes on in the far background. [PlessPix]
South Hobart suffered a set-back the following day when
they were held to a goalless draw away to second-last Riverside Olympic at Windsor
Park.
South even squandered a penalty in the first half,
Riverside keeper Jarrod Hill beating out Ben Hamlett’s spot-kick.
In the remaining game of the round, 7th-placed
Launceston City beat bottom-side Clarence United 4-0 at Buckby Land Rover Park
to leapfrog Glenorchy Knights into 6th spot.
Martin Mitreski gave City the lead in the 13th
minute, while MacKenzie Hancox made it 2-0 in the 26th minute.
A 35th-minute strike by Thomas Ottavi and an
Isaac Degetto goal in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the first
half completed the scoring.
To Clarence’s credit, they held out for the second half
without conceding any more goals.
NPL Tasmania (As at 6 July 2019)
TEAM
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Pts
|
Devonport City
|
15
|
13
|
1
|
1
|
58
|
12
|
40
|
Olympia Warriors
|
16
|
12
|
2
|
2
|
53
|
16
|
38
|
South Hobart
|
15
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
51
|
20
|
30
|
Hobart Zebras
|
16
|
8
|
5
|
3
|
51
|
32
|
29
|
Kingborough Lions
|
16
|
6
|
1
|
9
|
29
|
36
|
19
|
Launceston City
|
15
|
5
|
3
|
7
|
26
|
26
|
18
|
Glenorchy Knights
|
16
|
5
|
2
|
9
|
38
|
35
|
17
|
Riverside Olympic
|
15
|
2
|
1
|
12
|
13
|
46
|
7
|
Clarence United
|
16
|
1
|
0
|
15
|
4
|
109
|
3
|
6 comments:
I said at the season's start that Knights were a bottom 3 side and look where they are.
Pretty much only because of injury though, they are a much better side when they have their starting back 4 and both Browns on the park.
It's very interesting that Knights have not commented on the KGV saga.
It's very alarming to have the "home of football KGV" become a pig sty.
On a positive note no better time to knock KGV down and start again including the pitch which is not up to FFA standard. A can of paint is going to fix some of the problems.
Both GCC and Football Tasmania should be very ashamed of what has happened no use blaming each other the problem wont go away.
I find it astonishing that the Glenorchy CITY council don’t seem to even audit their own assets. The grandstand and public conveniences are very often a disgrace. And to think they expose themselves at a liability risk by exposing the public to such a poor facility. I bet a wander up through the gate to the egg ball facility would display a totally different set of standards.
In retrospect, replacing the grass pitch with an artificial one was probably a mistake. The money should have been used to provide 'colour TV standard' lighting, while the Glenorchy Council should have been pressured to commit to maintaining the grass surface to the same standard as the adjoining Aussie Rules ground. If the council had maintained the soccer ground properly, there would rarely have been a problem with playing games in all but exceptional conditions. The current artificial surface will have to be replaced in a few years and that will cost the sort of money that soccer doesn't have. In the meantime, the lights will continue to deteriorate so I can envisage a scenario where we have a white elephant that is of no use to anyone.
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