There could still be a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip as NPL Tasmania enters penultimate round

The penultimate round of the 2024 NPL Tasmania season begins this evening when fifth=placed Launceston City hosts bottom-side Launceston United in a Launceston derby at TassieCare Park at Prospect at 8.15pm.

Launceston City still have faint hopes of finishing fourth so will give it everything.

Launceston United will still be recalling the joy of earning a first win of the season two weeks ago and so will not be overawed.

The weather is bleak but the atmosphere at what is the home of Launceston Juventus should be heated, and not only because of the warm glow of those flames and portable heaters outside the clubrooms which always make for a fantastic atmosphere at this venue.

Glenorchy Knights should beat second-last Clarence Zebras at 2.30pm at Wentworth Park tomorrow, providing the ground is not closed because of the wet weather.

Nothing is certain, however, and the Knights will have to be wary.

Sam Tooze could be back in action for Clarence Zebras after a lengthy suspension and he will have a lot to prove.  He will be full of energy and the Knights cannot afford to ignore him,

A win for the visitors will keep them on top of the standings going into next week’s final round.  Anything less than a victory for James Sherman’s men will be a huge blow to their title chances.

Second-placed and reigning champions Devonport City must make every post a winner from now on and they must start with victory over fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United at home at Valley Road at 2.45pm tomorrow.

The Lions beat Devonport the last time they played at Valley Road so a win is not a foregone conclusion for the North-West Coast outfit.

Devonport have had a very successful season, winning both the Women’s Super League title and the NPL Tasmania Under-21 championship.

Devonport coach Tom Ballantyne’s team will be keen to make it a hat-trick for the club by capturing the number one title.

They will be without the suspended Taylor Last, who was sent off in stoppage time in the win against South Hobart last Saturday, but should have adequate cover.

They brought on Nick Lanau-Atkinson and Miles Barnard late in the game, and also had Dominic Smith and Masi Benjamin on the bench, so their depth will be adequate.

I liked their direct style of play last week.  Goal-kicks were proper goal-kicks, and there was none of that messing about in the six-yard box at goal-kicks, which, in reality, puts unnecessary pressure on your team and hands the advantage to the opposing team if they know what they’re doing.

Devonport will need to be aware of the threat posed by Kingborough’s Eli Wright and Alex Brown.  These two, along with South Hobart’s Harrison Oates, must be among the most talented youngsters in the Tasmanian game.

The visitors will be without the suspended defender Eli Luttmer, who was sent off against Glenorchy Knights last week.

South Hobart, currently third and still in with a chance of the title, should be too good for sixth-placed Riverside Olympic at KGV Park tomorrow at 2pm.  The game has been transferred from South Hobart Oval.

South Hobart, even at less than full steam, should have the wood on the visitors.

They will miss the injured Alex Walter.

NPL Tasmania Standings (As at 24 August 2024)

TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Glenorchy Knights	19	13	4	2	78	23	43
Devonport City	19	12	5	2	56	18	41
South Hobart	19	12	5	2	55	28	41
Kingborough Lions	19	10	3	6	59	38	33
Launceston City	19	8	4	7	34	31	28
Riverside Olympic	19	5	1	13	26	61	16
Clarence Zebras	19	3	2	14	27	56	11
Launceston United	19	1	0	18	15	95	3

Vale David Hoppitt

Photo:  David Hoppitt (third from left in back row) in a Clarence United squad in 2009. [PlessPix] 

The former Clarence United player and current Barnstoneworth player, David Hoppitt, has passed away in Hobart aged 38 after a long illness.

David recently made a return to football with Barnstoneworth and scored in one of their wins.

David lost his sibling, Andrew Hoppitt, who was a highly rated goalkeeper with University, in 2005 after a skydiving accident.

For a few years following that tragic loss, University and Clarence United competed for the Andrew Hoppitt Memorial Trophy whenever the two clubs met.

I remember David as a brave, fast and energetic player who was capable of scoring terrific goals as well as making goals for team-mates.

A look through my files of 2009 reveals some brief descriptions:

"Sloppy defending by Olympic four minutes from the end enabled Clarence to equalise.  The ball was given away on Olympic’s left flank and it was knocked into the middle, where David Hoppitt equalised with a marvellous right-foot volley that gave Plomaritis no chance as it flashed into his top left-hand corner of the net."

“Two minutes from the end, substitute Ben Phillips made the game safe when he hammered home David Hoppitt’s low cross from the right.”

“David Hoppitt made it 2-0 in the 67th minute, while a minute later, Eli Luttmer’s shot for Taroona flew just wide.”

David was a member of the Clarence United side that lost in the GCD Premier League Top-Five Finals Series Preliminary Final against Hobart Juventus at KGV Soccer Park on Friday, 23 September 2005.

David’s father, Glenn Hoppitt, was the Chief Financial Officer for Soccer Tasmania at about the turn of the century.

My condolences go to David’s wife, Alyce, and their children, and to his parents.

I know he will be remembered fondly by team-mates and all who knew him both on and off the field.