Northern Rangers looking for second win in Steve Hudson Cup competition

The second round of the northern Steve Hudson Cup competition will be played on Sunday.

Prospect Knights meet Northern Rangers in the first match and a Rangers victory is the most likely outcome.

Rangers won their opening match last weekend and have had over 42 players at training.

“Team captain Sam Luck, as well as Gareth and Todd Hingston will be selected to stabilise the team and to ensure that the system used in training be applied in the game,” said Rangers coach, Roslan Saad.

“We have selected new players to look at their ability. The boys are experiencing a new system of play and thus will take a while to get used to it.

“Still, we aim to be in the top four of the Hudson Cup.”

Mark Ambrose will make his first appearance since the Tasmanian under-21s were in action against A-League youth sides.

Other inclusions will be Brad Langerak, Amos Gbasie, Andrew Nicholson, Duncan Lee, Rhys Prestidge, Luke Tuma, Moe Bami, Sultan Ali, Sam Nugteren, Chad Honey and Gareth Otley.

Tuma, from last season’s under-18s, and Dubai students Ali and Bami will be making their debuts.

Paul Bremner and Derek Schipper are still unavailable, while Thataetsile Kakadumane only returned from Botswana this week and is not yet match fit.

Chris Gaskin is still in New South Wales.

The second match on Sunday pits the Tasmanian Institute of Sport against Riverside Olympic.

TIS managed a creditable 1-1 draw with Launceston City last Saturday, while Riverside Olympic were given an 8-1 hiding by cup-holders South Hobart.

Taroona take on Launceston United in the day’s third contest, while Launceston City meet South Hobart to round off the day’s program.

“We've kept most of the squad together from last season, with only a few guys trying their luck elsewhere,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.

“Chris Cox and Cian Carey are both a lot fitter than this time last year and, hopefully, will have a better run with injuries because the rest of our team is still very young.

“It was great to finally get a win last weekend against Prospect Knights in the Steve Hudson Cup, but, once again, we made life difficult for ourselves, missing chance after chance and conceding two very soft goals.

“There will be a few changes to the team this week, though, as although we are getting good numbers at training, quite a few players are unavailable this early in the season with other commitments.

“We had a few new players last week making their first senior starts, including Llewyn Tubb and Darragh Carey, and they both played very well.

“Darragh is working this weekend, unfortunately, but Llewyn will keep his spot at right back.

“Sam Johnson will return in defence against Launceston United, which will free up Cian Carey to move into midfield, which is where I'd prefer to have him because he gives us a lot of drive there.

“We've also recalled Hangover Hill's cult favourite and perennial leading reserves goalscorer, Alex Edwards.

“He will be among the substitutes, but is always dangerous when you need a goal.”

South Hobart will have been in action on Saturday against New Town Eagles in the southern Summer Cup competition and coach Ken Morton is likely to field a different looking side against Launceston City.

South Hobart should still be too strong for a City side that is in a rebuilding phase.