South and Knights keen to keep their noses in front of the pack

Photos (Top to Bottom): South Hobart coach, Ken Morton, wants revenge against Clarence; Jayden Welch (left) should start this week for Zebras; Wook Bum Heo (nearest camera) may start on bench for South Hobart after obtaining clearance [PlessPix]

Forestry Tasmania Southern Premier League leaders South Hobart and second-placed Glenorchy Knights will be very keen to stay ahead of the chasing pack and, to do so, they will have to beat third-last Clarence United and bottom-side Olympia Warriors, respectively, away from home on Saturday.

South Hobart travel to Wentworth Park for a 6.30pm kick-off, while Olympia entertain Knights at South Hobart at 2.30pm.

This means that a Knights victory earlier in the afternoon will put pressure on South Hobart to overcome Clarence in the evening.

South Hobart will make few changes to their squad, if any, although central defender Hugh Ludford may start. He was a substitute last weekend.

“It’ll be pretty much the same team as last week,” said South Hobart coach, Ken Morton.

“Having won 5-1, I don’t anticipate making too many changes.

“Wook Bum Heo is cleared and will be on the bench, as will David Abbott.

“Wook Bum Heo has looked quite sharp at training. He’s only back from injury, though, so we might sit him on the bench and play him in the reserves for half a game.”

South Hobart drew 0-0 with Division One side Beachside in a mid-week practice match.

“Beachside were hungry,” said Morton. “They were at it.”

Morton said mid-week games against Beachside may become a regular exercise each month.

“As for Saturday’s game, Clarence whooped us fair and square in the final last season and we’ve got to be up for this game.”

Glenorchy Knights will make no changes from the team that beat Tilford Zebras 4-0 last weekend when they take on Olympia Warriors.

“Corey Smith will have to come back through the reserves,” said Knights coach, Eamonn Kelly.

“Whether he’ll play in the reserves on Saturday will depend on how he pulled up after Wednesday’s game against the TIS. He certainly won’t be in the starting line-up.

“I’m loath to make any changes to the side we had last week.

“We won’t be taking Olympia lightly. They’re a good squad just waiting to happen and waiting to click.

“Let’s hope we’re not the team they click against. They’ve been a bogey team for us in the past, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens on Saturday.

“Everyone has been training this week and it’s a nice position to be in not having to scratch for players. They’re queuing up.”

Olympia will make no changes to the side that went down 2-1 to Kingborough Lions United last weekend.

“We’ll have the same squad as last week,” said Olympia coach, Chris Hey. “I’m trying to get some normality in the squad instead of people coming in and out all the time.

“Knights are a very good side. They’ve got a number of multiple goalscorers through their midfield and front line and they’ve got plenty of speed.

“It’s something we need to be aware of and, at the other end, we’ve got to take shots earlier.

“We’ve been working on our passing game this week. It cost us last week.

“I suppose if we can take a step forward from where we were last week, it’ll be good. We actually played some good football last week, but we let ourselves down in the second half.

“We need to take it a step further this week and we’ll see what happens.

“We’ve got two more games in the round and it’d be nice to pick up a couple of points between now and the end of the first round to keep a few people happy and put a smile on some people’s faces.”

Third-placed Tilford Zebras must win against fifth-placed New Town Eagles away at Clare Street on Sunday at 2.30pm to stay in touch with the leading pair.

Zebras will call up Ben Crosswell and Jayden Welch from last weekend’s reserve side, although both did come on as substitutes in the senior side.

David Cox injured an ankle at training during the week and may be doubtful, while Daniel Lapolla is still injured.

“After last week’s defeat, we haven’t dwelt on the negatives and have tried to look at the positives during the week,” said Zebras coach, Romeo Frediani.

“I think another loss, or dropping too many more points, is going to stretch out the top two.

“If we’re not within six points of the top, then it’s going to be tough to come back.”

New Town Eagles will field the same line-up that drew 0-0 with Clarence United last weekend.

“They won’t have the same side that played the Knights,” said Eagles coach, George Krambousanos.

“I think Romeo will have been working on them because he would have been a very disappointed man last week. I’m expecting a different side to the one that played the Knights.

“I think we can win and it’s going to be a really good game.

“We had a lot of preparation during the week and a lot of ball work and a lot of shots, as well as attack versus defence.”

The remaining match of the round pits second-last Taroona against fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United at Kelvedon Park at 2.30pm on Sunday.

“Our performances have dropped off in the last couple of weeks so there will probably be a couple of changes to the starting line-up to try and spark us up again, but I won’t finalise the team until I see how the boys train,” said Taroona coach, Ben Horgan.

“We’ve got no injury worries and everyone is available, so there are no excuses.

“We need to be switched on and more solid defensively than we’ve been in the last two games.

“Jordan Wright did quite well for us in midfield after coming on as an early substitute against South Hobart, and Lucas Wyatt is available this week and gives us another option in midfield or defence.

“Hamish Macgregor also added some spark in attack and he’s started to find some good form in the reserves, so he’s another in the running for a start.”

Kingborough will also have to watch the experienced Hugo Luttmer, who can create and score goals, while Garry Hamilton netted a fine goal against South Hobart from Luttmer’s pass and will be a threat.

Kingborough coach, Geoff Freeman, is aware of the task his team faces.

“I anticipate a tough game this weekend against Taroona in the Kingborough derby,” said Freeman.

“Brett Andrews is suspended but Ross Hinkley comes back into the squad.

“Isaac Lucas will, hopefully, also be added if he can get through our final training session after he suffered cracked ribs against Zebras.”