Friday, March 22, 2019

Summer Cup Final tonight, and four NPL games tomorrow make for a bust weekend


Photo:  Zebras' dam McKeown (left) and Kingborough assistant coach Ben Horgan faced the media today prior to their clash at Lightwood Park tomorrow [PlessPix]

Devonport City should stay top of the NPL Tasmania standings this weekend by beating seventh-placed Riverside Olympic away at Windsor Park at 1.30pm tomorrow.

The reigning champions are the only side to have a perfect record so far and Riverside are unlikely to pose any serious problems for the visitors.

South Hobart should stay second by comfortably accounting for bottom-side Clarence United at KGV Park tomorrow at 2.30pm.

Olympia Warriors have that annoying bye, which could see them drop for third to sixth on the standings without kicking a ball.

Photo:  Zebras striker Adam McKeown said he is about 95% fit after recovering from a serious leg injury last season [PlessPix]

Kingborough Lions United are fourth and host sixth-ranked Hobart Zebras at Lightwood Park tomorrow at 6pm.

Lightwood Park has not always been a happy hunting ground for the Zebras and they will need to produce a competent display of football to earn the 3 points.

Kingborough may have their new American import on view if his international clearance arrives on time.  In this age of the Internet and email, it should be a quick process but often is not.

Cameron Steele is a midfielder and by all accounts should add strength to Kingborough’s engine room.

Photo:  Ben Horgan, Kingborough's assistant coach, is pleased with the club's progress so far this season [PlessPix]

Zebras are one of only two teams (the other is Devonport) who have yet to lose a game and they should give a good account of themselves.

In tomorrow’s remaining match, Glenorchy Knights visit Launceston City’s Buckby Land Rover Park for a 4.30pm kick-off.

This will test the Knights’ mettle after an average start to the season featuring two wins and two losses from four outings.

Launceston City appear to be in crisis.  They lost their coach before the league season began and have lost all three of their games.

Coach Lino Sciulli has the experience to turn things around, providing he has some decent players, so this could be a danger game for the Knights, especially if they are complacent.

NPL Tasmania (As at 20 March 2019)

TEAM
P
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
Devonport City
3
3
0
0
7
1
9
South Hobart
4
2
1
1
9
5
7
Olympia Warriors
4
2
1
1
7
5
7
Kingborough Lions
3
2
0
1
11
3
6
Glenorchy Knights
4
2
0
2
11
8
6
Hobart Zebras
3
1
2
0
12
3
5
Riverside Olympic
3
1
0
2
4
8
3
Launceston City
3
0
0
3
3
9
0
Clarence United
3
0
0
3
0
22
0

*****

The Men’s Summer Cup Final between Beachside and Hobart United will be played tonight at KGV Park at 8.15pm.

It will give Hobart United’s new coach Andrew Brown a chance of earning silverware in his first few months in charge.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great chance for Borough to get a result.zebras like to keep ball at back then hit diagonal balls

Anonymous said...

Another club bringing in an import to take the position of local talent. Good on the local clubs that continue to resist the urge. Short term gain for long term team culture pain.

Anonymous said...

Walter Boro need players on other parts of the ground not the engine room. They are ordinary at the back and ordinary up forward. Surely the coaching team can see that and should seek players in these two areas whic is where they struggle and lack ideas .? If they don’t change then their perfirmance won’t imptove.. should not be too hard to better their performances in last few years. They still seem to struggle to attract players that will strengthen the squad not just in numbers.

Anonymous said...

Time will tell ???

Anonymous said...

Yes time will tell as it has done over the last ten years or more.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the wonderful preview of the summer cup final Walter
The game is about more then just the npl
The crowd and atmosphere showed that
The championship is a strong second tier and it would be nice to get a little bit of media coverage for the interest the championship holds