Glenorchy Knights take on Olympia Warriors at 1pm and Hobart Zebras tackle South Hobart at 3.15pm at North Hobart Oval today in the ANZAC Day NPL Tasmania double-header.
Olympia
beat Knights 1-0 last Friday in the Lakoseljac Cup and will hope to do even
better today.
Photo: Glenorchy Knights captain Tyler Harrison (right) being interviewed by WIN TV's Brent Costelloe yesterday [PlessPix]
“It’s
our first time here as a club and it’s a beautiful surface with a bit more room
to play and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Glenorchy Knights skipper
and centre-back, Tyler Harrison.
“It’s
a big game, but we approach every game the same but wer know we need to win
this one.
“We’ve
lost the last two times we’ve played them this year, but we’ve been close,
especially last Friday night.
“We’ll
adjust a few things and definitely look to get the three points.”
Harrison
said the team needed greater consistency and had struggled to get that over the
full 90 minutes.
“On
Friday, I think we managed for the full 90 but we didn’t take our half-chances
and one mistake cost us.”
Knights
have as many as six first-choice players currently injured and their resources
are stretched.
New
North American signing Diego Gutierrez Chavez did well against Olympia last
Friday and Knights will be looking for an inspiratuonalk performance from him
on grass today.
Olympia,
who are second in the NPL standings, sent no-one to yesterday’s media
conference at North Hobart.
They will be without suspended playmaker Jordan Scott and will miss his influence.
He is, in fact, so important to the team that his absence could swings things in favour of the Knights.
Photo: South Hobart's assistant coach Daniel Brown (left) faces the microphone yesterday [plessPix]
He is, in fact, so important to the team that his absence could swings things in favour of the Knights.
South
Hobart assistant coach, Daniel Brown, said his side would prepare for this game
in their usual way and the significance of the occasion, although not lost on
the players, would not interfere with the normal pre-match routines.
“[North
Hobart Oval] is a wonderful facility and it’s a great surface,” Brown said.
“It’s
a historic day, of course, but it won’t affect our preparations.
“The
league situation is tight and any game from now on is important.
“Things
are really tight at the top so it’s a massive game for both Zebras and for us.
“Their
game against Devonport on Monday was good to watch, but we cannot assume
they’ll be fatigued.
“Adrenaline
is a huge factor in a big game like this and we have to have belief in our
players, our football and our principles and we have the quality to see out the
game and get the three points.”
Photo: Hobart Zebras coach David Smith (right) is a newcomer to the ANZAC Day double-header occasion [PlessPix]
Zebras
coach David Smith said the win against Devonport on Monday had been an
important win.
“We
changed a few things, and they worked, which is always good,” Smith said.
“We
had a little bit of luck near the end but our plan worked a lot better than it
had been working.
“The
result was good for the league. There’s
no doubt about that.
“It
was better for us because it keeps us in it, but it was just the start of a
long road.
“This
will be our fifth game in 19 days. We
had Devonport on Monday, South today, and Devonport next Saturday and the
following Saturday [in the Cup] and Olympia the week after, so we’ve got to
perform each week.
“There’s
no complacency. Even if we and South are
ninth and tenth, there’s no complacency and there’s no love lost between us.
“If
we give them an inch, they’ll take a mile, and we can’t afford to give them an
inch.
“We
just have to be on top of our game and be a little more aggressive than we have
been.
“We’ve
got to pick up runners early and be more confident on the ball and retain
possession.”
Zebras
and South drew 1-1 in the first league meeting between the sides this season.
Zebras
will be without central defender Jan Charuza and midfielder Luke Huigsloot. Both players also missed Monday’s win over
Devonport.
10 comments:
Knights 2-1 Olympia
Zebras 0-3 south
Is hugi actually going to play the rest of the year as it seems like he's been missing for a while.
Olympia not sending a rep for the media conference is a poor effort. Can you imagine that happening in our rivals codes of sport at the top level?
It's little wonder they polarize supporters in Tasmania.
The Silver Fox has that look about him. Everything is falling into place for South to take the title. They'll thump Juve today.
FIRST GAME POOR
2ND GAME OLD FOX DOES IT AGAIN mind does have better players even kids
Olympia just let the result do the talking.
Yep first game poor, great goal though. Ref very poor and cost both teams. Both games surprisingly poor, defending and playing to feet seems a thing of the past. Classic kick and hope....
Beautiful pitch players should feel like they're playing at Wembley.but knights & Olympia giving ball straight to opposition Harrison & Stevens do it a lot
South two kids weren't developed at south one from South East and the other from New town. In saying that they are the two most talented kids for their age in the southern Tas and Kenny has managed to get them to south Hobart.
Zebras have only Matty Pace that's young and has serious talent but I think that was breed into Matty.
development stopped when Freddi stopped basically end of story.
Zebras are 5 years away from developing anything serious for their senior squad and until then they will buy players in.
Knights don't play with speed and sharpness with the ball as they did last year. They are very slow in moving the ball on todays performance with very little movement. I know that they have injuries but at this level the replacements should be able to do the job.
Nicky Sanders dillion good the rest POOR especially defenders
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