NPL Tasmania leaders Devonport City have had a wretched week ahead of their game against Glenorchy Knights at KGV Park at 3.15pm tomorrow [Saturday].
Last Monday, Devonport, the holders of the Milan
Lakoseljac Cup, relinquished the trophy when they lost 2-0 to South Hobart in
the cup final.
That means they are out of the FFA Cup, in which
they have performed admirably in the past few seasons.
It was also the first time in 48 outings that
Devonport failed to score.
The last time they didn’t score was on 5 August
2017, when they amazingly lost 6-0 to South Hobart at home at Valley Road.
South Hobart went on to win the NPL title by a
mile that season, with Devonport and Olympia Warriors a distant second and
third.
That was a bad year for the also-rans.
That was a bad year for the also-rans.
As Bill Shankly, the legendary Liverpool manager,
once said: “If you’re first, you’re
first. If you’re second, you’re nothing.”
Devonport coach, Rick Coghlan, was also fined $300
for his comments about the referee in the cup final, and he was given a
one-week suspension, which has been suspended because of his impeccable past
behaviour.
To add insult to injury, a Football Tasmania spokesperson
confirmed that the bus company that brought the Devonport team to Hobart for
the cup final has refused to transport the team again after the passengers
allegedly ‘trashed’ the bus on the way home.
Is that a sign of a poor loser?
Rick Coghlan is one of the best coaches in
Tasmania and such ill-discipline must sit uncomfortably with him.
He now has to put together the pieces and ensure
that Devonport’s title challenge stays on course with a win against Glenorchy
Knights tomorrow.
Devonport will be without the suspended Daniel
Syson, who was sent off in the final minute of the cup final defeat to South
Hobart.
His absence may give Miles Barnard a starting
berth as goals will be required.
It could also pave the way for Brayden Mann to
return to the fold after coming back to Devonport from Victorian club,
Dandenong City.
Knights are likely to field their best team and
will looking to get the better of a side that could be slightly demoralised
after the events of the past week.
They will have to be on their toes, however, as a
wounded Devonport could be a dangerous animal.
Photo: Zebras coach David Smith will give some youngsters their chance against Kingborough [PlessPix]
Hobart Zebras will give young goalkeeper Nathan
Reid his starting debut in tonight’s game against Kingborough Lions United at KGV
Park at 8pm.
Central defender Jan Charuza is also a starter
after six weeks out through injury.
“He’s only 90 per cent fit, but he needs game
time,” said Zebras coach, David Smith.
Jayden Hey still has a week of his suspension to serve.
“It’s going to be a bit of a danger game,” said
Smith.
“We were poor last time out and we need to respond
this week.
“We’ve made three or four changes and we’ll see
how we go.
“We’ve got a couple of players coming back and we’ll
give debuts to a couple of young players.
“A couple of kids did well in last week’s
Challenge League game against Kingborough last week, so they’re going to come
in.
“We’ve made a few changes to try and brighten
things up and we’ll shift a few things around.”
Photo: Kingborough coach Jez Kenth is looking for his second win since taking charge [PlessPix]
Kingborough’s new coach, Jez Kenth, has one win
and one loss from his two games in charge.
He said his side go into every game expecting to
win and so he was disappointed to lose to Devonport Strikers in his first game
in charge.
Kingborough won 1-0 last weekend away to Riverside
Olympic last weekend in Kenth’s second game at the helm.
“Overall, the mood has been good,” Kenth said.
“We’ve got a few niggling injuries and some
players have been out injured since day one and still aren’t back.”
Phil Kantzos is still injured and the side misses
his technical skills and speed.
Jack Turner took a knock against Riverside last
weekend and may be doubtful, while some players find Friday night games difficult
because of work commitments.
Playing Danny Cowen in defence seems to be
working, but Joel Schuth’s future may be problematic. He didn’t take kindly to being substituted
against Devonport and was seem to kick a drink bottle after coming off.
South Hobart will have been buoyed by their cup
success last Monday and should do well against bottom-side Clarence United away
at Wentworth Park at 4.30pm tomorrow [Saturday].
Darcy Hall is back for South Hobart after injury
and came on late in the cup final and he may well start against Clarence.
3 comments:
Trashed the bus? HAHAHA as someone who was on that bus, what a ridiculous statement! This north v south divide is becoming silly now, every opportunity to demonise port! Walter you really should have contacted port for a comment before writing that one-sided bias rubbish
Walter is just quoting fft. If he is wrong then what is the reason? You tell us since you were on the busa know it all.
So has the bus company refused to work with Devonport again? There must be a reason if so.
Post a Comment