Saturday, June 29, 2019

Visit to Valley Road today a must-win game for South Hobart


Third-placed South Hobart must beat NPL leaders Devonport City away at Valley Road today if they are to stay in the 2019 title race.

South are 8 points adrift of Devonport but have a game in hand so they can close the gap to 5 points with a game still in hand, which would be the ideal situation for the southerners.

A defeat, however, could effectively spell the end of South Hobart’s title aspirations.

South will be without Canadian import Iskander Van Doorne, who has gobe to play in Germany.

He has been in excellent form recently and his performance in the 2-0 Lakoseljac Cup win over Devonport was a key factor in the victory.

Devonport will be pleased that Van Doorne won’t be playing.

Darcy Hall is back for South Hobart but whether he is really match fit is open to question.

Home ground advantage may just favour Devonport, although this may not be a genuine factor in NPL games as Devonport beat South Hobart at South Hobart Oval, which makes a nonsense of this.

Devonport are probably more used to playing away from home at the moment, anyway, as they have been in Hobart week after week in recent months.

A draw would be satisfactory for the home side, but not really for the visitors.

This game is being labelled the McGrath Foundation Pink Game and funds raised will go to breast cancer awareness.

Devonport will wear a pink strip and Valley Road will be a sea of pink ribbons and banners.

The loser today will probably be a little blue, though.

The game kicks off at Valley Road at 2.15pm.

Glenorchy Knights host Kingborough Lions United at 4.30pm at KGV Park in a game that is very important to both sides.

Knights lead the Lions by just a point and fifth spot is at stake here.

Incidentally, the Knights’ social side was in action against Brighton Storm last night at Prince of Wales Bay in the first official competitive senior game at the venue.

In other games this weekend, Launceston City host Olympia Warriors at Buckby Land Rover Park in Launceston at 4.30pm, while tomorrow [Sunday], Hobart Zebras entertain Riverside Olympic at KGV park at 2.15pm.

Olympia cannot underestimate the importance of a win over Launceston City.

They will need to be at their best as Buckby Land Rover Park can be a banana skin for visiting sides.

NPL Tasmania (As at 23 June 2019)

TEAM
P
W
D
L
F
A
Pts
Devonport City
14
12
1
1
54
11
37
Olympia Warriors
14
10
2
2
47
14
32
South Hobart
13
9
2
2
50
16
29
Hobart Zebras
14
6
5
3
46
29
23
Glenorchy Knights
14
5
2
7
36
29
17
Kingborough Lions
14
5
1
8
23
32
16
Launceston City
13
4
3
6
22
23
15
Riverside Olympic
13
2
0
11
11
43
6
Clarence United
15
1
0
14
4
105
3

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Go Port