Devonport open up 6-point lead at the top of the NPL Tasmania standings

Photo:  Knights' Nick Naden stretches for the ball after a corner [PlessPix]

Devonport City opened up a 6-point lead at the top of the NPL Tasmania standings when they beat fifth-placed Kingborough Lions United 2-1 at home at Valley Road on Saturday.

It was hard work for Devonport against a determined Kingborough outfit, but they picked up the 3 points in the end when Joel Stone scored with a free-kick 6 minutes before the final whistle.

A Max Fitzgerald penalty on the hour had given Devonport the lead, but Keenan Douce, himself a former Devonport boy, equalised for the Lions in the 78^th minute.

Riverside Olympic, second-last on the standings, beat sixth-placed Launceston City 2-1 in the Launceston derby on Saturday.

Ryan McCarragher gave Riverside an early lead, but Noah Mies soon equalised for Launceston City and the sides were level at 1-1 at the interval.

Chris Wademan netted Riverside’s winner just 7 minutes after the resumption.

Photo:  Knights' Diego Gutierrez-Chavez shoots [PlessPix]

Glenorchy Knights jumped two places to fifth on the standings with an 8-0 thrashing of bottom-side Clarence United at KGV Park.

It took until almost half-way through the first half for Knights to find the net.

In the 24^th minute, Nick Naden, a former Clarence player, scored with a shot from the right of the box and that eased the Knights’ nerves.

Alex Leszczynski added the second 5 minutes later when he fired home at the far post after Tom Young’s cross from the right.

Three minutes before the break, Young swung a ball over from the left and Leszczynski nodded it home for his second goal and Knights’ third.

A minute later, Leszczynski completed his hat-trick and sent Knights in at the break leading 4-0 when he converted Naden’s left-wing cross.

Sam James made it 5-0 in the 54^th minute with a shot inside the near post from the left after he ran on to Aaron Marney’s pass.

It was then the turn of Declan Brown to score a hat-trick in the last half-hour and complete Knights’ tally.

In the 58^th minute, Brown scored a penalty after he had been fouled by Chris Kannegiesser to make it 6-0.

Photo:  Knights' Alex Bellini escapes the clutches of Clarence's Sam Randall as Tom Young runs in support [PlessPix]

He headed home Knights’ seventh and his second from James’s left-wing cross in the 74^th minute, while in the last minute, he collected a pass from Diego Gutierrez-Chavez to slot home his third and Knights’ eighth goal.

Knights could have had more, but a combination of poor finishing by the home side and frantic defending by Clarence kept the score at 8-0.

Clarence often had luck on their side as they blocked goal-bound shots and cleared others off the line.

Clarence had very few chances.  Their best came in the first half after Knights goalkeeper Lachlan Hart was slow in clearing and the ball deflected off an attacker but ricocheted past the far right-hand post.

Photo:  Declan Brown sprints through the Clarence defence [PlessPix]

NPL Tasmania

Devonport City 2 (M Fitzgerald 60 pen, J Stone 84) beat Kingborough Lions United 1 (K Douce 78)

Riverside Olympic 2 (R McCarragher 6, C Wademan 52) beat Launceston City 1 (N Mies 14)

Glenorchy Knights 8 (N Naden 24, A Leszczynski 29, 42, 43, S James 54, D Brown 58 pen, 74, 89) beat Clarence United 0

Photo:  Declan Brown (left) tries to get past Clarence's Ryan Amani [PlessPix]

NPL Tasmania (As at 3 August 2019)

TEAM	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Devonport City	19	16	2	1	70	16	50
Olympia Warriors	19	14	2	3	59	22	44
South Hobart	18	11	3	4	58	24	36
Hobart Zebras	19	9	6	4	57	36	33
Glenorchy Knights	19	7	2	10	48	37	23
Kingborough Lions	19	7	1	11	35	41	22
Launceston City	19	6	3	10	29	36	21
Riverside Olympic	18	4	1	13	17	48	13
Clarence United	20	1	0	19	5	128	3

Photo:  Clarence's Jeremy Price tackles Knights' Mattias Toghill [PlessPix]