Third-ranked South Hobart kept alive their very slim hopes of taking out the 2021 NPL Tasmania title with a last-ditch 2-1 win over fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United at home at South Hobart Oval on Saturday.
The win still leaves them 7 points adrift of leaders Devonport Strikers with 4 games remaining.
Even if they don’t win the title, they may have a huge say in who does as they still have to play Devonport Strikers.
South Hobart missed several excellent chances against Kingborough in the first half and the game was scoreless at the break.
The home side continued to dominate the second half, but Kingborough took a shock lead through a 79th-minute penalty, awarded for Tobias Herweynen’s foul on Adam McKeown. Kobe Kemp, a former South Hobart player, converted the spot-kick to give the visitors the lead.
Kingborough defended desperately as South Hobart searched for an equaliser in the second half and on occasions they survived by the skin of their teeth. Poor finishing by South Hobart also let the lions off the hook.
Herweynen atoned for his earlier error by heading the equaliser from Sam Berezansky's free-kick in the 84th minute.
Kasper Hallam was unlucky not to win a penalty when he appeared to be brought down by Byungatae Ahn. But, Hallam had the last laugh as he volleyed home the winner in stoppage time from Nick Morton's cross from the right.
Glenorchy Knights stayed a point behind Devonport with a 3-0 away win over bottom-side Riverside Olympic at Windsor Park.
Knights went ahead after an own-goal by Riverside, while strikes by Connor Schmidt and Nick Mearns completed Knights’ tally.
Devonport were never troubled in downing the visiting Clarence Zebras 7-0 at Valley Road.
Dominic Smith and Brody Denehey each grabbed a brace, while Jordan Lamb, Nick Lanau-Atkinson and Chidimna Esomeju all scored a goal apiece.
Launceston City stayed fifth but edged to within 2 points of fourth-placed Kingborough with a 3-2 away win over second-last Olympia Warriors at Warrior Park.
Gediminas Krusa put City ahead with a powerful shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and crossed the line, while Yasin Mohammadi made it 2-0 with a neat finish.
Ashton Pacey-Mayne pulled a goal back for the home-side before the interval ut Stefan Tantari restored City’s two-goal buffer with a drive from 25 metres.
Faisal Baddiley netted for Olympia in the second half with a shot from an impossible angle on the right to make it 3-2, but City hung on for the three points.
NPL Tasmania
South Hobart 2 (T Herweynen 84, K Hallam 90+1) beat Kingborough Lions United 1 (K Kemp 79 pen)
Devonport Strikers 7-0 Clarence Zebras
Olympia Warriors 2 (A Pacey-Mayne 32, F Baddiley 76) lost to Launceston City 3 (G Krusa 12, Y Mohammadi 24, S Tantari 34)
Riverside Olympic 0-3 Glenorchy Knights
NPL
Tasmania standings (As at 14 August 2021)
|
TEAM |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
Devonport City |
17 |
13 |
2 |
2 |
48 |
11 |
41 |
|
Glenorchy Knights |
17 |
12 |
4 |
1 |
50 |
17 |
40 |
|
South Hobart |
17 |
10 |
4 |
3 |
41 |
20 |
34 |
|
Kingborough Lions |
17 |
7 |
4 |
6 |
30 |
33 |
24 |
|
Launceston City |
17 |
7 |
1 |
9 |
24 |
36 |
22 |
|
Clarence Zebras |
17 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
27 |
46 |
15 |
|
Olympia Warriors |
17 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
26 |
42 |
14 |
|
Riverside Olympic |
17 |
0 |
3 |
14 |
21 |
63 |
3 |
4 comments:
Devonport 7 -0 ???????
Yep strong wind ..
That Kingborough keeper has saved that team on numerous occasions.
He has either saved the score from being a cricket score and/or kept them in games which resulted in wins or narrow loss.
Borough's other young keeper left and went to Olympia this year.
Two good up and coming keepers from the one club is unusual.
I suppose with that club's performances in last 7-8 years , their keepers would receive alot more practice than keepers at other clubs, hence the improvement .
Interesting comments previously about whether players of the past were better than the current crop. It's a debate that will always go on but the more interesting comment is the commitment of players today.
I coached seniors for a while and increasingly found that, although the players were committed while at training or games, going on a camping trip with the girlfriend or a surfing sabattical would take precedence for a lot of players.
With a different team each week and a differing group at training, it was hard to gain a consistent level of performance, team or player.
Obviously team numbers can change due to work or injury and you handle that but it's hard to cop when a player chooses to be away.
Money is now being used to lure players into a proper commitment for the entire year, not only to come to another club.
It's no coincidence that the team that has been together for a long while now leads the league. Devonport doesn't seem to change too much and all players are invested and are there because they want to be, not because of a pay packet.
Buy in to a good process by all can guarantee consistent performance.
In all fairness, football is not the only sport that is afflicted by apathy in relation to commitment.
I played in the 80's and 90's and would religiously train each week and play when selected. Everyone committed to doing this for the season and no one would arrange a holiday mid season. When off season came, we had a holiday and it was better weather probably.
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