After Round 1 of the 2022 NPL Tasmania season, I predicted that only Devonport Strikers, Glenorchy Knights and South Hobart could win this season’s title.
I’m brave enough now to whittle that down to one team: Devonport Strikers.
The Strikers are 7 points clear of second-placed South Hobart and 8 points ahead of third-ranked Glenorchy Knights and fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United with virtually half the season gone.
Knights, South Hobart and the Lions probably hold faint hopes of being able to catch the Strikers, but I don’t think so, especially after the Strikers’ 10-1 thrashing of second-last Olympia Warriors on Saturday.
That was a comprehensive win and a sign that the North-West Coast outfit are serious and won’t ease up even against the lower sides.
Roberto Fernandez Garrido led the charge with another hat-trick in the first half, while Ali Dulleh and Joel Stone both scored braces.
Henry Andrews had started the ball rolling with a goal after just 4 minutes, while Brody Denehey and Baxter Tu completed the rout with the last two goals in the 61st and 77th minutes, respectively.
Adan Pickup netted Olympia’s consolation goal in the 40th minute, but the horse had bolted and the visitors trailed 6-1 at the interval.
South Hobart leapfrogged Glenorchy Knights into second place with a 3-0 win over the Knights at South Hobart Oval.
Sam Berezansky put South Hobart in front 5 minutes before the break through a fortunate deflection from close range after a low cross from the right.
Nick Morton made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute when he feigned a shot and tricked keeper Reef Murfett to commit himself before then rolling the ball into an empty net.
Berezansky added his second and South Hobart’s third in the 73rd minute.
Knights were without Tyler Harrison, while they lost Cade Smith after half an hour when he was injured after somersaulting over the keeper following a block by Jake Hayers.
Smith needed attention on the pitch before being stretchered off with his neck in a brace.
Knights had few ideas in attack and their long clearances seemed to be directed straight to the South Hobart defenders.
They are clinging to third place only on goal-difference as they are level on points with fourth-ranked Kingborough Lions United, who downed sixth-placed Clarence Zebras 4-0 away at Wentworth Park.
Adam McKeown hit the first in the 19th minute and made it 2-0 on the hour before two late strikes by Noah Mies completed the win against a disappointing home side.
On Friday night, fifth-placed Launceston City beat bottom-side Riverside Olympic 5-2 away at Windsor Park in the Launceston derby to stay with reach of the Lions, Knights and South Hobart.
Stefan Tantari and Jaden Fidra both scored braces, while Albert Amankwaa scored City’s opener.
Riverside managed to get to 2-2 early in the second half before falling by the wayside.
NPL Tasmania
South Hobart 3-0 Glenorchy Knights
Clarence Zebras 0-4 Kingborough Lions United
Devonport Strikers 10-1 Olympia Warriors
Riverside Olympic 2-5 Launceston City [Friday]
NPL Tasmania Standings (As at 18 June 2022)
|
TEAM |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
Devonport Strikers |
10 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
38 |
4 |
27 |
|
South Hobart |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
34 |
6 |
20 |
|
Glenorchy Knights |
10 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
24 |
9 |
19 |
|
Kingborough Lions |
10 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
30 |
19 |
19 |
|
Launceston City |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
20 |
20 |
16 |
|
Clarence Zebras |
10 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
23 |
8 |
|
Olympia Warriors |
10 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
9 |
44 |
3 |
|
Riverside Olympic |
10 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
4 |
44 |
1 |
Photo: South Hobart's Nick Morton shoots as Knights' Jordan Muller attempts to block. [PlessPix]
34 comments:
That league table isn't a great advert for the NPL.
Might be best to have regional comps
Anon 1.46.
Don't think FA will accept that and neither should they.
No matter the league you will always have swings and rounabouts in relation to clubs fortunes, and there will always be some that race away at the top and equally some that will begin to languish near or at the bottom in any given season. Southern and Northern competitions will not allay this scenario it will just occur in them, could you imagine Devonport just playing against northern sides, it would be double figures week in week out.
There is no doubt that Devonport well and truely deserve their position at the top of the table this year. I’d like to see any team go up against them without their main centre backs (both out with Covid on the same week) and not get a hiding. Well done to the young Warriors that stepped up to such a big challenge.
South have a game in hand Walter, does that change your view if they were only 4 points behind Devonport at this time in the season?
As if FA care about Tasmanian soccer.
Anon 8.39 . Maybe not but they have set standards in respect to competition structures and unless the states adhere to those , then their participation in national identification competitions etc may be at risk.
Warriors poor excuse everyone has players out the best way to fix a problem is admitted you have one and the club does !
Can anyone tell me how young Cade is? I hope he's okay.
anon 10.58am.
Check your grammar mate. No punctuation at all. How can we take you seriously?
Anon 9.14am - Surely that doesn't mean we maintain a ridiculously lopsided competition. The NPL doesn't work in it's current format. More teams are required or at least promotion / relegation system. The FA system is suited to states with millions of people which create clubs and greater participation rates. We simply don't have the numbers.
But let's keep hitting our heads against a brick wall anyway...
Anonymous, June 21, 6.52pm: I stick by my prediction. South do have a game in hand, but it's not an easy one as it's against Launceston City. Devonport have beaten South Hobart twice this season and I think that shows they are the better team and should win the league. Cheers!
Replying to comment 10.58 am. Poor excuse for the warriors? I’d like to see other clubs play their 17 and 18 year old centre backs against the best team in the league and see how they go, I’m certain the score line would be similar, how about acknowledging the fact that they stepped up and took on the challenge instead of complaining like other clubs would…
Spot on , not the numbers players are playing for next tier down so they can have a life and not travel.Probably even worse in the women's game ,women have left for AFL and more girls are going.
Have even seen commitee people at clubs making fun of players playing in lower divs ,instead of asking why have they left my club what could we all do Better this guy could walk into my seniors tomorrow.
Funny that the two clubs making excuses here were the big money teams until recently. Nobody else complains they just get on with it.
Reply to June 21, 2022 at 5:36 PM
Wait.. Are you referring to Olympia? 10-1 is a hiding, no?
Anon 7.08 AM.
And there is the problem. Players who cant be bothered take the easy way out.
And your comment regarding the women's situation is spot on also.
Men and women who are serious tend to go to club that is committed and seek to be successful and others take the easy way out and leave. Thats why its the same 2 or three teams at the top of the leagues consistently. Maybe not the women's league but definitely the NPL.
That is why the WSL is at risk next year . And we go an about the number of women playing and the game growing, blah blah blah . And we expect to get a World Cup Squad based in Tassie
at Kingborough ???????? A ground that is not usable as soon as a drop of water wets the grass.
We need to wake up to ourselves and take off our rose coloured glasses and look at the reality. That begins with those in charge of running the game . Then again they know very little about the actual facts and depend and act on what they are told by those in club land.
He’s saying that if any other club were in the same situation they would also get a hiding
Question for everyone. Do we think football clubs here that invest the $$ into the men's NPL sides would do the same for the women?
I for one don't think that's the case and it could be a reason why players don't return, due to the coaching The NPL have some very good qualified coaches do the WSL? I don't subscribe to the theory that there a loads of championship players of NPL quality if that were the case we would see more champ sides do well in the cup more often. Last year's southern champs lost to Olympia.
Mate, last year's champs were winning 3-1 and were making Olympia look silly until the red card occurred. 10 men can change the dynamic dramatically, like it did on this very day.
I promise you Newtown, hobart United, university or even south's champ team were to play olympia, the results would not favour Olympia. They along with Riverside are in some serious strife .
So spare us all.
But they didn't do they. They got beat because they couldn't live with some average kids because they're average players now
Just a thought, did anybody actually take any notice of the Devonport team last Saturday.
If so you would have noticed some missing faces.
So with your theory, the NPL team conceded 3 goals in a half of football from average players, in an average team?
Albeit a win nevertheless, I see red flags.
Anon 6.30 pm.
Please spare us all as you say.
You were beaten by an average NPL team after leading by
2 goals . They scored 4 goals in 20 minutes and tab all over you.
If you were that good even with 10 men you should have been good enough to
hold out a team for 20 minutes. But you weren’t .
Just accept that you are not as good as you think and move on.
Champ tans may do well against NPL sides in one off games
but would struggle if they did it over an entire season.
Stop kidding yourself.
Mate if you watched the game you would have seen that Eagles just completely imploded. Before the red it was all one way traffic. That and the fact that two ex-Olympia NPL players struggle to get in to Uni's Champ side says it all
What ?
Hahahah pal who did they play. They have a stacked squad don't bring that to the table here
I always find it interesting when the FFA Cup / Australia Cup comes around and the mainland NPL teams make our NPL teams look like glorified Sunday League squads. Won't forget when the Marconi Stallions squad languishing at the bottom of the NSW NPL came over with their 2nd/3rd team and ran around South Hobart at Blundstone. Let's see what Devonport can do this year.
Who has a stacked squad ?
In 6 attempts those Sunday League squads won twice and pushed their supposedly vastly superior mainland NPL opponents to penalties on two other occasions… sit back down
How does devoport have a stacked squad ?
Olympia beat South Melbourne ( one could argue at the time the biggest club outside of the A league in Australia ) in Melbourne 2-1 to advance in the competition. Then got smashed in Perth WA.
So what.
Any Tasmanian club that wins on the mainland is a big achievement.
This will only happen once in 5 years.
The mainland teams have better players .
Better facilities and far better supporter base.
We moan and groan when clubs spend big money to win the championship.
Only Devonport has facilities to compete with the mainland because they are a one team town.
True @7.29
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