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Launceston City will travel to Valley Road on Saturday full of confidence to take on Devonport Strikers at 4.30pm in Round 3 of the NPL Tasmania competition.
City are top of the standings, 2 points ahead of their hosts.
And, City’s coaches, Daniel Syson and Nathan Pitchford, as well as midfielder Joel Stone, are all ex-Devonport players and know the set-up at Valley Road intimately.
They will know how Devonport will be preparing for this game and they will have worked out suitable tactics -- physical and psychological - to combat the reigning champions.
It should be a close game and an exciting one and one that either side has the potential to win.
Third-ranked South Hobart should be too strong for cellar-dwellers Launceston United away at Birch Avenue at 3.45pm.
United have scored only once in three outings while conceding eight times and this does not augur well for their chances.
South have not caught the eye so far this season, but they should be too strong for the home side.
With Bradley Lakoseljac playing as a deep-lying centre-forward and building up play, Nick Morton, Sam Berezansky and Iskander Van Doorne should be able to roam widely and snap up the chances that are likely to come their way.
Lakoseljac, too, has that scoring touch and he will probably prove too hot to handle.
Firth-ranked Glenorchy Knights should have Daniel Schmidt and Jack Turner available for the trip to Windsor Park to take on second-last Riverside Olympic at 2.30pm.
“We are hoping to bounce back and play well,” said Knights coach, James Sherman.
“It’s important we look to improve every week.
“I’d like to see us play with more organisation without the ball and show more energy when pressing from midfield.”
On Sunday, fourth-placed Kingborough Lions United travel across the River Derwent to Wentworth Park in Bellerive to take on sixth-ranked Clarence Zebras at 2.30pm.
Both teams have more potential than their league position may indicate and this should be a tense and close encounter.
Clarence Zebras will hope that their central defender, import Pritchard Adjei, will have recovered from the injury which saw him play only about 50 minutes last Sunday in the 2-2 draw with South Hobart.
The Lions have lost one of their goalkeepers, James Ross, who has decided to leave and possibly return to Olympia, but he was not first-choice and they have cover.
Roan Gillam is likely to start in goal and he will be keen to avoid the sort of error that enabled South Hobart to score against him a couple of weeks ago and win 2-1.
Lions striker Noah Mies is a suitable match in terms of physique for Adjei, if the latter plays, and the sparks should fly when these two bounce off each other.
NPL Tasmania (As at 26 March 2023)
|
TEAM |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
Launceston City |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
6 |
|
Devonport Strikers |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
|
South Hobart |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
|
Kingborough Lions |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
|
Glenorchy Knights |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
Clarence Zebras |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
Riverside Olympic |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
|
Launceston United |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
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