Photo: Knights goalkeeper Alex Woodham about to be crunched by Devonport's Henry Andrews. [PlessPix]
Devonport Strikers,
the runaway NPL Tasmania leaders, gambled on Saturday and won.
With one eye on
Wednesday’s huge Australia Cup tie against A-League side Wellington Phoenix,
Devonport coach Tom Ballantyne decided to rest key players.
They had leading striker
Roberto Fernandez Garrido and ace attacker Brody Denehey on the bench for the
NPL Tasmania game against second-placed Glenorchy Knights and still won 1-0.
Aaron Kidmas, Dominic
Smith and Connor Parke, all regulars in the senior team, also started on the
substitutes’ bench.
Photo: Devonport captain Kieran Mulraney (yellow short) and Knights skipper Eli Luttmer contest the toss before the game. Knights wore black armbands in memory of former star striker Lincoln Conquest, who passed away that week in Queensland aged just 45. Several long-time Knights supporters in the crowd were shocked that a minute's silence in memory of Conquest was not observed. The referees at all games this weekend should also have observed a minute's silence in memory of Danny D'Abate and John Reece, two leading referees from the 1970s and 80s. It's sad to see the lack of knowledge about past contributors to the game in Tasmania. 'Respect' is a word bandied about a lot these days and is demanded by almost everyone. What happened to respect for these three servants of the game? [PlessPix] The win came in the
70th minute from Nick Lanau-Atkinson, who curled a low free-kick
with his left foot around the outside of the Knights defensive wall from the
edge of the box on the left and inside the left-hand post.
Knights goalkeeper
Alex Woodham, preferred yet again to Reef Murfet, yelled at his defenders to
adjust the wall as Lanau-Atkinson shaped up to take the free, but it was to no
avail as the ball flew into the net.
Photo: Knights' Jack Bowman tackles Devonport's Fahim Moradi. [PlessPix] Knights were unlucky
not to get a point. In stoppage time at
the end of the game, a free-kick by Hugh Undy struck the inside of the
left-hand post and the ball rebounded across the face of goal and was cleared.
The win put Devonport
12 points ahead of Knights, who dropped a place to third.
Kingborough Lions
United moved up to second, 11 points adrift of Devonport, by winning 1-0
against bottom-side Riverside Olympia away at Windsor Park.
The winner came in
the 59th minute through Alfred Hess, who took advantage of a poor
headed clearance to volley home. The
goal came after a period of sustained Kingborough pressure.
Riverside had their
chances, especially one that fell to Thomas Milner.
Photo: Anthony Mamic wins a penalty for Olympia. [PlessPix] Clarence Zebras
easily accounted for Olympia Warriors at Wentworth Park 5-0.
The home side had a
spring to their step. It’s not often
they face such easy opponents.
The Olympia defence
was woeful and Clarence Zebras took full advantage.
Sam Tooze opened the
scoring in the 13th minute when he received a cross-field pass from
Riley Dillon and outfoxed the goalkeeper before stroking the ball home.
Dillon made it 2-0 on
the half-hour when he gained possession beyond the far right-hand post and the
goalkeeper could not hold his powerful shot from an impossible angle before it
just crossed the line.
Dillon and Tooze were
terrorising the Warriors defence with their speed and positioning.
Photo: Olympia's Alex Holmes challenges Clarence Zebras goalkeeper Darby Randall to a cross. [PlessPix] Both sides earned
penalties before the break, but Olympia’s Jake Vandermey slammed his spot-kick
against the bar, while at he other end, goalkeeper Mitch Stalker beat out
Dillon’s penalty.
In the 57th
minute, Tooze made it 3-0 from Dillon’s cutback, while in the 70th
minute, a through-ball by Josh Mathie released Matt Pave through the middle and
he scored easily as the defenders vanished into thin air.
At the very end of
the game, substitute Lachie Burt was untroubled in firing home from inside the
box, again with no defenders in close proximity.
In the remaining
game, South Hobart downed Launceston City 201 away at Buckby Motors Park in
Launceston to keep the northerners at bay on the standings.
The sides meet again
at South Hobart Oval next Saturday in a postponed game from earlier in the
season. It will be the only NPL game
scheduled that weekend.
Photo: Knights keeper Alex Woodham punches clear. [PlessPix] NPL Tasmania
Glenorchy Knights 0-1
Devonport Strikers (N Lanau-Atkinson 71)
Riverside Olympic 0-1
Kingborough Lions United (A Hess 59)
Clarence Zebras 5 (R
Dillon 13, S Tooze 30, 57, M Pace 70, L Burt 90) beat Olympia Warriors 0
Launceston City 1-2
South Hobart
Photo: Olympia's Simon Vivarelli is unable to stop Clarence Zebras captain Ryan Cook from putting his team into attack. [PlessPix] Men’s Southern Championship NPL Tasmania
Standings (As at 30 July
2022)
|
TEAM
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Pts
|
|
Devonport
Strikers
|
16
|
14
|
1
|
1
|
53
|
10
|
43
|
|
Kingborough
Lions
|
16
|
10
|
2
|
4
|
42
|
26
|
32
|
|
Glenorchy
Knights
|
16
|
10
|
1
|
5
|
35
|
15
|
31
|
|
South
Hobart
|
15
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
42
|
12
|
30
|
|
Launceston
City
|
15
|
8
|
1
|
6
|
29
|
27
|
25
|
|
Clarence
Zebras
|
16
|
4
|
2
|
10
|
28
|
37
|
14
|
|
Olympia
Warriors
|
16
|
2
|
0
|
14
|
17
|
58
|
6
|
|
Riverside
Olympic
|
16
|
0
|
2
|
14
|
7
|
69
|
2
|
Photo: Devonport's Joel Stone about to cause trouble for the Knights' defence. [PlessPix]
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