Photo: Glenorchy Knights coach James Sherman will be at the helm again this evening. [PlessPix]
Glenorchy Knights, currently in second place
on the NPL Tasmania standings with two rounds to go, may face a weakened Clarence
Zebras at KGV Park at 8.15 tonight.
Although Clarence Zebras have not
commented officially, reliable sources within the club and outside have
informed me there was a serious altercation between two players at training
during the week and the two may have been expelled.
We will have to see the Clarence Zebras
line-up tonight to ascertain the veracity of the rumours sweeping the local
football scene.
Clarence Zebras are currently fifth and
cannot climb higher, but they can drop a place and be overtaken by sister
Italian-backed club Launceston City.
Knights coach, James Sherman, was reticent
about the situation at their opponents’ camp.
When asked if the sort of upheaval that is
rumoured could help his side, he replied:
“It may,” he said. “It may not.
“I don’t know too much about it and it’s not
something I can control.
“We’ll just focus on ourselves.”
Knights lost 2-0 away to Kingborough last
Friday night in Sherman’s absence. He
was attending a high-level coaching course in Melbourne.
He agreed his absence may have played a role
in the Knights defeat, but he was uncertain as to how much a role it would have
played.
“We had a handful of key players
unavailable, and myself not being there as well, lots of things can culminate
in, more so the performance rather than the outcome, I think,” Sherman said.
“We want to get a trophy and we want to
play well and finish as high as we possibly can.”
Sherman said Clarence Zebras had been like
Knights in that they have had key players unavailable for parts of the season.
“We’ve gone a third or half a season without
key players, and they have, too,” Sherman said.
“It’s a difficult job keeping a side
performing each week and I’m sure they’re doing their best, but I think they’re
struggling a bit.”
Photo: James Sherman at this morning's media conference. [PlessPix] Sherman said he was looking to finish
second so that Knights could have a home semi-final in the finals series.
Sherman confirmed that striker Kyle Vincent
had left the club because he felt he was not getting enough game time.
He said he didn’t consider it a major loss
and felt Vincent’s expectations were too high after coming back from serious
back surgery.
It takes a lot of rehabilitation after
major surgery to come back to peak
performance, Sherman felt, and he considered the player needed more time to
reach top fitness.
Photo: Kyle Vincent (right) battles with Clarence Zebras' Ryely Wishart. [PlessPix] “I thought his expectation of where he was
going to be at [after pre-season rehabilitation] were probably too high because
you just don’t know how you’re going to respond to something that serious,”
Sherman said.
“He’d done ever so well to get himself
back into a position where he was able to be on the pitch again, but it’s a
case of being patient and making sure you're really settled back into your rehab,
and he had started to all those things.
“It’s a process to come back from a major operation
and I don’t think he really settled into what that might look like for the first
12 months and frustration got the better of him and he decided to pull the pin.”
Champions Devonport Strikers travel to
Kingston tomorrow to take on fourth-ranked Kingborough Lions United at Clennett’s
Lightwood Park at 2.30pm.
There is nothing at stake in terms of
ladder standings, but the Lions will be keen to get a seventh win on the trot,
while Devonport will be keen to show why they are the league champions.
They lost the 2021 title to Glenorchy Knights
by losing to Kingborough at Lightwood Park on the final day of the season, so although
the consequences of a loss tomorrow would not be nearly as severe, it may serve
as a warning to them that the home side could be dangerous.
Second-last Riverside Olympic, who beat
Launceston City 1-0 in mid-week, host South Hobart at Windsor Park at 2.30pm
tomorrow.
The visitors are striving for second place
and will know what is required tonight after the Knights’ game against Clarence
Zebras.
If Knights lose, South will know that a
win against Riverside will put them second with a game to play.
Bottom-side Launceston United host
Launceston City at Birch Avenue at 6pm tomorrow,
City are in a slump, while United, the
wooden-spooners, earned their first point of the season last weekend when they
drew 1-1 with Riverside with a goal deep into stoppage time.
That will have shown them there is a
chance of winning and City will have to take things seriously if they are to
avoid embarrassment.
NPL Tasmania (As at 30August 2023)
|
TEAM
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Pts
|
|
Devonport
Strikers
|
19
|
17
|
1
|
1
|
63
|
13
|
52
|
|
Glenorchy
Knights
|
19
|
12
|
1
|
6
|
44
|
18
|
37
|
|
South
Hobart
|
19
|
11
|
3
|
5
|
53
|
28
|
36
|
|
Kingborough
Lions
|
19
|
11
|
0
|
8
|
58
|
33
|
33
|
|
Clarence
Zebras
|
19
|
8
|
2
|
9
|
47
|
47
|
26
|
|
Launceston
City
|
19
|
8
|
1
|
10
|
23
|
30
|
25
|
|
Riverside
Olympic
|
19
|
4
|
1
|
14
|
18
|
68
|
13
|
|
Launceston
United
|
19
|
0
|
1
|
18
|
12
|
81
|
0
|
*****
In the Women’s Super League tonight,
Kingborough Lions United host Clarence Zebras at Lightwood Park at 8.15pm.
Kingborough coach Simon Edwards said he
was looking forward to the last couple of games as his side could move up a
place and want to finish the season on a high.
Kingborough are a disappointing second-last
at the moment.
Photo: Kingborough coach Simon Edwards fronted the media today. A player had been expected, but illness within the camp precluded that. [PlessPix] “We’ve had quite a few ins and outs and
unexpected injuries, but the girls have rallied around,” Edwards said.
“It has been a bit inconsistent in terms
of our starting eleven each week as a result and we’ll just look to unify.
“The girls have delivered some good halves
of football but we haven’t put a whole game together in the last three or four
outings so tonight we’ll be having to.
“In terms of our attacking game, I think we
can take it up to Clarence Zebras and our defence is starting to show some good
signs as well.”
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