Zebras make it six straight, South crush City, Devonport destroy ten-man Lions and Warriors break Ranger hoodoo in the latest round of the Victory League in Tasmania.
Tilford Zebras made it six straight wins with another Engels hat trick, seeing them storm over Glenorchy Knights.
At their shared home ground, Tilford Zebras trumped Glenorchy 5-2; Ethan Engels repeated last week’s heroics, starring with a first half hat trick, and powerful forward Alex Leszczynski netted two in the second half as the Zebras continued on winning ways.
Leszczynski stole the show in the second half, bagging his brace in the 68th minute, turning three Knights defenders inside out before firing in a penetrating shot off the hands of Woodham.
Despite the result being beyond them, the Knights did not throw in the towel, scoring two goals to finish the game off with a bright note.
The first came in the 77th minute, young speedster Ben Robinson raced onto a Griffen through ball down the right and calmly slotted into the bottom right.
Ten minutes later, they added the second with Griffen testing Matthew Ferguson from range, the Zebras gloveman’s parry fell into the path of youngster Aaron Wilson, who followed up with pace and buried into the bottom right.
Devonport kept their Victory Cup dream alive, blowing away a 10-man Kingborough Lions at Valley Road.
The Strikers had a fresh face star early with Jake Gleeson, hitting a double in his first half of Victory League football, while usual suspects Callum Moore, Michael Holden and Brody Denehey all got in on the act to hammer eight past Kingborough.
It was a tight tussle early but Devonport drew first blood with a second minute goal from debutant Gleeson, scoring with his first touch, striking past Andrew Duncan at his near post.
Denehey then rounded out a hattrick in the 90th minute with an opportunistic finish after Coleman did well to push away a Holden strike.
The win sees Devonport two games from the top four and significantly strengthens their goal difference going into the third round of the Victory League season.
South Hobart had a successful last road trip for 2014, putting eight past Launceston City in an emphatic 12th Victory League victory for 2014.
South Hobart continued their explosive run, rocketing eight past bottom placed Launceston City. The cellar dwellers fought hard in the first half, going into the break three goals behind last season’s champions.
The hosts held out for 24 minutes before Andy Brennan netted the first, finishing off from a Brayden Mann header.
A second half spree saw South Hobart mark new Scottish signing Scott Lamont’s first game in style, smashing home five more to make it a landslide 12th win of the season.
Olympia FC Warriors snapped their winless streak against Victory League rivals Northern Rangers, defeating them 4-3 under lights at Warrior Park.
It was a strong response from the Warriors at home, off the back of a disappointing loss at the hands of ladder leaders, South Hobart last week.
Olympia set up the win in a first half shootout, entering the break with a two-goal advantage thanks to some fine set piece work.
It was a strong defensive display in the second half for the Warriors as they tried to slow down the game and sit on their lead. Despite controlling possession in the second half, their work was nearly undone with some late drama from an own goal in added time. Giving the northerners an outside chance of drawing level and stealing a point from their road trip.
Despite the late mishap, Olympia held on, to record their first ever Victory League win over the Northern Rangers and continue their stay in third position on the Victory League table.
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