Welcome to the Weekend Wash-Up for Round 13 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. It was a closely fought weekend with all four games in the balance for the majority of the 90 minutes, giving us one of the more tightly contested weekends of the season to date.
Fernandez Garrido Pulls Strikers Out of the Fire
Roberto Fernandez Garrido struck in sublime style in the 79th minute to rescue the Devonport Strikers and secure a 1-0 road victory over the Kingborough Lions at Lightwood Park. It appeared the Strikers may drop points in consecutive weeks before the late intervention of their brilliant Spaniard, whose classy goal secured a crucial victory that leaves them 4 points clear on top.
The first meaningful action was when Nick Lanau-Atkinson came close to opening the scoring with his wickedly curling free kick cannoning into the crossbar in the 12th minute.
It was the Lions who enjoyed the bulk of the first-half chances, however, with the far end proving the easier end to attack with the wind blowing in that direction.
A Noah Mies drive was denied by a diving Keegan Smith before he fired another effort just past the post shortly after. Declan Taylor curled a shot wide from a good chance, before the crossbar denied a Fred Hess effort, with Taylor just unable to direct the rebound home.
Conditions worsened in the second half as the high winds were now joined by heavy rain.
On the hour mark, a flurry of chances arrived for Devonport as Bennett had a good-headed chance but nodded over the bar before Fernandez Garrido drew a smart save from Azizi a minute later. The returning Kieran Mulraney couldn’t steer a chance from close range on target and the game entered the final 15 minutes still locked at 0-0.
Then the Spaniard struck! In the 78th minute, Toby Barton chipped a lovely ball over the top into the box where Garrido brought it down with the silkiest of touches with his right foot before in the next stride, dinking it over the keeper’s head with his left and into the back of the net. It was the type of goal very few players in the league are capable of, and why goal scorers like he are in such high demand.
The Lions pushed late for a leveller, but a pair of Downes free kicks couldn’t find the back of the net, whilst a last-gasp chance for Mies was fired straight at the keeper.
It saw the game ending at 1-0 to the Strikers, as they maintained their gap of 4 points heading into next weekend’s huge clash with the Knights.
South Hold Off Fast Finishing Riverside
South Hobart survived a late flurry of chances to hold on and defeat Riverside Olympic 2-1 in a truly wild game at Darcy Street. Riverside came within inches of a late leveller in an utterly breathless finish to the match before falling to defeat.
The final 20 minutes of the game were in stark contrast to the first 70 which were utterly dominated by South Hobart, who seemed in total command right up till the point Riverside pulled a goal back. They probably should have led by more than 2 and would have if not for some good saves from Dan Nash.
South took the lead in the 28th minute via Jaden Fidra after Lachie Semmler’s header had rebounded back off the crossbar and Campbell’s despairing headed effort from the ground to prevent a Morton tap in fell into Fidra’s path to sweep home.
South doubled their advantage from a corner shortly after the restart when Cook’s misdirected clearance fell perfectly for Jacob Lancaster to tap in a simple goal.
Riverside ensured a nervy finish though as they cut the lead back to 2-1 in the 70th minute from the penalty spot. Berezansky left a leg dangling in the box and Kidmas took full advantage, throwing himself to the deck and winning the decision. Up stepped Andre Chamusca to stylishly convert from the spot and it was 2-1 with 20 minutes to play.
A nervy finish it proved with Riverside coming within inches of levelling it up. A minute after the goal Krusa nearly levelled it when he drew a brilliant full-extension save from O’Connell.
But O’Connell nearly turned from hero to villain when he got himself in an awful mess, trying to allow the ball to run out of play outside his area, allowing Chamusca to nip in and rob him before curling a shot that bent onto the far upright. The ball rebounded to Kidmas whose shot was then blocked by an outstretched boot on the line of either O’Connell or Lancaster and somehow it stayed out.
Isky Van Doorne then had two chances to kill the contest, but first Nash denied him a brilliant save before he sent the second chance wide of the post.
O’Connell came up big again as he was forced into another full-stretch save to deny a fierce strike from range from Krusa before there was one last chance for the Roos.
In the 94th minute with Dan Nash up for the corner, Chamusca brought a ball down before unleashing a ferocious volley that absolutely rocketed into the crossbar and somehow stayed out. It simply wasn’t to be for the Roos, who came as close to scoring as it is possible to do so in those final 20 minutes but ultimately fell to a 2-1 defeat.
On the balance of the 90 minutes South deserved their win, but the Roos are going to feel mightily unlucky to not have pinched a point given how the final moments played out.
Knights Steady The Ship To Claim Important Win
The Glenorchy Knights recovered from a second-half wobble to down the Clarence Zebras 4-2 at Wentworth Park. Having seen a 2-0 lead evaporate, the Knights got back on track to claim the crucial victory that leaves them within 4 points of Devonport.
The Knights were gifted the lead in the 11th minute after Will Simaan made a hash of a clearance and sliced the ball back into his own net.
Ten minutes later it was 2-0 when recent arrival Marco Favaro hammered in a shot from close range after his compatriot Daniel Sango found him with a well-placed cross.
Jackson Gardner kept out a sharp chance from Xuan Cappellino just past the half-hour mark but then made a rare error approaching half-time, misjudging an aerial ball in that allowed Ryley Wishart the chance to smash one in at the back post.
Tempers frayed at the half-time break as Cappellino squared up to Luttmer and may have been fortunate to stay on the park. He then made his mark on the scoresheet after the restart with a sensationally struck volley to square the game at 2-2.
The Zebras were suddenly flowing with confidence and came within a whisker of taking the lead when Dillon drilled one through the legs of Gardner only to see it rebound off the far post.
That near miss seemed to snap the Knights back awake and it was they who retook the lead in the 65th minute with a stunning long-range strike from Connor Schmidt that bent into the top corner.
Two minutes later, the Knights were back in command as some pure wizardry down the left-hand flank from Hugh Undy saw him putting one on a platter for Jack Turner to tap home and give them a 2 goal cushion.
The Zebras kept pushing but found themselves stonewalled by some fine keeping from Gardner down the stretch, who preserved the 4-2 lead and saw Knights running out victors. They had a wobble, but they steadied and now head into next week’s season-defining clash at Valley Road against the Knights within 4 points of the ladder leaders.
City Shut Out United In Sunday Derby
Launceston City claimed Derby honours, as they downed Launceston United 1-0 at Floorworld Park. In a game utterly devoid of goal-scoring chances, a lone strike from birthday boy James Hawes was enough to secure a second win on the trot for City, as they moved back into the competition’s top four.
City could’ve taken the lead in the 12th minute when Humphrey volleyed a glorious chance over the top from close range. Andersen tested Piper 10 minutes later with a shot at the near post, but clear-cut scoring looks were few and far between in this match.
City eventually took the lead just before halftime via James Hawes, who snuck in ahead of Piper who seemed to have misjudged the carry on the ball played over the top, leaving Hawes a simple tap in. That lead would ultimately hold till the final whistle, with the second half playing out much as the first did, largely bogged down in midfield with a smattering of shots from outside the box the only real scoring chances.
Tito Brown and Stefan Tantari fizzed shots over the bar for City as they sought an insurance goal, whilst as close as United came was a Dean shot that Clark saved comfortably and a Mercure shot from outside the box that fizzed over the bar.
It saw the game ending at 1-0 in favour of City, who leap past the Clarence Zebras and back into the competition’s top four. United will be happy with the defensive improvements here, stemming a run of recent heavy defeats, but their wait for a first point continues.
Round 13
South Hobart 2 ( J.Fidra 28” J.Lancaster 49”)
Riverside Olympic 1 (A.Chamusca 70”)
Kingborough Lions 0
Devonport Strikers 1 (R.Garrido 78”)
Launceston United 0
Launceston City 1 (J.Hawes 43”)
Clarence Zebras 2 (R.Wishart 45” X.Cappellino 53”)
Glenorchy Knights 4 (W.Simaan OG 11” M.Favaro 22” C.Schmidt 65” J.Turner 67”)