Welcome to the Friday Forecast for Round 15 of the McDonald’s NPL Tasmania. After a brief hiatus for the Women’s World Cup, we are back to where we began, with the opening round fixtures set to play out for the third and final time this season. The title race seems all but settled as we head into the final straight, but the jostling for the top four appears set to go down to the wire.
Strikers Hosting Tricky Zebras
Saturday begins at Valley Road where the Devonport Strikers will take on a Clarence Zebras side that whilst perhaps haven’t quite become a bogey side for the ladder leaders, is an outfit that has certainly troubled them more than most this season.
The Strikers are not generally an opponent you would fancy to face when riding a three-match losing streak, as the Zebras are entering this one, but they have troubled the Strikers as much as anyone has managed to this season. In three meetings between the pair, the game has been in the balance heading into the final minutes on all three occasions. In Round 1 the Zebras provided a major shock, claiming a 1-1 draw at Valley Road. Whilst that proved to be little more than a slight stumble out of the blocks for the defending champions, in the next two meetings the Zebras again proved a stern test, leading 2-0 before falling 3-2 in the Lakoseljac Cup and 1-0 before losing to a 92nd minute Fernandez Garrido winner in the league. The Strikers ultimately found the answers, but this is a tricky opponent that has posed questions that others have not this season.
The Strikers can take another step towards wrapping up the title with a win at home here. Five wins from their final 7 games would make it a mathematical certainty, but in reality, 3-4 wins down the stretch will likely be enough. They seem unlikely to be caught by Knights or South at this point, though with a looming interstate trip for the Australia Cup, they would undoubtedly prefer to maintain that healthy buffer at the top and slam the door shut on any glimmer of hope for the chasing pair.
Knights Out to Bounce Back Against United
The Glenorchy Knights will be looking to bounce back as they take on Launceston United at KGV in the Saturday twilight slot.
The Knights have now had two weeks to lick their wounds after a disappointing showing at Valley Road. After taking an early lead, the Knights were completely outplayed by Devonport who took a stranglehold on the title race with a dominant performance. It leaves the Knights seven points behind and now just a single point ahead of a surging South Hobart side who are threatening to jump them into second.
This should be a comfortable bounce-back spot though, playing at home against a side yet to take a point from anyone in Launceston United. They downed them 2-0 in the opening round before registering a thumping 5-0 win at Birch Avenue in the Round 8 fixture and have dominated both games comprehensively.
United were always going to be up against it in their maiden NPL campaign, but it’s been a harsh introduction to life in the top flight through the first full two rounds. They will be eager to find a breakthrough result in the final set of fixtures, but this looks a particularly difficult spot for them and it would be a major upset if that breakthrough were to come this week away to the Knights.
South Look to Extend Streak Against Lions
The Final game of the Round will take place on Sunday at Darcy Street as South Hobart hosts the Kingborough Lions.
South Hobart has won both the matches between the pair this season though both have been ‘tale of two halves’ type clashes. South have simply done a better job putting the ball in the back of the net whilst enjoying their period in the ascendancy and that is why they have taken six points from the meetings and the Lions naught.
In Round 1 the Lions led 1-0 at halftime, before South stormed home to a 2-1 victory. At the Twin Ovals in Round 8 it was a reversal, as South utterly dominated the first half, racing to a 3-0 lead with Nick Morton scoring a hat-trick before they were forced to endure a second-half fightback from the Lions, as Mies and Taylor cut the lead to the eventual final score of 3-2.
South certainly have the stronger form line heading into this game, having won their past five matches and they are the current form side of the league. The Lions have just two wins from their past five, though in the even shorter term they’ve been much better. The Lion’s past 2 games before the week off were steps in the right direction after a sluggish period in the middle of the season. Despite being rocked by a potentially season-ending injury to reigning MVP Kobe Kemp, they pushed the Strikers in a narrow 1-0 defeat before hammering Launceston United 6-1. The Kemp absence dents their ceiling significantly, but they are still capable of some quality football that can test South here.
This should be a tight matchup and could prove crucial to shaping the competition’s top four, as South look to close in on the top 2, whilst the Lions risk losing touch with the top 4 with a defeat.
Round 15
Saturday 29 July
Devonport Strikers v Clarence Zebras, 2:30pm, Valley Road
Glenorchy Knights v Launceston United, 4:30pm, KGV
Sunday 30 July
South Hobart v Kingborough Lions, 2:00pm, Darcy Street
POSTPONED:
Friday 28 July
Riverside Olympic v Launceston City, 8:15pm, Windsor Park