The PlayStation NPL Tasmania 2017 Season rolls on and Round 9 is a week that pits the bottom four sides against the top four sides.
With the gap between the sides already sitting at 10 points, it could become further pronounced by the end of the week unless anyone can cause a boil over. So far only Rangers have managed to take points from the top four so far this year, when they drew with Zebras.
Perhaps the most likely side to cause an upset is the side currently sitting in last place. Launceston City have seemingly turned a corner over the past fortnight, scoring a pair of victories and doing so in style. They now run into a Zebras side that is on the search for new management after Peter Savill called it a day earlier in the week.
How that impacts the playing group remains to be seen but you have to imagine it’s going to be a difficult thing to deal with. They have had such a distinctive style as well as a sense of structure and continuity this season with very few changes being made. Now they face the biggest change imaginable with a new coach coming in. That coach, for the next two weeks at least will be David Smith. Smith has no shortage of experience as the Technical Director of Victoria and Northern New South Wales football, but he faces an uphill task coming in at short notice and getting the side ready to take on the resurgent Launceston City.
Speaking of Dave Smith’s, City will be without their star goalkeeper after he broke his hand against Clarence. That will come as a blow, with a less experienced keeper now having to deal with a significant aerial threat that Zebras will possess.
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