South Hobart have extended their lead at the top of the Victory League ladder after defeating Devonport City at the weekend.
South Hobart have extended their lead at the top of the Victory League ladder after defeating Devonport City at the weekend.
South Hobart 3 (Chris Hunt x 2 39-, 62-, Kostas Kanakaris 69-) def. Devonport City 1(Brody Denehey 15-) 2:00PM/Saturday 22 June (Darcy Street) (HT 1-1)
It was match of the round and a huge game for the Victory League, if Devonport took down South Hobart they would come within three points of the leaders but if South Hobart won they would hold an eight point lead over their closest rival.
South Hobart gave themselves a mighty lead on top of the table with a come from behind victory in front of a home crowd.
Kostas Kanakaris started strongly, with two promising shots denied by a spectacular save from Casey Eaves and then the left upright was his enemy, denying him an opener.
Devonport City looked dangerous on the break and they took an early lead 15 minutes in, Captain Nathan Gratton sought out Brayden Mann with a long searching ball, before the striker cut it across from the right to Brody Denehey to tap in.
Youngster Michael Holden had a chance to extend the deficit; Michael Ferguson stopped his curling shot from the edge of the box after a neat Joel Stone and Brayden Mann build up.
On 27 minutes Chris Hunt rounded Eaves in goal and shot at a vacant net from a tight angle on the left but it skidded across the face to safety to the delight of Devonport. Moments later, winger Jordan Templin went on a blistering run down the middle and got by Eaves but left the ball behind and Gratton cleared.
Devonport continued to prove lethal on the counter, it looked as if they had netted a second when Holden finished off the left post from a Mann assist but Holden was ruled offside, to the frustration of Devonport who were sure they had secured a 2-0 lead.
Eaves was busy in goal for Devonport and young Jordan Templin tested him with two shots in quick succession, Eaves did well to save with a juggle with a desperate lunge on the ground.
South Hobart broke through 39 minutes in with Hunt squeezing out a shot from a deflected Josh Fielding shot into the bottom left past a diving Eaves. It looked as if Devonport had escaped from a dangerous Kanakaris corner but Hunt had the class to slip it by Eaves, neatly into the bottom left.
It was delicately poised at half time at 1-1 with both teams looking hungry for more goals.
South Hobart started well after the break and freshly signed Caleb Ludlow had a big influence on the contest in holding midfield.
Chris Hunt struck again on 62 minutes with a slick turn and shot, slotting home into the centre of goal off a sharp Templin cross to make it 2-1.
Hunt very nearly bagged himself a hat-trick four minutes later but Casey Eaves did enough to tip it away from goal and eventually gather.
Kostas Kanakaris had a mixed game for South but he gave them extra breathing room with half an hour to go, hammering home a fizzing shot into the bottom right from the top of the box.
South Hobart got in control and Caleb Ludlow almost iced it for the home side when he went on a great solo run after dispossessing Bobby Eaves in midfield, he pulled up and fired a shot that flew the wrong side of the left post.
Devonport made some changes to roll the dice and chase a result but it wasn-t to be with South Hobart putting themselves eight points clear on top of the table with their tenth win for the season.
Glenorchy Knights 0 def. by Olympia Warriors 1 (Seungyong Jin 30-) 8:00PM/ Friday 21 June (KGV Football Park) (HT 0-1)
Olympia continued their good form with a win over Glenorchy; Olympia dominated possession and took the honours in midfield but failed to kill off the Knights, leaving the game alive til the final whistle.
Dipendra Kunwar started for the first time this season after an injury interrupted start to the season. He made an early impact down the right flank; he very nearly opened the scoring with a step over and shot that cannoned into the right post.
Glenorchy were undermanned with key players, Mike McKenna, Declan Foley and Myonge Kamba missing from their starting eleven. Jade Clay was a welcomed starter, slotting in at central defence giving Knights the ability to push Jayden Hey into midfield.
Olympia also had a notable omission in Captain Janko Begovic, who may miss the remainder of the season with a serious groin injury.
Hey-s pace was damaging in midfield and he started promisingly and had a chance to snatch a Knights opener against the flow of play with a free kick but the Skipper belted straight into the wall.
Kunwar continued to look lively and it was he that assisted the Warriors goal, squaring up from the right to Jin at the top of the box for Jin to curl home into the top right.
Dmitri Nester had a shaky night in goal for Olympia but he was there to cut off a glorious chance for Glenorchy, Callen Griffin was in one on one but coughed it up into the arms of Nester with a heavy touch.
Nester was involved again moments later when Blayne Hudson almost squared the ledger, a drive from the top of the box was sent direct and Nester got down low and it flew up the gloveman-s body and onto the cross bar and luckily for Nester and Olympia it bounced away and Olympia took a lead into the break.
Kunwar started the second half like he did the first and almost made it 2-0; linking up with Gift Ochaya, Kunwar flashed a promising looking shot across the face of goal that skidded just past the back post.
Both sides created chances but Olympia-s midfield of Kim, Lachlan Nichols and Hugh Undy were afforded a lot of space and possession to work things up the park for the Warriors.
Undy nearly extended Olympia-s advantage but Glenorchy-s young Keeper Sam Cornish saved with a great reflex effort, tipping it wide of goal.
Glenorchy had opportunities to square things up, with Marney making some dangerous runs but Olympia held them at bay to secure a deserved three points.
Launceston City 1( Saeed Bin Sumaida) Tilford Zebras 3 (Jacob Clamp, Own Goal, Kurt Engels) 2:00PM/Saturday 22 June (Mitsubishi Park 1) (HT 1-1)
Launceston City were up against it, taking on a team that thumped them 10-0 the last time they met in Round 5, Adam McKeown slotted seven goals in the thumping so it was going to be a big test on whether they had made headway.
In remarkable circumstances the underdogs drew first blood with their standout performer for the season Saeed Bin Sumaida scoring a shock goal to put them up 1-0 in the first half.
It looked as if the lead would be taken to the break but on the brink of half time Jacob Clamp nodded home to level it.
Tilford Zebras continued to press on in the second half but Launceston City didn-t make it easy for them until they gifted Zebras a second goal when they put it into their own net.
City Coach Mark Egan would have been ecstatic with the increased intensity and effort from his side following a dismal performance against Olympia.
Kurt Engels ensured Zebras of all three points in the second half, putting Zebras into second position above Olympia on goals-for.
Northern Rangers 1 (Luate 67') def. by Kingborough Lions 2 (Michael Palmer 41', Thomas McDonald 48') 5:00PM/Saturday 22 June (NTCA) (HT 0-1) It was a big game for both sides as they both press for a chance to make the top four and in turn qualify for the Victory Cup. For Kingborough they need to take maximum points over sides above them to be any hope of shooting their way up and that is what they did in Round 12.
Rangers had the better of the early chances but it was Lions who struck first, the game was deadlocked for most of the first half before Palmer slotted home nicely from a ball across the box.
They doubled that advantage shortly after the break, Thomas McDonald scored with a terrific volley from inside the area.
Todd Hingston went close to levelling it for the Rangers, with a header finishing a nice run from centre-back but it was saved off the line in haste by the Lions defence.
Hingston was then injected into the midfield in an attempt to chase the result but it was substitute Agele Luate who pegged one back, tapping home after a Nick Lanau-atkinson shot bounced off the cross bar and into his path where he made no mistake to give Rangers some hope.
Derek Schipper had an audacious long effort nearly creep in but it was a near miss and Rangers were left wondering with the Lions bagging all three points.
A frustrating result for Rangers who now fall six points behind fourth placed Devonport and have a lot of work to do if they are to make their way in.