NPL TAS ROUND 2 FIXTURES

Hobart Zebras v Clarence, Friday 17 March, 8:00PM, KGV

Kingborough Lions v Olympia FC Warriors, Saturday 18 March, 2:00pm, Lightwood Park

Devonport v Launceston City, Saturday 18 March, 4:30pm, Valley Road

South Hobart v Northern Rangers, Sunday 19 March, 2:00pm, Darcy Street

Fascinating Round 2 In Store After Tight Opening Round

Round 2 of the NPL Tasmania season promises to be a fascinating one after three draws in the opening round left six teams equal on a point apiece with South Hobart and Olympia the bookends at either end of the table. South will be eyeing this as a prime chance to try to pull away and put early pressure on their rivals and after their impressive opening last week they probably have to be considered the way too early favourites. Round 1 showed there isn’t a heap between a number of sides this year and we might just be headed to our closest fought NPL season yet. Titles aren’t won in March, but they can certainly be lost and if teams were to drop points in consecutive weeks it could spell trouble for their aspirations. That should lead to some extra pressure on a number of teams heading into round 2 and make for some crunch clashes.

The round kicks off  on Friday night with Hobart Zebras taking on Clarence at KGV with both sides looking for their first victories of the season. Zebras claimed a 2-2 draw on Saturday against Devonport and will fancy themselves to take the points against a side they went 3/3 from in season 2016. The reds showed they will be a tough side to break down in their 1-1 draw against Rangers however and Zebras certainly won’t be expecting anything to come easy to them in this one. These are two bruising, physical sides, so expect a tough physical contest under the lights of KGV with Zebras to control more of the possession and the Clarence rearguard, set to be led by Odaine Demar and Matthew Lewis to be put under pressure. The availability of Luke Huigsloot, who is under doubt after copping a head knock last week could be a big factor, he was pivotal to how the Zebras set up and without him they will need to change their approach.

On Saturday Ian Shaw returns to the Den for the first time since defecting from the Kingborough to take up the coaching role at Olympia midway through last season. Olympia were stunned 3-0 by South Hobart on opening night last Friday and will be desperate to bounce back to winning ways with three points against the Lions. A loss would see them cede further early ground in the title race and put them in danger of falling into a similar hole to which they fell in 2016 and never recovered from. They will be aware the pressure is on them to take the maximum three points away from Lightwood Park on Saturday. It won’t be easy however, with the Lions pumping up the contest as a ‘derby’ and whilst that particular terminology seems a stretch to me given their geographical location, there is no doubt the Lions are incredibly fired up as a club for this one. They should have a large crowd down the Den to cheer them on against a side to which a modern rivalry with might well have been spawned. The Lions should improve as the season wares on and their nine new players are given time to adapt and get used to playing with each other. Just how far along that process is, we will get a good indicator of on Saturday afternoon.

The second game of the day sees Launceston City travelling up to Valley Road to take on Devonport in a battle of two young and exciting teams with young and attack minded managers. Given what we have seen from both sides so far we should see an open and free flowing game of football that should lend itself to goal scoring. Devonport were extremely impressive against Zebras last weekend given the huge amount of young players in their side. City meanwhile felt they should have taken the three points against Kingborough and will need to be more decisive and clinical in the final third this week if they are to take anything away from what should be a tough road trip. Of particular interest in this match will be the battle of the imports in midfield, with Reynolds and Fischer set to come up against O’Connor and Williams. These are the key movers for their sides and if either pair can stamp their influence on proceedings it will go a long way to winning the game.

The round then ends on Sunday with South Hobart looking to maintain, or depending on Saturday’s results potentially add to their lead atop the table when they welcome Northern Rangers. to Darcy Street. South looked a well drilled unit last weekend and will enter the game as comfortable favourites. Rangers kept their first clean sheet since 2015 against Clarence but they face a far more difficult task repeating that against a South side who scored 20 goals over the course of their 3 meetings last season. Their new goalkeeper John Connolly looked very capable but he will likely have a lot more work to do this week where Rangers will need their young defence, which should be bolstered by the availability of Pat-Lanau Atkinson to hold out against South. There likeliest avenue to goal would seem to be via counter attacks through the speed of Jin Seung Yong or perhaps a customary long range bomb from Nick Lana-Atkinson. Whether they can keep South from scoring is a whole other issue, the speed of which they move the ball and vast number of goal threats they posses should make them comfortable favourites here as they take to Darcy Street pitch for the first time in 2017.