Northern Rangers 2 (Hingston, Hunt) def Ulverstone 1 (Mann) 1-1HT
Newtown Eagles 4 (Mckeown, van Linden, Clark, Marshall) def Prospect Knights 2 (Croswell 2) 1-1 HT
Glenorchy Knights 2 def Launceston United 1 (Nimely) 1-1 HT
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| Ulverstone's Ben Foote in control infront of Chris Hunt. |
The battle for the top two positions is going to be tough now, with South Hobart all but assured a place, the pressure was on Ulverstone to cement themselves in also.
Rangers lost Mitch Duffy and Mark Ambrose due to personal reasons prior to kick off, while Ulverstone travelled north minus Shaun Conkie and Michael Wolfert.
Ulverstone were happy to sit back early in the game and wait for Rangers to turn possession over, and when Rangers did so on the 7th minute, Ulverstone scored. Rangers keeper hit a poor goal kick straight to Brayden Mann who made no mistake with the gift and buried the chance.
Rangers pushed but it took until the 31st minute when Todd Hingston intercepted a midfield pass and went on to score from the edge of the 18yard box with a fine low driven shot.
1 all at half time.
Unfortunately for Ulverstone, after half time the wind picked up fairly substantially and made it hard for the reds to knock balls through to the forwards and restricted constructive play to the deck. Rangers were keeping possession well with the wind in their backs, and when Chris Hunt was pushed in the area while waiting for a high ball, referee Mark Spicer pointed to the spot, and Hunt converted the spot kick.
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| Issa Dumbuya and Ayden Foote wrestle in mid-field. |
Ulverstone had a purple patch in the final 10 minutes of the game, picking up 4 free kicks just outside the area and one inside for a pass back. The best chance was when Mann hit a shot after Issa Dumbuya was adjudged to have handled the ball rather dubiously, Mann hit the free kick early but the shot was saved and the resulting clearance almost chipped the keeper at the other end with a wind assisted kick.
The match finishing a 2-1 win to Rangers.
Newtown Eagles recovered from a goal down against Prospect Knights after Ben Croswell scored a header at the near post after half an hour of football in 30 plus degree heat. Adam Mckeown put Eagles back on level terms before half time.
The second half saw Eagles enjoy the stiff wind in their backs, and three quick goals from VanLinden, Andrew Clarke and Jeremy Marshall had Eagles 4-1 ahead and looking good for their first points of the Steve Hudson Cup. Nathan Pitchford took more leg than ball in a late play for Knights and a penalty was awarded in which Ben Croswell converted to finish the game at 4-2.
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| Justin Firth on the ball for Prospect Knights. |
An encouraging sign for Prospect with Toby Omenihu, Ben Croswell and Kris Beardwood all returning to the Knights line up.
In the final game Launceston were not able to recover completely from a goal scored by Glenorchy after just a minute and a half. Thors Nimely continued in his purple patch to ensure the third game of the day would see the half time score at 1 all.
Launceston looked composed and the more likely to score until the referee pointed to the spot in front of Shannon Rumble in Launceston’s goal for a surprise penalty for Glenorchy with 10 minutes to play. Glenorchy scored and went on to record a 2-1 win, keeping their hopes of a finals place still alive if results go their way next week.
Launceston coach said after the game, Launceston peno late in the
“I thought we played well, one all would have been a fair result”
“We had a number of chances, I felt we had the clearer chances, they created some but Shannon Rumble had them covered.”
“Jack Hudson had a fantastic free kick and is fitting in nicely.”
“We are making good progress, though I was disappointed in the result.”
Steve Hudson Cup Table after Round 3.
Team | P | W | D | L | + | - | Pts |
South Hobart | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 9* |
Ulverstone | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
Northern Rangers | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
Glenorchy Knights | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
Riverside Olympic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
Launceston City | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4* |
Launceston United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
Newtown Eagles | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 3 |
Prospect Knights | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 3* |
*In points column donates team has observed the bye and received 3 points.
