Role Reversal in First Game of Hudson Cup.



Prospect had a lot of youth on display tonight, but not much
else in the way quality



Tournament Host Launceston United performed a stunning role reversal on the 2011 season, with a comprehensive 6-1 win over cross town rivals and reigning Northern Premier League Champions in Prospect Knights.  Launceston who have not won a league fixture since 2008 again finished bottom of the 2011 Northern Premier League, but might be dreaming of bigger things after such a strong display.

Prospect were a distant memory of the side that won the title in 2011, the only regular starters from last year’s side were Mark Baker and Jack Hudson, with Andy Compagne starting too, a player they will need in 2012 by the look of things.

Launceston on the other hand are now starting to benefit from a few years of stability, and finished the better half of their chances to notch up a welcome score line for the club.

Marcus Taylor opened the night’s proceedings, albeit by surprise when his long cross from near on half way and close to the touch line floated over the unknown Prospect Keepers head and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Prospect were well represented in the game at this point, and responded through a fine strike off the boot of Andy Compagne and signalled they may not be the easy beats some were expecting them to be.  The two sides took the 1-1 score line into the sheds at half time, and this felt about the measure of the game.

The second half saw the flood gates open and Launceston made the most of some open space in the final third.  Striker Thors Nimely had too much pace and creativity for the young Prospect defence and stepped easily around his opponents.  His first of two goals was well placed strike while surrounded by defenders and put Launceston into the lead in the second half.

Ayden Rigby notched up Launceston’s third goal after Nimely put him through with an inch perfect ball just inside the area and Rigby dispatched a well weighted chip that just slipped under the bar.

The fourth goal came when set play specialist and Launceston’s oldest player in Amos Gbasie stepped up to take a free kick outside the penalty area, his low strike found the back the net through a wall of players, and it surprised many of his team mates and the supporters who were in attendance, his celebration indicated the goal may not be all that a regular event for himself either.

Pepe Camara and Thors Nimely rounded out the 6-1 scoreline, Nimely scoring with the last kick of the night.

Dane Hudson shared his thoughts after his last game in charge at Knights, “We lacked a lot of quality tonight and it showed, I mean it’s not like I had 4 or 5 other blokes to select and left them out, tonight was all we had to choose from and that is where the club is at at the  moment.”

Launceston Coach Mark Egan..

“Our fitness dropped off after half time and we made some silly mistakes.”

“I have a sheet and record the goals we concede and then discuss with the boys, did they score because of their good play or our bad play? Most of their goals were scored through our bad play tonight, but that can be corrected.  That is just where the club is at at the moment.  Maybe a few guys will come back, but for now, that is all we have to put on the park.”

Mark Egan was understandably stoked with his team’s result and said after the game, “Certainly the game was very tight early on, one all at half time, and my guys were very tight and apprehensive in the sheds, I mean it felt like we were 10 goals down by the way the guys were looking  at half time, and I just said, hey guys come on we are a real show here”

“We changed a few things up and it worked”

“Obviously Knights have been severely depleted, but at the end of the day you have to play what’s in front of ya, and we did that well tonight, but I felt we played better last week against South Hobart when we lost 3-1.  We had more space this week and finished our chances well.”

“They have given us a touch up plenty of times over the last few years so it’s nice to get one back over them and put them(Prospect) away”

“For us there are still at least 6 guys to come back into the group, Dezephery Bart and Shannon Rumble and plenty more, so I’m hopping to have a bit depth this year”

“It was a good result, good for the lads and good for the club.” Said Launceston Coach Mark Egan.