Saturday 27 April 2013

Saturdays NPL Results

Launceston 1 drew with Knights 1

Somerset 8 def Burnie 0

Ulverstone 4 def Launceston United 1

Waiting on Rangers Devonport score

Thursday 25 April 2013

The Round Of Rivalry

This week will throw up some very hard fought games in which look like rivalry round. With the shocking weather we have had across the state this week, Games will be slowed up a bit which at suit some clubs but defiantly not as well.

Somerset V Burnie United
This would have to be game of the rivalry round with Somerset hosting across river foes Burnie United.
Somerset will go into the game with no changes and will look to keep its winning ways at home and keeping another clean sheet.
Ross Smith had a blinder for the Sharks at right back last week and will look to have another big influence on the game. With both wingers combining last week to be a dominate force im sure Kevein Considine will be confident with another win at home against his arch enemies.
Kevin had this to say” The Sharks take on Burnie in our local derby this weekend, with both teams coming off impressive wins this should be an exciting match. The Sharks had a great all round team performance last week, with the Johnson boys outstanding and although the sharks have several injury concerns we hope to take out a close victory to remain undefeated.
Burnie United on the other hand will also be looking to keep their winning way after an impressive but surprisingly win over Ulverstone. Somerset will have to be aware of one of its old players in Brodie Best who has been the main avenue to goals for United this year.
KICK OFF 2:30 CARDIGAN ST SOMERSET

Launceston City V Prospect Knights
There is no river to separate these to enemies, only a fence. City host the knights in which will be a fiery encounter between these impressive clubs.
City should have a few more players to choose from this week   with young gun Domonic Rossi back from his one week suspension and with the V League regaining players will bolster City’s NPL side. Rodger Mies shown last week he is still a first grade player with age being no barrier for him and the Knights will have to watch him closely.
Prospect will be looking for a win the keep them in contention with the front runners as another loss will slow down their premiership hopes for 2013.
Gift winner Andrew Robinson should be back for the Knights this week and give them a lot of pace out wide and with the inclusion of Mitch Duffey the Knights look really strong.

Ulverstone V Launceston United
Stuart Mac would be a very angry man after last Saturdays result and personally im glad its not Somerset

playing the Reds this week because im sure Mac will have the boys fired up and looking to smash the next side they face. Adam and Shaun Conkie have been a stand out thus far into the season and with Mathew Huboard in goals they will be the real deal come tomorrow and WILL take the three points at home.


Rangers V Devonport
The Rangers will know they have a task at hand Saturday at 3pm when they host ladder leader Devonport. With both mother clubs playing each other at the same venue this will be a hard task for both clubs and coaches to pick teams.
With Michael Holden maybe breaking his arm last week in the V League this has opened another spot for a NPL player. Sources say may Brodie Denahey will get the call up. Rangers defence will have to be aware of in form striker Peter Gillham who scored a hat trick last week and will no doubt be looking for a few more this week.
Junior player development coach Rod Andrews has this to say
Having both out NPL and League 1 Teams playing at the same time comes with it's fair share of challenges, but we do have a fair bit of depth, so we will look to provide some quality game for some of our younger players in both leagues. We played Ranger's NPL team in a practice match earlier in the year, and they play a pretty good brand of football, so a good challenge for Mal and the boys.

Somerset V Burnie United 2:30 pm Saturday @ Cardigan St

Launceston City V Prospect Knights 2:30pm Saturday @ Mitsubishi Park

Ulverstone Reds v Launceston United 2:30pm Saturday @ Ulverstone Show Grounds

Rangers V Devonport 3:00 pm Satyrday @ NTCA 2 Ground

Sunday 21 April 2013

Weekend Results

NPL
Somerset 4 def Launceston City 0

Burnie United 3 def Ulverstone 2

Devonport Strikers 3 def Prospect 2

Riverside 2 def Rangers 0

V League

Devonport 1 lost to South Hobart 2

Kingborough 1 drew with Rangers 1 (Hingston 35)

Tilford 10 def Launceston City 0

Thursday 18 April 2013

Will There Be An Out Right Leader After This Round?

The N/W coast has some great football action this week with all coastal teams playing on the coast, So any neutral spectator will have a hard decision on where to go.
Will there be an out right leader after round 3 with some great fixtures.

Devonport V Prospect Knights
This game kicking off at 12pm
Devonport will have a strong advantage coming into this game. Not only being on top of the table but also have their V League side kicking off after the NPL. This allows Devonport to be its strongest across the board and im sure Prospect will already know this and will have to give 110% to get across the line.
Junior Development coach Rod Andrews had this to say on the game” Prospect look to be a pretty strong team on paper, and had multiple goal scorers last week so that will be a great challenge for our young back 4. Scott Wilson has been a real find as a keeper, and he continues to improve week by week. Mal will probably look to bring Peter Gilham  back into the side after a week out with injury, pending how he pulls up after training on Thursday. Former Somerset players Brody Denehey and Beau Blizzard  are playing some good football, with young Blizz scoring the winner in injury time last weekend, so while we’ll probably start as underdogs despite being at home, it looks to be a good competitive game.
After putting 5 goals away against Burnie last week and a couple the week before Devonport will be looking to shut down Prospects fire power. But it seem that they do not rely on one or two players as the Knights seem to have 5 or 6 avenues to goal.Coach Heald had this to say"
Two players out from last game Mitch Duffy Work commitments Andrew Robinson two yellows,

In Rhys Kinslow and Zac VanAsch

Travel again this week six of our first seven games are away don’t know anyone that’s selling a bus, Prospect has lost most of it senior list from last season and are still building just starting to gel as a group we are looking forward to this game.

Somerset V Launceston City
Somerset host Launceston City at home at 230 Saturday. The Sharks are hosting a sponsor and life members day and are hoping to get a large crowd as they used to back in the day.
Somerset will be looking to keep its momentum going after last week win against Launceston United, But know in the back of their minds that City are always capable of taking points no matter who they put on the field.
The Sharks defence will have to keep one eye on Rodger Mise all day as the older he gets the more he seems to find the back of the net.
Somerset will bring in Kaimon Johnson after having last week in Sydney and will be capable of holding Mise at bay.
City will be with out another stater as young striker Domonic Rossi was shown his marching orders last week for 2 yellows.

City will need to be on the ball to keep Somerset at will as their strike force were great last week and hungry for more goals.

Burnie V Ulverstone
Burnie have their second home game in as many weeks and will be hunting for points this week when the play Ulverstone. Burnie coach Ray Parke will have Burnie on song this week knowing that when United and the Reds meet it is always a hard and very physical game.
Peter Van Ek had this to say"
Burnie will be looking to re-group after the disappointing losses in the first two rounds, Brad Ryan has been  keeping well and the reason burnies losses haven’t been double figures. Alex Johnstone will return to the side after a quad strain to tighten up the gaps in defence. And Josh Daily will push up to create some attack.
Ulverstone have had a good pre-season and a win in the first round against knights and will be confident of getting a result at Montello, but burnie if nothing will make them work hard for it.

Riverside V Rangers
Riverside will be looking  for nothing but a win this week against the Rangers after loosing narrowly to Devonport last week and I think their may be a lot of passion and fair to say maybe a bit of a rivalry game after Riverside loosing numbers to Rangers over the preseason for the Victory League.
With the Rangers V League side playing in Hobart on the same day will stretch the Rangers squad and maybe risk dropping points and moving down the ladder.
Riverside coach Wayne Penfold knows what is at stake and had this to say” Will be looking for the team to bounce back after a disappointing loss on the weekend to Devonport. We failed to play to the conditions and paid the price, but we were still unlucky not to come away with a draw.
This week we face another tough test in Northern Rangers and a win is a must as we head into our BYE. Northern Rangers will be an unknown as their squad will be dependent on their Victory League squad. But we go into the game knowing that whatever side they put out will be competitive and we will need to take the game to them to get the right result.





Saturday 13 April 2013

Round 2 Results

Launceston United 0 lost to Somerset 9

Burnie United 1 lost to Prospect 5

Rangers 3 beat Launceston City 1

Riverside 1 lost to Devonport 2

V League

Rangers 4 drew with Tilford 4

Devonport 3 beat Glenorchy 2

Thursday 11 April 2013

Round 2 Will Decide The Men From The Boys

Round 2 has a couple of interesting fixtures this week. With most of the predicted winners got up last week im sure there are at least 3 winners already picked this week.
The game of the round is definitely between Riverside and Devonport.

Riverside V Devonport
Riverside host NPL side Devonport Strikers. It will be interesting to see how Devonport handle their cattle as it will be the first game that their V League side and NPL side play away from each other. Who will they drop back from their V League side knowing its still a must win game.
Riverside finally put their foot on the pedal in the second half last week to beat Burnie but this week coach Wayne Penfold knows he wont be let off the hook that easily against a stronger out fit. It could have been a cricket score last week but could on find 2 scores. Sammy Hughs will be the one to watch after starting his account last week after a few years off with a re-occurring knee injury.
Wayne had a few comments on this week” This week we face a tough test against Devonport. Whilst they have had most of their Senior players from last year move up into the V-League team, their Reserves side has been a benchmark in that competition for a number of years, so they will still be a force to be reckoned with.

We played a good brand of football  on the weekend and probably should have put away a few more goals and that is something that will need to be rectified when we come up against Port this week.

Having 3 home games in a row its really important we come away with the win this week and next week to get the season off to a good start.

Launceston United V Somerset

Launceston will be looking to improve from last week that lost 3-0, Allot like the Riverside Burnie game, The score line could have been worse. So one would think United will be looking to stop the leak in the back line and if rumour is true, Shannon Rumble may line up in goals after playing a game of reserves last week which will definitely straiten up the defence.
Chris Smith will be on the field this week after being a keeper through the Summer Cup

Somerset will be looking to continue its recent form against United and will be hoping they are on song in front of goals. They have a few different ins from last time they met with the ever reliable poacher James Nettleton starting his first senior game for this year and young defender Ross Smith coming in at right back after having a dominant preseason. Kevin Considine is looking forward to the match and had this to say” Somerset travel to Newstead for the second time this season. A
closer result may be on the cards with a few players missing from the Cup win, forcing formation changes. The day should get off to a good start with a full strength U/18’s starting the day in its bid for the 2013 title, and a new look reserves team hoping to be more competitive than last season.

Burnie United V Prospect Knights

Burnie host their first game this year and would be hoping to change their fortunes. Coach Ray Parke would have had his troops raring to go this week on the training field and would also have worked on their faults in time for the knights this weekend.
Will Mark Baker line up for the Knights this week?

Prospect will be looking for their first win as well after loosing by the skin of their teeth last week after having 2 goals disallowed for off side. Ray Heald was up for a chat and said this” Knights travel again to Burnie this week, Andrew Robinson and Liam Jarvis come into seniors this week after best on grounds in reserves
We have been working on our defence which cost us early goals last week and will be looking for a better effort in that area.
Rangers V Launceston City
This weeks game is another fixture with 2 victory league based teams. Rangers had a controlled win against United last week and will be looking to make it two ina row with another win at home on the NTCA pitch 2 kicking off at 1230 on Saturday. Rangers have shown they have a lot of depth when all teams are at home and it will be interesting to see who does get dropped back from the V League after they lost their first game.

City will probably use this as a guide line to see where they are at after loosing 6-2 to Devonport last week and face an even stronger squad. With the Launceston City V League team only having 15 of their 20 squad left due to injures, This will effect the NPL side.
Rangers by 4
ALL GAMES PLAYED SATURDAY




                               The Donk may play NPL this week

Saturday 6 April 2013

Saturdays results

Riverside 2 beat Burnie 0

Ulverstone 3 beat Prospect 2

Devonport 6 beat Launceston City 2

Rangers 3 beat Launceston United 0

V League

Devonport 7 ( Mann 3, McGuin 2, Holden, Eaves) beat Launceston City 1

Rangers 1 lost to  South Hobart 2

Thursday 4 April 2013

THE WAIT IS OVER

Season 2013 is finally here after some what of a crazy preseason with the qualifications, top 16 and quarter finals all being played as well as the normal summer cups.
After having a few weeks off to allow for the V League to kick off we are finally ready to roll with some interesting fixtures in round 1. There have been many changes over the summer in all clubs with different coaching panels and player personnel. This year also has 8 new coaches out of the possible 9 that are new. The only coach that has kept or wanted his position is Lino Sculli from Launceston City.

Riverside V Burnie United
Riverside host Burnie United at Windsor Park kicking off at the regular time of 2:30 Saturday. This game should and will be closely contested after both clubs had lost copious amount of player over the off season either due to player moving on or having a crack at state league.
Riverside new coach Wayne penfold had this to say”  It will finally be nice to get stuck into the season proper this week.

We have a tough task in Burnie first up who will be raring to go. All teams want to get off to a winning start, so we expect a physical game from Burnie and will need to make sure we are up for the challenge.

Apart from a couple of big losses to Victory League teams, we have had a solid pre-season and have gelled together well as a squad after losing up to 10 players from last year.

The players that have moved up into the Seniors have really impressed and shown they want the opportunity to play at the highest level available to them.

I have high expectations for Riverside this year, and will be looking to get a win to kick off our campaign.
On the other hand Burnie will be looking for its first win in a long time after finishing on the bottom of the ladder last year. Key player Andrew Gibson and Peter VanEk are going around again and were showing some early form in the preseason.
Talk is they have lost gun player Stuart Batt to football which if true may leave a big hole in the midfield for Riverside to exploit.
Burnie’s spokes person Peter VanEk had this to say” Burnie will be playing a full squad, with Brad Ryan in goals. And be focusing on our style of play as we re-focus heading into the new season. While Burnie has lost a few players from last year there are still a lot of familiar faces at the club, some of the younger guys are really stepping up to the mark. Its going to be a long season, but we are ready to take it to the opposition and give it our all.

Devonport V Launceston City

This will be a very interesting game with both clubs being in the V League. I can fairly say that both NPL sides will be at full strength due to being the curtain raiser for the  v League clash. After seeing Devonport play in the summer cup it is hard to see them loosing as they are a young fit well drilled team that like to keep position.

Also we will see the fringe players out of the 20 man squad play in both sides as well. This is ideal for both clubs but I would hate to be picking teams in a few weeks when a NPL sides plays at one end of the state and the other at the other end.
Devonport coach Rod Andrews has a few comments to say”We’re really looking forward to the game this weekend. Numbers at training have been fantastic and Mal has assembled a strong squad with a good blend of experience and youth. Naturally, like the other V.League Clubs we have some restrictions as to the age of our NPL Team, so our 1st game against Launceston City, who have the same restrictions, will be important in terms of getting a feel for where we are depthwise”.

Ulverstone V Prospect

Thisuld be the game of the round with both clubs having some great key players in both squads.
After Ulverstone winning the summer cup and going through un-defeated they will be on a high and having a home ground advantage should just get home. But will still be with out Snow Compaign who would still be recovering from his broken cheek bone and busted eye socket, May even have called retirement? Im not sure. Plus I think Adam Conkie still may have a week to serve of his suspension.
Prospect Knights are the un-known at the moment after having not the best start with a sub par preseason. But still have some old heads kicking on. Will be up to the task, With the signing of Greg Duffy will strengthen their side.
New Prospect coach Ray Heald had these words to say” Were are looking forward to the first game
Our retention of senior players hasn’t been good only three remaining from last year.
We have been lucky enough to fill the gaps with some fantastic kids from our under 18 team of 2009 and under 18 players from last year.
Our focus is on youth and improve as the year progresses

Rangers V Launceston United
This game is played On Sunday at 12:30 at the NTCA ground 2 which the Rangers have worked hard on over the off season producing a perfect playing surface on the ground behind the NTCA where they originally started.
This is another chance for NPL side with a V League team to be at full strength with the NPL side being a curtain raiser to the Rangers V South Hobart V league match. This will allow the Rangers to play 7 Victory league players in their starting 11.

As for Launceston United im not sure how they are shaping but I guess time will tell.
Rangers in a easy win for me.

Somerset have the BYE

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Not Enough Time!

Hi all Northern Blog followers, it has come to my attention that I have bitten off more than I can chew and I simply can’t keep up at present.
I’m not quitting the blog, just letting you all know that I won’t have the time to do regular previews and reviews any more.  I shall do all that I can to promote the north, but I can’t do it justice on a regular basis anymore.
I also understand prompt and regular updates are required for internet sites to be successful, if there is another person out there that would like to assist Sam and myself, we would gratefully give you access to the admin panel once you have a blog account.
My apologies ladies and gents, best of luck to all for the up coming season.