Round 8 NPL

Sorry guys no where near a computer this week.

NPL

Launceston City v Ulverstone 2:30 Saturday

Burnie United v Launceston United 2:30 Saturday

Devonport v Somerset Sharks 2:30 Saturday

Prospect v Riverside 2:30 saturday

Sunday results

NPL

Rangers 1 lost to Knights 2

V League

Rangers 2 drew with Glenorchy 2

Saturdays Results

NPL

Somerset 4 def Riverside 1

Launceston City 3 def Launceston United 1

Devonport 0 lost to Ulverstone 2

V League

Devonport 5 def Hobart Olyimpia 0

Rangers v Prospect tomorrow

ROUND 7 Will See Some Crackers

Round 7 throws up some crazy timings due to the V Leauge and NPL sides playing at the same venue, Also this week will see some cracking games with a lot of rivalry  between some clubs.

Launceston United V Launceston City 2.30 pm Birch Ave

This game should be a very entertaining game in such that there will be plenty of goals scored from both clubs. Launceston United have been unlucky not to get at least a point a couple of weeks ago and will be looking to secure their first win of the year when they host City. Shannon Rumble must be on song to minimise the goals against.

City are up and about after leading last week on several occasions against a very good out fit in Riverside. Lino Sculli will now know what it takes to beat the opposition with the

squad he has and will be expecting nothing but a win away.

Somerset V Riverside Olympic 2.30 pm Shark Park

Somerset find them selves back at home again this week with a huge task at hand hosting Riverside. After a gritty performance last week against Ulverstone, Coach Considine was not happy where the team was at with a few areas and has addressed them over the week and has his side settled once again. The Sharks find them selves with another dilemma on who there starting 11 will be with Kaimon Johnson and Jeremy DeBomford coming back into the squad after a week in Melbourne. Kevin has this to say” Somerset are again expecting a tough match against a strong Riverside team this weekend, but the Sharks will line up much stronger than last week, with the return of several senior players. The Sharks form has dropped off in recent weeks and we will need to be at their best this weekend to have a chance for full points and maintain our unbeaten run.

Riverside know they must take the 3 points this week to keep in contention with the front runner to have a chance at the title. Sam Hughs will yet again be a danger for the sharks any where from thirty yards. Olympic have been able to find the back of the net easily this year but also leaking a few and coach Penfold will be trying to amend this against the Sharks.Coach Penfold had this to say"After a disappointing draw last week, we will be looking to bounce back in a big way against one of the yardsticks in the competition this year. Somerset have proven that they are one of the teams to beat in the NPL this year. But we will up and about after a good week on the training track, and look forward to the challenge that awaits.

Devonport V Ulverstone 4.00pm Valley Road

Devonport will  be fresh after having the bye and will be looking to continue their unbeaten run this year when they host the Reds. Devonport have showed they have the depth to be successful in the V League and NPL. It will be interesting to see who plays in the NPL due to the V League kicking off before. The Reds will have to  shut down Peter Gilliam who is on fire in front of goals and one would suspect if there

is a long term injury in the V League he may get called up. Rod Andrews had these comments” Last time we played Ulverstone was in the Summer Cup Final, which resulted in us being soundly beaten by a much better team,  and my son getting sent off, so fair to say  it wasn’t a great day!

Bad weather and the bye have interrupted training over the past couple of weeks, but despite that there have been some really positive signs that we have noted. Pete Gilham has fully recovered from injury, and is beginning to show glimpses of his best form, and young Beau Blizzard has really settled in to the side and his role. So we are considerably stronger than we were earlier in the year, but have no illusions as to how tough it will be for us on Saturday.

Ulverstone will know whats at hand. Loose and drop off or win and sta in contention. The Reds are a very strong attacking team and when going forward press hard. The Conkie boys will be out to get the three points and young gun Connor Meanie will be hard to stop with his pace and skill.

It will be an interesting game and with Ulverstone being more physical may just get home.

Rangers V Prospect Knights 12.30pm Sunday NTCA2

With a Sunday match happening at the earlie kick off at 12.30 sees the NPL and reserves kicking off at the same time due to the V League. Rangers are travelling along nicely after beating to sides away after the last two weeks and will know that the Knights will be no easy beat as the records have shown over time. Brendan Litchendonk had this to say” After a hard fought and physical match against Burnie last week, we lost Yitay Towns to injury and will miss him this week, though with the Victory League squad almost 100% full, we have plenty of cover and should have a strong side to put out against Prospect.
We have 7 Victory League players at our disposal and Jae Kim is back from Korea now so he should have some impact in this game too.  We are starting to find some consistency now in the Premier League, and its

crucial that we build on that this week against Prospect Knights.

Prospect have lost one of their leader s in Mitch Duffy who had a bad clash last week and broke his leg but maybe veteran and George Dale medal winner Mark Baker may find him self strait into the ones after work commitments have seen him unavailable for a few months. Ray Heald said this” We have only one out at this time, Mitch Duffy Broken leg  

 Looks like Mark Baker in for his first game of the year, won’t decide until after training

Rangers are travelling well third on the ladder, The Knights will have to be at their best to take away the points, like all victory league clubs its a bit hard to know what players will line up, our seniors and reserves both play at 12.30 this week which is also not ideal, not sure what the rationale behind this is.

LADDER AFTER ROUND 6

1	Somerset	5	5	0	0	25	1	24	15
2	Devonport	5	5	0	0	19	5	14	15
3	Nth Rangers	6	4	0	2	11	6	5	12
4	Riverside	5	3	1	1	11	7	4	10
5	Prospect	6	2	1	3	15	11	4	7
6	Ulverstone	5	2	0	3	9	9	0	6
7	Burnie	6	1	0	5	5	25	-20	3
8	L'ton City	5	0	2	3	8	18	-10	2
9	L'ton United	5	0	0	5	2	23	-21	0

Launceston City sack Dane HUdson

Dane Hudson has been told to step down from Launceston City today. Dane was appointed V League coach for this year and was club coaching director last year.
Dane is the second V League coach to be sacked this year already after only 8 Rounds.
Dane and i will be in talks soon and he is happy to do an interview with the NPL Blog. I wish Dane all the best and hope he continues his coaching ambitions.
(there is a place at Somerset Dane ;-)....)

                Dane at the start of the year looking forward to coaching Launceston City in 2013

Weekend results

NPL

Ulverstone 0 lost to Somerset 1 (Nettleton)

Burnie 1 lost to Rangers 3 (Townes 2 Beard 1)

Prospect 5 def Launceston United 0

Riverside 4 drew with Launceston City 4

V League

Rangers 7 beat Launceston City 0

Tilford 6 beat Devonport 1

Will The Ladder Change After Round 6

Round 6 has some interesting fixtures in which will start to deterime the top 4 for finals at the end of the year. As we are only at round 6 I know it’s a big call but I cant see the bottom 3 making the top 4 all ready this year.

IF Somerset are to up set Ulverstone they will go to the top of the table with a better goal difference than Devonport who have the bye.

Burnie United V Northern Rangers 2:30 pm Montello

After conceding 15 goals and none for it doesn’t get any easier for Burnie this week who host the Rangers. The Rangers will be at the strongest they have been this year in the NPL because their V League team plays tonight which if they play their cards right the NPL side could have up to 7 V League squad members which will be making quiver in their boots if not already.

The current champs look good on paper and after making light work of Ulverstone last week away from home the Rangers will be full of confidence and expect nothing but a win. Rangers spokes person Brendon Litchendonk had this to say” Really happy with the win last week against Ulverstone, and we now turn our attention to a physical and determined Burnie. Our side won't be decided on until after the Victory League game, as if our subs don't make it on to the ground in that game, they will join the boys on the trip to Burnie.

Ray Parke is an experienced coach and a great motivator, the results have not been their for them of late, but we know the football they are able to play, and can cause trouble for anyone, particularly at Montello.

We have a pretty strong line up regardless of the Victory League proceedings, Sam Nugteren has been a great leader for our young guys from centre back, and Yitay Towns and Harry Thannhauser have been in inspired form in midfield.  Col Nicholson has been working closely on finishing our chances, as that has been letting us down and costing us results this year.

Col will be away for this match due to the passing of his Aunty, so we wish him all the best as he returns home to be closer to his family over the weekend.

Knights V Launceston United Prospect Park 2:30pm

This will be 3 points for Prospect at home. After playing some attractive football against Somerset last week coach Ray Heald will be looking for the same performance this week, Prospect should have Pip Atherton back in their line up this week along with Andrew Robinson. Prospect look like a solid side and have no problems with this game and a win will put them hot on the heels of the top 4.

The ever so young Nathan Balym and Paul Thompson control the back line for the Knights and will have their troops marching in tune this week.Ray Heald was happy the way his side is travelling and said this”

 Knights have their first home game for the first round and are looking forward to it.

Players out this week Nathan Balym, Liam Jarvis, In Andrew Robinson and Pip Atherton.

Next week we get last year’s captain back Mark Barker which will  assist our young squad as most players are under 21 except our veteran  Nathan Balym.

The seniors have been competitive but are struggling to take their opportunities in front goal.

Launceston were very competitive last week and unlucky not to get a win by all reports, Knights will need to improve on our last week’s effort to have a win at home.

Ulverstone V Somerset Sharks Ulverstone Show Grounds 2:30pm

Ulverstone will be looking to get back on the winners list this week with a home win against the Sharks. One would think that both the Conkie boys who didn’t play last week will be playing tomorrow to bolster the Reds attacking formation. Coach Stuart Mack will know this is a big game and another loss will put them intot he bottom 4 if they loose and Prospect win.

Somerset are looking to take top spot this week with a win and after having an ugly but gritty win last week against the Knights now know that even if they play bad they still know how to win. Ross Smith and Ryan Liston have been in formidable form to date and will be looking to carry this into tomorrows game. Somerset will be with out a couple of key players so this will test their depth but with Astyn Johnson coming into the starting 11 the squad still look strong. Kevin Considine had this to say” Unfortunately with a few injuries from the Prospect match & the unavailability of two of our better players, this weekend’s match against Ulverstone will need to see all of our players have to lift their games to come away with maximum points.

Riverside V Launceston City Windsor Park 2:30pm

Riverside are rolling along just nicely and seem to be under the radar sitting in 3^rd spot with only 1 loss so far for the year. Sam Hughs has been the main drive for Olympic and is in dangerous for with his lethal left foot any where from 30 yards and in. Olympic made a tough game for them selved last week after only beating United 2-1 and being 0-0 at half time. Wayne Penfold, Happy to take the 3 points would still be disappointed that Riverside didn’t make to much difference to their goal percentage. Coach Penfold said this about the game” It was good to get back into it last week against United. They put up a good contest and fought hard all game. I expect the same type of game this week against City. Their team will be an unknown though as they have had some players go up and down from their Victory League team. But we really need to focus on how we play. We need to dictate the pace of the game and play to our strengths. We have been creating a lot of chances this season, but our goal tally clearly shows we aren’t scoring enough goals. We have some talented players in our forward half and they need to have the confidence and belief in their ability to score goals and take their opportunities, starting this week against City.

Launceston City come into this game fresh after a week off. Much like the Rangers City should have a very strong NPL side tomorrow as well. With the V League squad starting to get injured and suspended player back. This will only strengthen their NPL side.

Rodger Mies seems to never age and will be again the target man for city and with the drive of Frosty and young gun Domonic Rossi this will make an interesting game.

Ladder After Round 5

1	Devonport	5	5	0	0	19	5	14	15
2	Somerset	4	4	0	0	24	1	23	12
3	Riverside	4	3	0	1	7	3	4	9
4	Nth Rangers	5	3	0	2	8	5	3	9
5	Ulverstone	4	2	0	2	9	8	1	6
6	Prospect	5	1	1	3	10	11	-1	4
7	Burnie	5	1	0	4	4	22	-18	3
8	L'ton City	4	0	1	3	4	14	-10	1
9	L'ton United	4	0	0	4	2	18	-16	0