Round 13 Lucky For Some

Round 13, Will be lucky for some but not others. There are some critical matches being played tomorrow with some out comes may set the ladder for the rest of the year. There is a jam on the ladder from 3^rd to 5^th with only 1 point separating all teams(according to FFT).

The block buster will be an early game being played at 12 in Devonport followed by some other interesting games kicking off at 2:30.

Devonport V Rangers 12pm Valley Road Devonport

This game is very important for both teams and should be a high paced and free flowing game as both sides play the same structure and have equally the same amount of talent on both sides.

Devonport will be looking to get their title chances back on track after having a hiccup against the Knights last week. With Peter Gilham back in the NPL side this will strengthen the Strikers forward line and will be looking to him to bag a few. The Strikers find them selves only a point  in front of the Sharks and with the Sharks holding a game in hand and Devonport will know a win is the only out come to keep pressure on at the top of the table. Rod Andrews said this”

We have an Under 16 Team returning from the Kanga Cup in Canberra on Saturday which has complicated selections, but we also have our V. League playing at home which helps a bit.

Rangers play good football and can be dangerous on their day, so it's not a game we will take likely.

Rangers on the other hand will also be thinking a win is the only out come as they sit nicely in 4^th spot and a win will see them pressure Ulverstone in 3^rd. Rangers have put some good wins together of late and will be looking to continue this trend. Brendan Lichtendonk had this to say” Devonport away this week is a tricky match for our Premier League side, whilst we have put a nice run of wins on the board now, they have not been that convincing and we are not getting too carried away.  Devonport will be a tough match, but our side will be more settled this week with the Victory League playing on Sunday, giving us the opportunity to play the entire bench from that game in the Premier League.
Its a critical match for both teams, for Devonport if they want to take the NPL title, and for us to try and get ourselves into third place or even higher.

Launceston United V Ulverstone Birch Ave 2:30 pm

Launceston will be fresh coming off the bye and should have a full squad to pick from but they face an up hill battle in hosting Ulverstone. Shannon Rumble will no doubt be superb in between the sticks and will keep United in the game and hold it to a respectable score.

Ulverstone will be missing veteran Shaun Conkie but will have enough fire power to cover him for this week. Brother Adam will be the one to stop if United are a chance to steel the points.

Burnie United V Somerset Sharks Montello 2:30pm

Burnie United are at home this week after having 2 weeks on the road. They host the Sharks in what should be a physical encounter going by previous history. Burnie have been weekend this week with either suspensions or injurys. Dom Culburt is out along with Kye Semour who is coming back through the reserves after injury.

Pete VanEk had this to say”

we got Dom culbert (suspended) josh daily (away) out and trent potts doubtful. We just looking to improve on last round.

Somerset will be looking to continue its form and add to its gaol difference because it may come down to that at the end of the year for the Sharks. Somerset keep its same line up as it did against their 6-1 win over Launceston City. Josh Goodwin keeps his place over the experienced James Nettleton and  Sam Phillips Crole, Kevin Considine said this” The Sharks take on the much improved Burnie at Montello in our local derby this weekend and will need to be at their best for the full 90 minutes to ensure full points in another danger game. The Sharks will be close to full strength, and with assistant coach Sam Cocks sure to have the guys revved up for the match the Sharks should prevail in a close one!

Prospect Knight V Launceston City 2:30 pm Prospect Park

Prospect are at home again this week hosting cross fence neighbours City. In another must win game Prospect they will be up and about with a Chinese import playing his first game for the club. Coach Ray Heald will have his troops up and about after late week near beating ladder leaders Devonport in a game where the club should have won. Ray Heald said this”

Sean Harris in this week  for his first Game thru the reserves new player student  Xuechen Zhang from china signed this week looking forward to see him play.

Launceston city have been very competitive of late although  looking at the score last week against the sharks doesn’t reflect this.

Our last encounter  with city was a draw we had a few players missing from that game, and should have full squad this time around , so looking forward to this one at home.

Last week against Devonport we failed to score when it counted so have worked on this again during the week and hoping we can do better in front of goals in this game

Launceston City will know what they have to do to keep the Knights at bay and with Domonic Rossi back and Will Egan from suspension, City would be confident of matching their opponents. The ever green Roger Mies will be looking to add to his 10 goals for this year so far and Prospect will need to shut him down early to stop this.

Ladder After Round 12

1	Devonport	11	9	1	1	38	13	25	28
2	Somerset	10	9	0	1	49	7	42	27
3	Ulverstone	9	6	0	3	20	11	9	18
4	Nth Rangers	10	6	0	4	19	16	3	18
5	Prospect	11	5	2	4	26	19	7	17
6	Riverside	10	3	1	6	13	20	-7	10
7	Burnie	10	3	0	7	11	28	-17	9
8	L'ton City	11	2	2	7	18	37	-19	8
9	L'ton United	10	0	0	10	3	46	-43