Thursday 22 May 2014

Riverside can take top spot

This week Wayne Penfolds troops can stamp their authority on the league and go a game clear at the top with Somerset having the bye. Burnie could be sitting in the 4 if Ulverstone and the Rangers draw and at Mitsubishi Park it will be the battle of the cellar dwellers and if City win they equal United on points.

Devonport V Burnie United 2:30 pm Valley Road
Burnie United will be looking to get their season back on track with an away win to Devonport. United had the week off last week and will be fresh and ready to fire early. After watching them against the Rangers Burnie look as if they have a new game style and working a treat. Andy Gibson will no doubt be a work horse that he is known for and with his left hand man Trent Potts in the mix Burnie should control the midfield. If Brad Ryan is on song it will be 3 points for United.

Launceston City V Launceston United 2:30 pm Mitsubishi Park
City will no doubt be looking to rebound after last weeks thrashing by the Sharks. The game didn't really reflect the score line. Yes Somerset were good but in patches Citys formation and game plan worked and looked really good. City looked really strong in the back line with veteran Roger Mies controlling the ship. Add Launceston United having three players sent off last week and City will know they are in with a chance.

Ulverstone V Rangers 2:30 pm Ulverstone show ground
Apart from the out come of the Riverside V Prospect game. This would be the game of the round. Both clubs fighting at the moment to cement thier place in the top 4. Ulverstone had a strong win last week away from home and would be feeling very confiedent that they can match the Rangers at home. John Wood and Kiren Meaney have been the avenue to goal for the Reds so far this year and Ulverstone will be looking for these guys to fire.
The Rangers know how important this game is for the club and the team at the end of the year, Rangers play a very fast attractive passing game and on their day could punish any team in the competition. Rangers coach would of had his boys up and about this week at training and would have drilled into his players head how important this game is. Add 2 new signings to the starting 11 and it could be a happy trip back to Launceston Saturday night. Brendan Litchendonk said this"This week we travel to Ulverstone for a tough match against a resurgent Reds.

I caught their game against Prospect last week and was impressed with what Stuart Mack has put together given the concerns at the start of the year.  Some boys have obviously returned who have been missing in the last couple of years, and that is a terrific thing for Ulverstone, a club I have a soft spot for, but that will go hard on Saturday, given we want to win.

Laing looked super in the middle for them against Knights, and they have some pace up front, so we will work to counter these things, and couple of other moments in their game.  Our forward three will need to be clinical as Smith in goals for them will be hard to beat.

We lost Adam McIntyre before kick off last week with a quad tare, realistically I knew he wouldn't get up as he had been sore for a couple of days, we put him through the test before kick off and it was evident he was no good, that caused a bit of a re shuffle at the last minute, as we are bare bones at the moment with the ridiculous restrictions on us, and I think City suffered dearly to these rules against Somerset as well.  But that is a story for another day.

As a result we have signed two new players this week to the club, Lewis Fazackerly from Beachside and Jack Harrison from Tilford Zebras, both these lads will provide that depth we are craving at the moment, and it looks as though Dylan Headland might be ready for an early return next week too, all of these lads have looked really sharp at training and I know they are chomping at the bit to get out there, so we are starting to get back to where we should have been at the start of the year.

Final line up wont be known until after Friday's Victory League clash with City, but we know basically who we have, baring another injury at training.

Ulverstone will be tough, but we need to go there for 3 points, as the draw on Saturday did neither us nor Devonport any good, only two wins to this point of the year is not good enough, so the boys know we must start winning.

Riverside V Prospect 2:30 pm Windsor Park
In a must win game for Olympic,They will have to pass the hurdle of Prospect.Even if the Knights are not travelling well they still will put a fight up against the undefeated Riverside.Christopher Wademan had been a wrecking ball and causing headaches this year for all clubs leading the goal scoring wit 10 goals and Todd Mitchell is chasing him down with 6. 16 goals between to players is massive and the Knights will have to shut these 2 down to atleast stop the goals but the flow to the forward line is massive too. Ray Heald aid this"
Zac Vanasch and Roy Bwabi out this week red cards.
 
Injuries and availabilities have had a huge impact on the seniors this year so far, with only three players, playing every game.
 
Two  players back in this week Trent Mitchell, Mitch Duffy, our effort last week against Ulverstone was very disappointing, and will need to improve vastly, if we are to be competitive against Riverside undefeated this year.

Wayne Penfold is proving he has the team to go all the way this year and that his coaching skills are up there with the best, He had this to say"This week we face Prospect who are somewhat of a bogey side for us. I felt that the game we played against them last year was the worst performance we have put together in the last 18 months. That’s been a motivation for us this week on the track.

A win this week will see us take the lead at the top of the table as current leaders Somerset have the bye this week. It’s all irrelevant at this time of the year though as we haven’t even reached the half way mark of the season. It’s a great position to be in, but there is plenty of action left in the season.

 Matthew Chapman returns to the side and Matthew Youd makes way and will have a run in the Reserves.

Ladder after Round 7

1Somerset76013052518
2Riverside66002351818
3Devonport741228171113
4Nth Rangers62221213-18
5Ulverstone6213111107
6Burnie6204915-66
7Prospect6204719-126
8L'ton United6114619-134
9L'ton City6015628-221

 


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