It took just mere minutes to get on the scoresheet, but Northern Rangers coach Lino Sciulli has predicted new Canadian signing Kwin Kensley still has a plenty left in his bag of tricks.
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Not only just spectacular inverted flips during short-lived goal celebrations.
“He showed us a couple of things I won’t just reveal yet...but they’ll all find out soon enough,” Sciulli said.
“He has a couple of special qualities that I am really going to use, for sure.”
Sciulli had no hesitation drafting Kensley into Saturday’s starting line-up against Hobart Zebras after last week being substituted into the game for the final 20 minutes.
A day after gaining a clearance from his Sydney club to play Kingborough Lions, the debutant straight away made an impact scoring a screamer past a body of defenders.
“He showed signs of being a very good player,” Sciulli said. “He reads the game very well and hopefully for the next month or two he can do a really good job for us.”
Sciulli said the 23-year-old’s onfield leadership was also clearly noticeable.
“He talks to the guys on the field, which is something we are lacking and he has good positioning,” he said.
“He also has very good vision, so there’s no reason he can’t pass that on to help.”
Zebras enter the clash with a sizeable 10-point lead over the next-placed Rangers.
Sciulli hasn’t hidden his ambition to finish top four in a sweeping statement.
He admits causing an upset at home is crucial to the chances of closing the gap.
“We’ll look at it at the end of the year, and say we did better than we did last year and be happy,” Sciulli said.
“But while we’re still playing, I want to finish as high as we can and win as many games as we possibly can.”
Launceston City, currently languishing towards the NPL bottom, face a tough away battle to Olympia Warriors.
Olympia will be further motivated to find touch ahead of being drawn against APIA Leichhardt in the round of 32 of the FFA Cup.
But City coach Ben Brookfield won’t be intimidated from blooding more youngsters into the club’s NPL side.
“I like to think we’ll play some good football, but again it’s just been a learning curve for me and a lot of the squad,” he said. “We’ve had people getting more experience this season so it’s really been a transitioning year.”
But just sitting six points behind Rangers, chasing fifth is still a realistic goal for the side looking for its second league win of the season.
“It comes down, at the end of the day, we haven’t beaten the teams around us and that’s why we are in this position,” Brookfield said.
“It’s a good year to get young kids in before any (NPL) promotion/relegation.
“We just haven’t got a conveyor belt of experienced players to pick from.”
He showed us a couple of things I won’t just reveal yet
- Northern Rangers coach Lino Sciulli after Canadian Kwin Kensley's stunning debut