Riverside Olympic were given a rude awakening in a 3-1 preseason defeat on Saturday from the moment the new NPL Tasmania side stepped out onto the pitch.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It took just three minutes in the club’s opening season friendly for Hobart Zebras to put Riverside behind a goal.
A second defensive error in the 30th minute had the visitors at Hobart down 2-0.
But Alex Gaetani’s men finally opened their account on the statewide stage.
The Roos turned to an experienced NPL hand to bring the margin back to 2-1 deficit halfway through the clash.
Ryan Kinslow ran hard and created space for returning Riverside junior and former Launceston City star Aaron Campbell to score.
But the Zebras added a third and the match-sealer despite some encouraging signs in the second half from last season’s Northern Championship titleholders.
It also proved a massive turnaround from a 11-1 loss to Zebras 12 months earlier.
City fine-tuned its season kickoff next month at St Patrick’s College with a sound 2-1 win over Northern Rangers.
The championship-only side initially took a surprise first-half lead, scoring off a near-post corner. But City struck back in a match where they nearly rotated a brand new side after the interval.
Noah Mies goaled from the spot to equalise after teammate Aaron Mattarozzi was brought down in the box.
Daniel Smith scored City’s second minutes later from the top of the box with a well-placed right-foot shot in the bottom corner of the net.
Love local sport? You should sign up to our new sports newsletter.