They had pointed that the much-anticipated derby was heading the wrong direction.

Two times into attack, two shots on goal, just 60 seconds apart, and all of a sudden Launceston City had two goals coming too easily.

Only its third shot on goal – and last for the first half – and City were three up.

That’s all it took to put the game beyond doubt – and the Challenge Cup’s keeping safe for another year – in a 4-1 win over Northern Rangers.

City caretaker coach Roger Mies was content to bank a win in the chase to regain the NPL Tasmania lead.

But the club stalwart was far from prepared to lavish praise on the side’s effort.

“It was good to get the early start in the first half with those couple of goals,” Mies said. “But the second half was really disappointing, especially the last 20 minutes.

“We just let them come back into the game – we should have put them away.”

The victory was cold comfort for the home side after Devonport City sealed a 3-0 win against Hobart Zebras.

Strikers were tracking for a scoreless draw until Kieran Mulraney came good in the 64th minute and Joel Stone struck twice in 11 minutes.

That has ensured Devonport maintain their handy five-point buffer at the top.

City showed its intentions when Daniel Syson started the rot after eight minutes and Noah Mies followed his captain’s lead soon after, the pair finding gaping holes in the Rangers’ defence.

Mies secured a double in the shadows of half-time.

Tyler Fischer scored his 17th goal for the season in the 52nd minute.

City took its foot off the throat as the second-placed side lacked the killer blow to put away their rivals.

“There is a bigger prize at stake than the derby – we’re more concerned about getting three points,” Mies said.

“We wanted to build momentum for the rest of the season and I’m disappointed that we started well, but couldn’t build that momentum for the rest of the game.

“We’ve got to play for 90 minutes – 45 minutes is just not acceptable.”

Rangers lack of polish hurt the vistors upfront.

Six shots on goal to three in the first half and a further four shots off told the story.

“I thought in the first half we had good possession, but we didn’t pass it when we possibly should have passed it,” coach Lino Sciulli said.

“We probably held onto it more than we should have.

“Players stopped making runs for that very reason.”

Rangers captain Nick Lanau-Atkinson missed a chance to put his side on the board from the penalty spot.

Salt was further rubbed into the wounds when minutes later lanau-Atkinson had a goal disallowed for offside, earning a yellow card in the process for disputing the call.

But only a 86th-minute goal from a corner saved face for Sciulli’s men.

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