The Englishman's goals laid the foundations for Northern Rangers' Northern Championship title win last season but his transfer up Westbury Road has ushered in a new dimension in terms of quality.

"I don't think I've scored two better goals in my career," Gerrard said after claiming a top quality double in Saturday's 2-1 win at Prospect.

An overhead kick from Gedi Krusa's corner was surpassed by a Beckham-esque long-range drive which caught Nathan Pitchford off his line.

"The first one, the ball came in and I've run past it so it was behind me but I've hooked my right foot around it and jumped in the air at the same time," said the goal-sneak from Reading. "It felt like about a minute before it hit the net.

"With the second one, about five seconds before I saw him off his line so when Sam Ridgard, my housemate, won the ball, I took a touch and zinged it. I knew it was going in. I put my hand up while it was in the air."

Gerrard hopes the win will kickstart City's abridged NPL Tasmania campaign which begins on Saturday.

"We're just buzzing to get our first win and go into the season knowing we are a strong team.

"It's brilliant. Beating the champions will give us lots of confidence going into the season.

"We've got a tough game next week against South Hobart but we've already played Olympia and Devonport who are two of the best teams.

"We've set a target to be a top-three team and, as we've seen against Devonport, we are capable of that.

"We have good players, a new team spirit and a new manager, you'll see a lot more good football from us this season."