LAUNCESTON UNITED went top of the men's Northern Championship and maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 defeat of RIVERSIDE.
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Coach Glenn Reading said his side's return of two wins and two draws was a huge improvement on last season.
"We lost our first three last year so it's a helluva better start," he said.
"I'm pleased with the boys. They are doing what we're asking, put in 100 per cent and we're happy with the three points."
In their first home game of the campaign, United had to stay patient at Birch Avenue.
Kept level by some fine Greg Duffy goalkeeping, they did not break the deadlock until the 72nd minute, killed off the contest five minutes later and iced the cake in the final seconds.
Aidan Rigby broke the deadlock with a tidy finish from Will Compagne's cross and kept his composure from the penalty spot after Will Rodman was fouled, but the goal of the game saw Sam Lowe waltz through from defence late on.
Riverside gave Mexican import Jhostan Padron some welcome game time but were left ruing first-half profligacy.
"Very disappointing," was coach Wayne Penfold's terse summary.
"That's not how we want to play. We were the better side before the break but could not put it away and it ended up costing us.
"We worked the ball well upfield but lacked quality with the final pass."
United were able to assume top spot courtesy of beating Riverside combined with leaders LAUNCESTON CITY's surprise 5-1 loss at Ulverstone.
Meanwhile, NORTHERN RANGERS kept their title defence on track with a 2-0 defeat of Burnie United at the NTCA Ground.
Hayden Vandervelde and Lachlan Dean scored the goals to keep Fernando Munoz's side in the hunt with seven points from four games.
In the women's league, fourth-placed NORTHERN RANGERS held unbeaten leaders Burnie United to a 3-3 draw at the NTCA Ground
Febey Pearce continued her excellent scoring record for Ian Loft's side, while Moana Chamberlain added a third from an Abbie Chugg corner.
Second-placed LAUNCESTON CITY took full advantage with a 6-0 win at struggling Ulverstone.
The goals were shared around between Joanne Hodge, captain Kiara Walsh, Darcie Reilly, Zali Kirkman, Sarah Campbell and new arrival from Launnie United, Jade Ruffo.
Coach Barry Baker said the result came at a cost with his daughter Chelsea and Sophia Smith both suffering knee injuries.
"It was nice to win comfortably but we did not come through unscathed," he said.
"It was a good, strong team effort but there's still plenty of room to improve."
LAUNCESTON UNITED also leapfrogged Burnie with a 1-0 win against RIVERSIDE OLYMPIC at Birch Avenue.
Adilat Otto scored the only goal on a day when both coaches heaped praise on Olympic keeper Maddie Davies.
"We dominated possession and knocked the ball around nicely and should really have scored more," said United boss Cameron Heazlewood.
"I'm pretty proud of how well they have played so far. But we'll just keep plugging away, move onto the next game and not buy into any hype."
Olympic's Jo Haezebrouck said his side lost their way in midfield after the break and were left chasing the game.
"If I'm honest, a 1-0 loss is about fair," he said.
"If we had been a bit smarter, we could have made more use of the pace of Mia (Findlay) and Meg (Connolly) and created more chances."
Devonport Strikers appeared to be on course for a huge goal difference boost with reports of a cricket score against Somerset at Valley Road.