Under any other circumstances, a 1-1 draw with second-placed South Hobart would be cause for celebration, but conceding the equaliser so late having clung onto a lead for nearly half an hour a man down was a kick in the teeth for Lino Sciulli's determined young guns.

"I thought we'd done enough to win but you never know until that final whistle goes," he said.

"South Hobart are a very good team when everything's equal and we had worked extremely hard when we were down to 10 men."

Sciulli said he had no complaints about the red card shown to last season's player of the year Matty Oh for a second caution early in the second half and was left to rue several missed chances to kill the game off with a second goal.

Will Fleming's first NPL goal, from a Jarrod Linger cross late in the first half had given the hosts a surprise half-time lead.

South squandered several glorious chances to equalise, most notably the normally deadly Nick Morton, as Lachy Clark's goal led something of a charmed life.

But when Stef Tantari was twice denied as he looked certain to score and a curler from returning midfield general Gedi Krusa bounced back off the crossbar, the writing was on the wall for the nervous and wet home supporters.

Marcus Eugster confirmed their fears by finally finding a way past Clark from the edge of the box to limit City's points haul to just a fourth for the season.

Earlier in the day, RIVERSIDE had been blown away by a Devonport storm at windswept Valley Road.

With branches from nearby trees being blown onto the pitch, the perennial champions had too much puff, sweeping to a 6-1 win.

Olympic maintained their record of scoring in every league game this season but still have just one point to show for it.

With 17-year-old keeper Will Ferrall still deputising for the suspended Dan Nash, Jasper King sick and Toby Simeoni concussed, Olympic coach Alex Gaetani was glad to welcome back the experience of Ryan McCarragher at centre-back.

The versatile veteran barely put a foot wrong while Fletcher Fulton was his usual menacing self up front but the Strikers were simply too good, ruthlessly exploiting the visitors' defensive frailty.

"Devonport deserved to win for sure, but not by that much," reported coach Alex Gaetani.

"For our young keeper it's a huge challenge coming here and playing against this lot and they took advantage of that.

"He pulled off some amazing saves for a young man and I just don't think the score reflected the game. It was a lot closer than that.

"I cannot criticise any players but when we gave the ball away they punished us.

"It's a maturity thing, a confidence thing and an experience thing and Devonport are a very confident bunch of boys."

Miles Barnard had already hit the crossbar before Connor Parke headed in Joel Stone's 19^th-minute cross and Stone doubled the lead on the half-hour with a sublime long-range chip over Ferrall.

Barnard set up Brody Denehey for the third before Fulton reduced the arrears with a shot which deflected over Nathan Pitchford.

Three goals in the final 20 minutes somewhat flattered the hosts, Charles Bidwell firing in from a corner before Denehey completed a hat-trick, the second a stunning far-post finish.

Glenorchy Knights extended their lead at the top with a 3-0 win over Kingborough at KGV while Clarence Zebras galloped to a 4-1 derby win over eastern shore rival Olympia.

LAUNCESTON UNITED will turn their thoughts to the Statewide Cup final after a third consecutive league loss, 1-0 at South Hobart.

Co-coach Frank Compton wasn't making any excuses as the hosts added to defeats against Olympia and Devonport.

"We defended well and seemed most likely to score but failed to capitalise on good positions and were punished by a bit of quality," Compton said.

"We came close but were a bit hesitant in the vital moments.

"We'll pick ourselves up and prepare for the cup final."

United are due to face reigning league champions Olympia Warriors in the cup final on Monday, June 14, at KGV.