Launceston City host Riverside Olympic in NPL Tasmania derby

With Glenorchy not playing until the following day, City coach Daniel Syson knows three points will see his third-placed team leapfrog Knights, albeit possibly for just a few hours.

Syson said City's Lakoseljac Cup exit had presented them with time to reflect on the first round of matches, which began with a 2-0 victory in the season-opener against Olympic.

Since then, only leaders Devonport (2-0) and Clarence (2-1) have beaten City, with victories over Glenorchy (1-0), Kingborough (4-3) and Launceston United (3-1) leading up to an excellent 1-1 draw at South Hobart.

"We've had an enjoyable week without a fixture which has brought the group closer together," Syson said.

"We have gone over a detailed review of our first round of games in terms of the areas we are excelling in and the areas we need to get better at.

"So Friday will be a case of getting three points and putting in another performance and setting up a positive start to a new round of fixtures."

Only Strikers have prevented City from finding the net with five players already multiple scorers led by Stef Tantari on three goals.

In contrast, Olympic have found the target just four times, half of which were penalties and the other half came in their solitary 2-1 win against Launceston United.

Import striker Andre Chamusca has scored twice and returns from suspension but swaps places with defender Zac Reissig who picked up a fifth yellow card in the last game against Clarence so will miss turning out against his former team.

Coach Helder Dos Santos Silva has fond memories of derby matches from his playing days.

"I honestly could say that there is nothing better than games like this, the emotions they bring on and off the pitch and the build-up," he said.

"Derbies shape coaching careers, because you are always remembered for winning or losing these games.

"City have won a lot of games this season so far, they have a good team with a good coach and will be playing at home. But I think we will be more prepared than we were in beginning of the season when we played them.

"My boys are ready for these kind of games. We are losing games, but we never lose our character."

The Portuguese tactician has taken to calling his young charges the "Fergie Fledglings", in reference to Alex Ferguson's Manchester United class of '92, and is backing them to keep growing into statewide soccer.

"They are good enough to compete at this level for Riverside, and can't be a negative factor to us. All the time it is 11 v 11, there is a 50 per cent chance to both sides."

Launceston United are still looking for their first NPL Tasmania points but continue to make positive progress having started preparations for the campaign after all of their rivals.

Three goals from English import David Owusu have kept United in the hunt but coach Fernando Munoz will be desperate for some point return as they embark on a second round of fixtures.

Meanwhile, United's women's team have been left in little doubt who will present the biggest challenge to their league and cup title defences.

South Hobart not only sit top of the Women's Super League ladder with six wins and a draw under their belts, but await United in the Statewide Cup final after storming past Devonport in their semi-final at the weekend.

Having locked in a third-straight statewide cup final, United sit third in the league on the back of five wins and two losses to South (0-2) and Strikers (0-3) - the only time their free-scoring frontline have been kept out so far this season.

Nick Rawlinson's squad survived a late Kingborough fightback to win their last match 3-2 and have already found the net 22 times with Dani Gunton and Courtney Marten scoring eight each.

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