Preview: Devonport Strikers v Bentleigh Greens
Devonport Strikers v Bentleigh Greens
Tuesday 30 August 2016
Valley Road, Devonport (TAS)
Kick-off: 8:00pm local (8:00pm AEST)
Referee: Daniel Elder
Assistant Referee 1: Paul Cetrangolo
Assistant Referee 2: James Hortle
Fourth Official: Shaun Evans
Tickets: Click here for ticketing details
Online Broadcast: Streamed online at www.foxsports.com.au/football/ffa-cup/ffacupondemand and Apple TV via FOX SPORTS Now
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tags #DEVvBGR #FFACup
Devonport Strikers squad: 1.Nikolas Giantsopoulos (gk), 2.Bradley Chilcott, 3.Dominic Smith, 4.Beau Blizzard, 5.Joseph Zupo, 6.Jesse Dance, 7.Brody Denehey, 8.Kieran Mulraney, 9.Brayden Mann, 10.Joel Stone, 11.Adam Gorrie, 12.Chris McKenna, 14.Miles Barnard, 15.Mitchell Blake, 16.Todd Hingston, 18.Michael Dahya, 19.Jack Dance, 21.Thomas Pearce (gk), 22.Harrison Wicks, 23.Nathan Gratton, 25.Lindsay Millington
Bentleigh Greens squad: 1.Ryan Scott (gk), 2.Nick Apostolopulos, 5.Jack Webster, 6.Liam McCormick, 8.Wayne Wallace, 10.Tyson Holmes, 11.Dion Kirk, 12.Josh Brindell-South, 14.Kamal Ibrahim, 15.Ross Archibald, 16.Troy Ruthven, 17.John Maclean, 18.Matthew Thurtell, 19.Kieran Dover, 20.Marinos Panayi, 21.James Burgess (gk), 22.Ryan Paczkowski, 23.Naim Delibajric, 24.Luke Pilkington
Bluffer’s Guide
Something special is going on in Devonport. The club is making Cup history, smashing their league and unearthing future stars of the A-League. They are one of the hottest clubs in the NPLs right now.
The Strikers are the first Tassie side to play for a place in the FFA Cup quarter-finals and they backed up that by winning their PS4 NPL title.
Striker Brayden Mann claimed the league’s golden boot award, hitting 22 goals from 21 matches as Peter Savill’s side finished the season eight points clear at the top.
And they warmed for their Westfield FFA Cup with an emphatic 4-0 win over Olympia Warriors in the Tasmanian NPL League Cup quarter finals on the weekend.
In short, the Strikers are having a peach of a season in the Apple Isle and with keeper Nico Giantsopoulos, they surely have one of the best keepers around after his top drawer showing against Lambton Jaffas in the Round of 32.
The Canadian keeping Tasmania's FFA Cup dream alive
Their reward is another home clash at Valley Road this time against highly rated 2014 Cup semi-finalists Bentleigh Greens.
Bentleigh were also crowned their state’s premiers, having finished six points clear on top of Victoria’s PS4 NPL ladder.
As such they had the weekend off from any Elimination Finals commitments, which is handy at this stage of the season ahead of their trip across the water.
The Greens are one of the best-run, well-funded clubs in Victoria and they’ll be absolutely ready for whatever is thrown at them at the “Portress”.
