second half fightback helped Clarence United chalk up their first victory of the 2017 NPL TAS season as they recovered from a 1-0 half time deficit to defeat Launceston City 2-1 in their home opener.

It was Launceston City who started the sharper of the two sides with Linger and O’Connor looking particularly lively. They duly took the lead after 11 minutes when O’Connor crossed for Compagne to tap home from close range.

For the first 20 minutes it was all City, as they peppered the Clarence area with crosses and balls played in there but the Clarence defence was holding firm to prevent falling two behind as the City midfield bossed the contest.

Paul Bremner then tried to inspire his side and flung himself for a diving header in the box, getting down very low where Goold collected him in the face as he cleared the ball. It left Bremner bleeding profusely but after some quick repairs he was back on with the bandaged forehead and immediately proceeded to get involved. He turned superbly on the by-line before being brought down and really should have been awarded a penalty. His protests were waived away however and the score remained 1-0.

Clarence were fighting their way back into the contest as the half wore on and they should have been back on terms shortly before the break when a prime chance fell to Sam Randall in the box after some nice work from Robb and Stuart. The left footer lacked conviction with his right footed shot however and fired straight at the keeper.

The final chance of the half fell to Campbell, who volleyed over the top after the impressive Linger had crossed for him. The two sides heading into the sheds at 1-0 City with everything still to play for.

City again jumped out of the blocks the stronger side but as close as they came to scoring was a long range Dylan Williams free kick that Randall pushed over the bar. The central defensive pairing of Hedge and Malcolm were outstanding for Clarence and they were preventing the City forwards from finding any meaningful space around the area.

Clarence came close to leveling when Jake Stuart rounded Smith and fired from outside the box but a sprawling Compagne tracked back and produced a great sliding block to clear it off the line.

Minutes later Clarence had their equaliser in a chaotic 30 seconds of play. Smith saved superbly to deny a Hedge header before Grant Malcolm crunched an absolute howitzer into the cross bar but Naden was on hand to stroke home the rebound.

It inspired the Reds as the momentum firmly swung in the game and even though Smith made a superb diving save to keep it at 1-1, the pressure told and Bremner soon had Clarence ahead.

A long throw into the box was not dealt with by the City defence and the man they call Billy was on hand to turn it home and give his side the lead 15 minutes from time.

City pushed men on to try and find an equaliser but despite a pair of threatening set pieces, they could not find it and the Reds held on to claim their first win of the season.

Both sides will feel they could have won the game and both had their chances to do so. On balance it was a pretty even contest but it was Clarence who ran the game out the stronger and took the three points. Bremner was inspirational up front but their victory was built at the back with Malcolm and Hedge playing superbly. The return of Richard Heath was also important as it allowed Nick Naden to be used further up the ground, which offered a creative dimension that they had been lacking. City faded out of the game somewhat but the likes of O’Connor, Linger and Williams all showed their class at stages throughout the match and had they been able to put a second goal away early in the game when they were on top, it might well have been a different story