Clarence keep alive their final hopes with win over Taroona

Photos (Top to Bottom): The sparse attendance at South Hobart ground for the Clarence versus Taroona match is clear for everyone to see; Taroona's Hugo Luttmer shoots past Clarence keeper Cameron Sweeney but he was off target; "I told them what to do," says Clarence coach Andrew Brown; Franco Previdi has balls as he watches Clarence warm up; Clarence assistant coach Franco Previdi shows his juggling skills; The Clarence bench and supporters, including the South African diamond merchant, or is he really an NFL talent scout on the hunt for place-kickers for the Sea Hawks; Clarence's Adam McIntyre closes in on Taroona's Llewyn Tubb as Matt Lewis lies in wait; Taroona's Llewyn Tubb seems to have eluded McIntyre; Clarence's talented Nathan Rees chips the ball forward; Clarence's Nathan Rees, who is very skilful with the ball, was finally given a start and is shown heading the ball clear of the danger zone; Clarence keeper Cameron Sweeney catches the ball [PlessPix]

Premier League Section Summer Cup (Group B, South Hobart, Saturday, 27 February 2010)

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Clarence United 3 (Hamlett 10, S McIntyre 37, A Nandan 42)

Taroona 0

HT: 1-0 Att: 80 Ref: S Collins

Clarence United: Sweeney - A McIntyre, Lewis, Parker, Rees - Hunt, L Huigsloot, Stevens, Nandan - S McIntyre, Hamlett [Interchange: Toghill, Ling, Sweetten, Malcolm] [Coach: Andrew Brown]

Taroona: Nettlefold - Darragh Carey, Wyatt, Johnson, Tubb - Dove, Duncan Carey, James, Atkinson - Luttmer, Hamilton [Interchange: Gates, Hortle, Wright] [Coach: Ben Horgan]

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Taroona finished the tournament in last place in Group B and without having scored a goal.

They deserved better than that as their play was promising at times. But, their finishing was atrocious.

Clarence needed to win to stay in contention for a place in the final, and they did that comfortably.

Ben Hamlett put Clarence in front in the 10^th minute with a fine shot from range on the right and they went in leading 1-0 at half-time.

Seven minutes into the second period, a precise left-wing cross by Alex Nandan gave Sam McIntyre the easiest of goals as he prodded the ball into the net from close range.

Midway through the half, Nandan showed how good his corners can be and how poor the Taroona defence is when he scored the third direct from his in-swinging, left-footed corner from the right.

It was a soft goal to concede and Taroona have much to work on before their Premier League debut.

Failure to finish was again evident when Taroona’s Hugo Luttmer put Marc Gates away on the right.

His shot was partially blocked by Clarence keeper Cameron Sweeney and the ball fell to Garry Hamilton, who missed an open goal.

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· Clarence United coach, Andrew Brown, said:

“There were some pleasing patches today.

“We were disappointed last week that we didn’t have much penetration.

“Today, we worked on making sure our wingers and our forwards were taking players on, which was nice to see because we scored some good goals out of it, which is always pleasing.

“We still have areas to work on defensively, but I thought we improved and are moving forward.

“The result is a good one for the competition because it means Knights and Kingborough have got something to play for tomorrow and, with a bit of luck they’ll go at each other and Kingborough will get a result, but only just.”

· Taroona coach, Ben Horgan, said:

“Just poor concentration for the first ten minutes of both halves coughed up some easy goals.

“Second half, Alex Nandan on the left killed us and it took us a while to get to grips with him.

“By that stage, it was all over.

“I still don’t know what we have to do to get the ball in the back of the net.”