Lakoseljac Cup Final too close to call

Photo:  South Hobart's Nick Morton and Hugh Ludford at a media conference last week [PlessPix]

South Hobart take on Devonport City at 3.30pm at KGV Park tomorrow [Monday] in the final of the Lakoseljac Cup competition.

The winner will represent Tasmania in the FFA Cup.

The draw for the Round-of-32 in the FFA Cup will me made on Wednesday, 26 June 2019.

Devonport are the holders of the trophy, and they also won it in 2016.

South Hobart’s last win was in 2015.  They have won it five times.

Tomorrow’s cup final promises to be an epic battle between two of the State’s leading teams.

Devonport tops the NPL Tasmania standings and is 8 points ahead of South Hobart.

League form may not have any bearing on cup performance, however, and South Hobart will certainly be up to the challenge.

Photo:  Nick Morton and Hugh Ludfiord being grilled by the media [PlessPix]

Striker Darcy Hall has recovered from injury and has been training well and will be included in the South Hobart squad.

South Hobart coach Ken Morton has plenty of depth in his squad and it will be interesting to see if he outs faith in the youngsters who have served him so well in league matches recently.

Captain Hugh Ludford is certain to start.  He is looking in better physical shape than ever and will be a cool head to organise a defence that is suspect at set-pieces.

Ludford said the team had been given a week off training but once training resumed, the intensity had gone up a notch.

“We need t keep playing the way we have in the past few weeks as it’s been brilliant football in patches,” Ludford said.

“But, we’ve dropped our standards in other moments of the game and we’ve conceded a few soft goals by switching off, not only at the back, but across the park.

“I think if we play like we have the last few weeks for 90 minutes, I don’t think Devonport can go with us.

“In saying that, they’ve been the benchmark over the last two or three years so we can never write them off and they have a good squad this year and they have great togetherness as well.

“It’s anyone’s game on cup day.”

Photo:  Devonport coach Rick Coghlan will have done his homework and his team will be ready for the cup final [PlessPix]

Devonport are reported to have re-signed star striker Brayden Mann, who left the club at the end of last season to play in Victoria.

He has had injury problems in Victoria and may not be fully fit if he is selected in Devonport’s squad for the cup final.

If he is selected, coach Rick Coghlan will need to decide whether Mann starts or is on the substitutes’ bench.

In the past, Mann has been able to conjure up goals out of thin air.

I suspect Coghlan might start him on the bench and keep faith with his current team, bringing Mann on only if needed to try and salvage the situation.

Devonport have been winning while not playing particularly well at times, and that’s a sign of a successful team.

The day’s triple-header starts at 10.30am when Beachside meet Olympia Warriors in the Men’s Under-20 State-wide Cup Final.

The Women’s State-wide Cup Final (see preview of Thursday, 6 June 2019), between Hobart Zebras and Kingborough Lions United, kicks off at 1pm.

Photo:  South Hobart coach Ken Morton fronts the media last week [PlessPix]