Monday, March 14, 2022

Two out of three ain't bad

Photo:  South Hobart's Nick Morton (right) had a hand in his side's winning goal and he also hit the woodwork with a splendid free-kick in the 2022 NPL Summer Cup Final played at South Hobart Oval. [PlessPix] 

It was anything but summer weather for today’s three Summer Cup finals at South Hobart Oval.

South Hobart, the oldest football club in Tasmania, were contesting all three finals in rainy, wet and slippery conditions.

They ended up winning two and losing the other on a penalty shoot-out.

In the Southern Championship Summer Cup Final, which opened the day’s contests, Taroona picked up the silverware with a 3-1 penalty shoot-out win over South Hobart, after the teams were level at 2-2 at the end of regulation time and after extra-time.

Alexander Brown gave South Hobart the lead after just 3 minutes when his low shot somehow eluded Taroona goalkeeper Isaac Scott.

Fergus Bridge equalised in the 28th minute after South Hobart defended poorly at a corner.

Noah Gardner put Taroona ahead 4 minutes after the resumption with a powerful shot from the left that beat keeper Nathan Reid at his near post and ricocheted off that left-hand post and inside the far corner of the net.

Taroona had the better of the play at that stage but poor finishing cost them dearly.

Harrison Oates scored for South Hobart after a breakaway in the 77th minute and that meant extra-time.

Neither side could break the deadlock in extra-time and a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the issue.

Jake Stuart scored for Taroona with the first spot-kick, while Kaleb Robinson made no mistake with South Hobart’s first penalty.

Charlie Howcroft netted Taroona’s second penalty kick to put them 2-1 ahead, which is how it stayed when Taroona keeper Scott saved Mason Attfield’s effort.  

South Hobart keeper Nathan Reid then saved  Dominic Easton's effort, but referee Eugen Rosenzweig ordered the kick retaken.  Reid again saved to keep the score at 2-1.

But, Jeremy Stevens made it 3-1 for Taroona and that’s how it stayed when Taroona keeper Scott saved kicks by Alexander Brown and Reilly Morton to give Taroona the trophy.

In the Women’s Super League Summer Cup Final, South Hobart came from a goal down to beat Clarence Zebras 3-1.

Clarence Zebras hit the front in the 17th minute when Eliana Diafokeris fired home from just inside the penalty area after a pass from Allie Berry.

South Hobart drew level on the half-hour when Clarence Zebras failed to deal with a high ball into the box from the half-way line by Bridie Cooling and Mia Cane forced the ball past keeper Kaycee Ponting.

Clarence Zebras squandered several good openings as the game progressed and Cane netted her second shortly after the break after some sloppy defending to put South Hobart in the lead.

Canadian import Talia White completed the scoring midway through the second half to make the game safe for South Hobart.

In the NPL Summer Cup Final, cup-holders Kingborough Lions United went down 1-0 to South Hobart.

The goal came in the 54th minute when Nick Morton found Iskander Van Doorne with a pass and the Canadian smashed his shot home from 12 metres.

Van Doorne was fortunate to still be on the field as several minutes earlier he had received only a yellow card for what appeared to be a studs-up, over-the-ball tackle on a Kingborough defender.

Morton went close to increasing South Hobart's lead when his excellent curling free-kick  from wide on the left smacked the angle of crossbar and far post with Lions keeper Roan Gillam left stranded.

Kingborough did more than enough to win and retain the trophy, but a brilliant display of goalkeeping by Jake Hayers, who once played for Kingborough before moving to Olympia Warriors and then to South Hobart,  denied them.

Kingborough’s Kobe Kemp and Ben Hamlett, both former South Hobart stars, also missed good chances as South Hobart hung on for victory and collected a first trophy for the season.

Photo:  Andrew Cooling going to work at Football Tasmania last year.  It appears he is back on a freelance basis with Football Tasmania for 2022.  He did a fine commentary on two of the Summer Cup Finals as well as a match report on the FT website, so it looks as if he's back part-time, and that's a good thing. [PlessPix]

7 comments:

Charlie C. said...

FT are often criticized for their administration of the game etc. But credit where credit is due.

The initiative to show such solid support for Ukraine in all three finals was excellent. Well done to those who arranged this.

Richo said...

Thanks for your great report Walter. So sad not to see your wonderful photos of the day.

Anonymous said...

i didn't know that FT were donating the gate takings for the Ukraine community until i saw the news. Was there any advertising of this ? because i couldn't find any. I didn't go to the game as i watched it on You Tube but if i'd known this i would of went in the rain.
There were no memos sent to clubs and i think FT have missed the boat here.
A good initiative though.

Anonymous said...

FFT contribute very little to the local game.

Given the predicted forecast you would've thought they would hire some marquee's to provide shelter behind the goal on the Wentworth St end of the ground. Or at least provide some initiatives like half time entertainment or a designated wet area with a BBQ running.

Headquarters are a very sleepy hollow I'm afraid.

Anonymous said...

Have you ever been to Darcy st it's got the biggest grandstand in Tasmanian football.
Other then KGV no one has shelter behind the goal far out we have some out of touch whining people.

David Webb said...

Why didn’t you bring your own pop up tent?

Anonymous said...

Football Tasmania are fast become irrelevant so seriously who cares what the do!