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 28^th 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 77^th 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 17^th 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 54^th 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]