Six NPL clubs through to Lakoseljac Cup quarterfinals but South Hobart fall at first hurdle

Photo:  Eagles' Adam McKeown lasted barely a quarter of an hour against Devonport before injury forced his departure. [PlessPix] 

NPL Tasmania clubs Devonport City, Glenorchy Knights, Launceston City, Riverside Olympic, Kingborough Lions United and Clarence Zebras are through to the quarterfinals of the Lakoseljac Cup.

Second-tier club Hobart City is also through and will be joined by either South East United or Olympia Warriors from the second-tier after they meet in a Round-of-16 game at Sorell tomorrow [Monday, 2pm].

The shock of the round was the exit of NPL club South Hobart, who went down 2-1 away to Launceston City at Prospect.

Dieseil Murfet and Thierry Swaby were City’s marksmen while Sam Berezansky replied for the southern visitors.

Both teams are in the NPL so it’s drawing a long bow to say it was a giant-killing act.

Photo:  Eagles' Andy Taylor tackles Devonport's Dom Smith. [PlessPix] 

Cup-holders Devonport City received an early shock when home-side New Town White Eagles took the lead in the 3^rd minute.  A pinpoint cross from the right by the speedy Matthew Pace was powerfully headed home by Andy Taylor.

Shogo Umazume fired home through a crowded goalmouth in the 25^th minute to make it 1-1.

His Japanese compatriot Riku Ichimura netted 10 minutes later to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Two second-half goals by Brody Denehey in the 55^th and 75^th minutes, gave Devonport an expected victory.

Photo:  Eagles keeper Jamie Cook is beaten by the ball at a corner. [PlessPix] 

Devonport were the fitter side and Eagles tired in the second half, but they did have chances to add to their tally but were let down by poor finishing.

Eagles also suffered an early blow when the experienced Adam McKeown went off with a hamstring injury.

They were also missing aggressive winger Ben Whitehall and dangerous striker George Ivanov.

Devonport do not seem as good as last season,  New goalkeeper Noah Calamatta has yet to impress, while new centre-forward Declan Zasadny has yet to make his mark.

“Devonport were the better side,” said Eagles coach, Tommy Fotak.

“They’re the best team in the State and ultimately that showed.

“Our players can hold their heads up.  They gave a really good account of themselves today,

“Unfortunately, I don’t think the score shows that. Devonport were more clinical and deserved winners.”

Devonport City midfielder, Charles Bidwell, said:  “It was difficult and frustrating at times, but I think we tried to stick to our game plan and at times it didn’t work, but we got through it.

“They were pretty ferocious and came out swinging and kicking, which we expected, and we tried to give it back but at times we just let it get to our heads.  Yeah, frustrating.  The first half for sure.

“The second half we came out and tried to fight back and we got some goals but the performance wasn’t there.

“We’re going to need to build on that for next week and in the league and in the cup.”

NPL strugglers Riverside Olympic showed the gulf that exists between the two tiers of football by beating Hobart United 4-1.  Riverside even scored an own goal to soften the blow for United.

It’s going to be a long season for NPL club Launceston United.

They were absolutely thrashed by visitors Kingborough Lions United, who won 7-0.

Alexander Brown is proving to be an emerging star for the Lions, scoring in the league and in the cup.  He hit a hat-trick in this game.

Clarence Zebras left their league form behind and managed a 3-0 away win against Ulverstone.

Ryan Cook’s switch from defence to centre-forward is proving a success and he scored two of the goals, the other one coming from a rejuvenated Jeremy Price.

Second-tier strugglers Hobart City came away from Somerset with a 4-1 win over the Sharks.

City are struggling in the Southern Championship so it doesn’t say much for the standard of the Northern Championship

Lakoseljac Cup  -  NPL Tasmania

Launceston City 2 (Diesel Murfet, Thierry Swaby) beat South Hobart 1 (Sam Berezansky)

New Town White Eagles 1 (Andrew Taylor 3) lost to Devonport City 4 (Shogo Umazume 25, Riku Ichimura 35, Brody Denehey 55, 75)

Riverside Olympic 4 (Emanuel Farias 6, 29, James Trevis 29, James Pelletier 66) beat Hobart United 1 (Zac Reissig 53 og)

Launceston United 0 lost to Kingborough Lions United 7 (Alexander Brown 25, 35, 76, Kobe Kemp 28, 30, Toby Moss 60, Matthew Hess 71)

Somerset Sharks 1 (Beau Blizzard 11) lost to Hobart City 4 (Thomas Coomber 9, Oluwaseyi Ojelabi 45+2, 58, Michael Monticchio 74)

Launceston City 2 (Diesel Murfet, Thierry Swaby) beat South Hobart 1 (Sam Berezansky)

Ulverstone 0 lost to Clarence Zebras 3 (Ryan Cook 14, 29, Jeremy Price 72)

Lakoseljac Cup Round-of-16 results - Saturday, 30 March 2024

Photo:  Andy Taylor heads Eagles into an early lead against Devonport following Matthew Pace's pinpoint cross from the right. [PlessPix] 

Lakoseljac Cup -  NPL Tasmania (Round-of-16)

Launceston City 2 (Diesel Murfet, Thierry Swaby) beat South Hobart 1 (Sam Berezansky)

New Town White Eagles 1 (Andrew Taylor 3) lost to Devonport City 4 (Shogo Umazume 25, Riku Ichimura 35, Brody Denehey 55, 75)

Riverside Olympic 4 (Emanuel Farias 6, 29, James Trevis 29, James Pelletier 66) beat Hobart United 1 (Zac Reissig 53 og)

Launceston United 0 lost to Kingborough Lions United 7 (Alexander Brown 25, 35, 76, Kobe Kemp 28, 30, Toby Moss 60, Matthew Hess 71)

Somerset Sharks 1 (Beau Blizzard 11) lost to Hobart City 4 (Thomas Coomber 9, Oluwaseyi Ojelabi 45+2, 58, Michael Monticchio 74)

Ulverstone 0 lost to Clarence Zebras 3 (Ryan Cook 14, 29, Jeremy Price 72)

Women’s State-wide Cup

Devonport City 13 (Abbie White 11, 66, Whitney Knight 28, 39, 57, 83, Madeline Payne 32, 46, Grace Sims 50, 51, Lucy Foote 42, Annalee Bidwell 81, Georgia King 89) beat Taroona 0

Photo:  Eagles keeper Jamie Cook is challenged in the air by Devonport's Miles Barnard. [PlessPix]

Photo:  Devonport's Taylor Last and Eagles' Andy Taylor contest a high ball. [PlessPix]

Photo:  Devonport's Shogo Umazume in possession against Eagles. [PlessPix]

Lakoseljac Cup - 29 March 2024

Photo:  Joshua Redfearn (right) scored four goals for Knights this evening against Taroona. [PlessPix] 

Lakoseljac Cup Round-of-16, KGV Park, Friday, 29 March 2024)

Glenorchy Knights 5 (Thomas Walpole 38, Joshua Redfearn 57, 62, 70, 80) beat Taroona 0

Taroona requested this game be changed from Friday to Thursday as they would have eight players missing because of the Easter period.

They received no satisfaction from Glenorchy Knights and so the game went ahead on Good Friday evening.

Taroona held their own for the first half-hour without creating any real chances.

Photo:  Joshua Redfearn misses from close range. [PlessPix] 

The Knights on the other hand probed and looked for weaknesses and could have scored a couple of goals before Thomas Walpole broke the deadlock in the 38^th minute.  He picked up the rebound after a shot was blocked and beat Taroona keeper Isaac Scott.

Knights played one-touch football frequently but failed to capitalise with the final pass until Walpole struck.

Photo:  Joshua Redfearn threatens again. [PlessPix] 

The second half belonged to New Zealand import Joshua Redfearn.

He made it 2-0 in the 57^th minute and 3-0 five minutes later as Taroona began to struggle.

Goals in the 70^th and 80^th minutes took Redfearn’s tally to four and the Knights’ to five.

They have now scored 18 goals without conceding one in their past three game in all competitions.

Photo:  Knights captain Tyler Harrison was very vocal through the game as he urged his team on to greater effort. [PlessPix]

Glenorchy Knights coach James Sherman said:

It was an entertaining game.

I thought Taroona set themselves up really well and there were a couple of little things there that surprised us.

Scott’s done a really good job there, particularly for the first 30 minutes, I thought.

After that, we really kind of got a little bit more composure in the game and built some tempo and rhythm and we could probably have had two or three more before half-time.

Photo:  Knights' Riley Dillon (left) is stopped by Taroona defender Riley Pitchford. [PlessPix] 

Second half, I think the subs made an impact.  That was a really good match for us, still having to work hard at the end, and that’s a credit to Taroona..

We’ve had 13 goals in the two previous games and Joshua [Redfearn] had only had one, so that’s a sign we’ve got some goals in us.

He might not have been on score sheets, but he’s certainly contributed to them.  Today, it was nice to see him offer some really good movement, in particular in the 18-yard box.  There were a couple of one-touch finishes there which is the sign of a good striker.

I was happy for him to get some goals.

Photo:  Taroona coach Scott Gannon shouts out instructions. [PlessPix] 

 Taroona coach Scott Gannon said:

We put out the best team we had available today.  I can’t fault the boys’ efforts, but when you take eight of your starting players out of the equation It’s going to be a very difficult night.

I don’t think the boys deserved to concede five for all the effort.  And, the attention to detail and the change of formation in a short space of time was really good.

But, ultimately, that’s the difference between NPL and when you come up against Championship and Championship 1 players in a tough cup game.

It is what it is, but it’s just a shame that we couldn’t have two full-strength teams playing each other.

Photo:  Knights players celebrate Redfearn's (third from right) fourth goal. [PlessPix]