Devonport conquer Lions to pick up first silverware of season

Photo:  Devonport's centre-forward Declan Zasadny prepares to take on Kingborough's Jacob Huigsloot. [PlessPix] 

Devonport City set the standard again when they won the NPL Summer Cup with a 3-2 win against Kingborough Lions United at Lightwood Park on Saturday.

The North-West Coast outfit was missing new signing, goalkeeper Noah Calamatta, who was in Melbourne, and had Under-21 keeper Fletcher Cruden in goal.

Other than that, they were at full strength and looked an imposing side.

Photo:  Kingborough's Keenan Douce tries to find a way past Devonport skipper Kieran Mulraney. [PlessPix] 

Their two new Japanese signings, Riku Ichimura and Shogo Umazume, looked the goods.  They are fast and technically excellent and should do well in the league.

Taylor Last and Charles Bidwell were powerful in midfield, while Brody Denehey and Nick Lanau-Atkinson were as tricky as ever and always posed problems for the opposition.

Kingborough fought back well from 2-0 down.

Photo:  Both teams observed a minute's silence before the game in memory of the late Devonport player and club stalwart Harold Pattison. [PlessPix] 

Their first goal by Alexander Brown was fortunate and due to a bad error by Cruden, who allowed the ball to slip under him. but Simon Vivarelli’s goal was a beauty.

Otto Schwarz showed how useful a player he will be this season in midfield.

Player-coach Alfred Hess was everywhere and leading by example, while Noah Mies, despite not hitting top form yet, kept the Devonport defence on their toes by his mere presence.

Photo:  Devonport's Brody Denehey has a crack at goal. [PlessPix] 

Defender Eli Luttmer was solid, while Declan Taylor was again creative and technically excellent.

Ichimura gave Devonport the lead midway through the first half when he jinked his way across the edge of the box before finishing with a low drive that his compatriot, Lions keeper Masatoshi Kawano, could not reach.

Last made it 2-0 within a minute of the start of the second half.

Brown reduced the arrears in the 57^th minute with a fortunate goal that had Cruden embarrassed and wishing the ground would swallow him up.  But, with his team-mates tapping him on the back and encouraging him, he soon adopted a stiff upper lip and regained his composure.

Photo:  Key protagonists (L-R) Alfred Hess, Dominic Smith, Alexander Brown and Taylor Last. [PlessPix] 

Last restored Devonport’s two-goal buffer in the 62^nd minute when Ichimura’s shot was parried and he smashed home the loose ball.

Devonport seemed home and hosed at that stage, but Vivarelli pounced with 9 minutes remaining when Devonport were unable to clear their lines to make for a nail-biting finish.

Devonport were certainly the better side.  They should have scored more.  They hit the woodwork through Lanau-Atkinson and Toby Barton, while Schwarz cleared the ball off the line with his heel despite Devoport’s strong claims that the ball had crossed the line.

It was a first piece of silverware for the visitors this season and is unlikely to be the last.

Photo:  Riku Ichimura celebrates his goal with Shane Eastwood. [PlessPix] 

“I thought we needed to be more ruthless,” said Devonport coach, Tom Ballantyne.

“I thought we created a lot of very good opportunities.

“We hit the bar three times in total, I think, and we scored another that crossed the line but was ruled out.  I’ve already seen the video and it crossed the line.

“We should have scored for in the first half and at least three or four in the second half, but we just need to be a bit more ruthless.

Photo:  Devonport's Masi Benjamin has a shot at goal.  Benjamin missed the bus as he slept in and had to drive to Kingston.  As a result, he started the game on the bench.  [PlessPix]

“We kind of panicked a little bit, but that’s to be expected.

“We treated today like it was pre-season and in the 22^nd minute we made a bunch of subs, and at half-time made a bunch of subs, and half-way through the second half made a bunch of subs, so we rotated the squad as we wanted to give everyone some minutes and see how they’d go in a competitive game, which we knew Kingborough would bring.

Photo:  Kingborough's Eli Luttmer tries to turn Devonport captain Kieran Mulraney. [PlessPix] 

“They did, and Alfred [Hess] kept his starting eleven out there until 62, 63 minutes, before he made a change, and he kept pushing and kept pushing, whereas we rotated a few players.

“I was pretty happy overall, but we need to be more ruthless.”

Photo:  Devonport coach Tom Ballantyne congratulates two of his players, Masi Benjamin and Nick Lanau-Atkinson, after the game as fourth official Brenton Kopra looks on. [PlessPix]