South Hobart recover from slow start to beat Riverside Olympic

Photo:  South Hobart's Shin Kwanhoon leaps with joy after scoring. [PlessPix]

South Hobart won the NPL Under-21 section of the Summer Cup with a 5-2 win over Riverside Olympic in sweltering conditions at Lightwood Park on Saturday.

Riverside Olympic started the better but could not score and this allowed South Hobart to settle and claw their way back into the game.

It didn’t take long as South Hobart opened the scoring in the 13^th minute through one of their two Korean players, Hyeonseo Oh, who cut in from the left before drilling a shot inside the far post.

Photo:  South Hobart's Brayton Allan (right) recovers ground as he defends. [PlessPix] 

Their other Korean, Shin Kwanhoon made it 2-0 in the 27th minute.  Riverside keeper Matias Munoz parried the initial shot but then could only watch as the ball rolled agonisingly against the far left-hand post before going over the line.

The two Koreans were creating all sorts of problems on the flanks for the Riverside defence.

Hyeonseo Oh completed his brace by netting South Hobart’s third by again cutting in from the left and beating the keeper a minute before the interval.

Riverside got on the score=sheet midway through the second half, but it was an own-goal.  Joaquib Roque crossed from the right and the ball hit South defender Brayton Allen in the back and deflected into the net past a wrong-footed keeper, Thomas Divin.

Photo: Midfield action from the Under-21 final. [PlessPix] 

South restored their three-goal buffer in the 80^th minute through Umberto Tucceri before Riverside showed signs of revival.

In the 81^st minute, Austin Marshall was through with only the keeper to beat, but he delayed his shot and attempted to retrieve the situation by back-heeling the ball to team-mate Joel Hawkins, but he lofted a tame effort over the bar when it looked easier to score.

Riverside did manage to find the back of the net in the 83^rd minute when Roque stretched to connect with a deep left-wing cross from  Anmol Rai and steered the ball home.

Photo:  South Hobart's Shin Kwanhoon holds off a Riverside Olympic opponent. [PlessPix] 

South Hobart had the last laugh, however, when Tucceri repeated his tricks on the right and cut inside to scored his side’s fifth goal.

“Very happy with the solid performance from us,” said South Hobart coach, Geoff Brown.

“We had a clear plan today and we executed what we wanted to do today.

“It’s been a great Summer Cup for us and we introduced some new young boys to the Under-21 scenario but also used some older ones to help us out as well.”

Photo:  Riverside Olympic on the attack against South Hobart. [PlessPix]