South Hobart celebrated retaining their McDonald's NPL Tasmania title with an entertaining 5-2 win over the only side they had yet to beat this season.
Riverside twice edged within a goal of post-season finals through Toby Harrop and Caleb Okine equalisers, but Austin Yost, Xavier Williams (two goals each) and Jacob Lancaster secured a 15th win from 18 fixtures before South resumed possession of the trophy they won a year ago.
“I couldn’t be prouder of what this group has achieved,” coach Peter Edwards said.
“The workrate, the effort, the constant desire to want to go on and win games and progress further up ... I’m so proud to be able to coach these lads.”
Riverside’s loss was Clarence’s gain as the Zebras secured the last finals spot despite losing 3-1 at Kingborough.
Looking to add a runners-up finish to their Lakoseljac Cup title, Lions went ahead through Joel Badger only for Sam Tooze to equalise. Noah Mies restored Kingborough’s lead before Badger’s 11th in the last eight games wrapped up the win.
However, in a dramatic late twist, Devonport snatched second spot by finishing level with Kingborough but with a two-goal superiority courtesy of a 6-0 win over Launceston City.
Doubles for Jordan Payne and Josh Tollervey were added to by Ivan Jolivet and Courage Layweh as Strikers snatched home advantage for the qualifying final.
The relegation-bound bottom two ended their campaigns with frustrating missed opportunities.
Ulverstone’s maiden statewide season concluded with a 4-3 loss to South East United which they had led 2-0 through Bradley Sibanda and Toby Anderson.
However, goals from Jacob Sartori, Luke Huigsloot, Declan Brown and Abel Quigley plus a red card to Daniel Hicks confirmed a fifth win from their last seven games for the league’s other newcomer, despite Anderson’s late penalty.
Launceston United avoided the wooden spoon by a point, finishing with a 2-1 loss at Glenorchy.
Teshawn Johnson’s silky strike wiped out Anthony Mamic’s opener but Ramiro Vilar stole victory for Knights with a last-minute penalty.
Devonport wasted no time rebounding from their first loss in nearly three years by closing in on another McDonald's Women's Super League title with a resounding 9-0 defeat of Launceston City.
A hat-trick for Jaz White, braces from Whitney Knight and Grace Sims plus singles to Holly Emmett and skipper Lucy Foote ensured normal service resumed at Valley Road.
Jemima Brown’s sixth and seventh goals in four games kept the title race alive as second-placed Glenorchy won 2-0 at Taroona.
Kingborough edged an epic duel with South Hobart 3-1. Amy Ollington’s chip, Hannah Walsh’s 19th of the season and Cara Lashmar’s excellent stoppage-time sealer secured the points as Sami Watkins capped a stunning team move to claim South’s consolation.
When Olivia De Moraes scored after 10 seconds and added her 27th goal of the season four minutes later, Launceston United looked on course to repeat their fifth-round 14-0 win over Riverside. However, Olympic kept them out for the next 84 minutes before going down 3-0 with Indhi Young adding the late third.