Crunch Time In Statewide Cup Semis

The Women's Statewide Cup Semi Finals are set to be fought out this weekend, with passage through to the June 10th decider up for grabs. Many will be anticipating a Zebras v Warriors final following the draw, but that might be too presumptive as their respective Semi Final games are anything but elementary. In the first Semi Final, the Den lights up with the Kingborough Lions hosting the Olympia Warriors. The Lions will be looking to return to the final for the second time in as many years having fallen to Taroona 3-1 in last seasons decider. Something about the Cup Competitions seems to bring out the very best in the Lions. This year they have secured a pair of 5-0 wins over Clarence and University en route to the Semi Finals, whilst last season they scored impressive road wins over Rangers and Ulverstone before pushing Taroona all the way in the final. Throw in their run to the Summer Cup Final early this year, beating the Hobart Zebras and taking the Warriors to extra time in the Final, and they certainly have strong form when it comes to elimination games. They will enter this one as narrow outsiders though not by as much as the current WSL ladder might indicate. Whilst on overall performance across all games this season the Warriors have clearly been the stronger performing side, the two head to head games between the pair have been incredibly tight affairs. They've played some 200 minutes against each other this season for a grand total of 2 goals, with Olympia winning both games 1-0. To put that in perspective, across the Warriors other 11 games this year, they have scored 70 goals! So the Lions defence seemingly has the recipe to slow down the daunting Olympia strike force. Not an easy task when you are trying to shutdown such lively attacking weapons as Chambers, Bomford, Davies and Parker. The question becomes can they find a goal at the other end? I don't think you can ask or expect any more out the defensive unit than they have provided in those 2 games, with the imperious Hanna Manuela central to so much of that. But finding goals at the other end has proved elusive, and the Warriors have been able to clamp down the Lions talisman Laura Davis. She is the obvious answer, along with Emile Tatton and they need their talented attacking duo to fire on Saturday night if they are to upset an undefeated, ladder leading side in the Semi Finals for the second year in a row. https://youtu.be/4xTlXhQfRTE On Sunday the Hobart Zebras will be heavily favoured when they head up the highway to take on a Northern Rangers side that has dominated the Veto Northern Championship in recent times. They have compiled a mighty impressive 38-3-5 record over the past 2 and a bit seasons, winning the league in both 2017 and 2018 and they appear well on the way again this season. This is a side who knows how to win games of football and have no problem hitting the back of the net. Their aces in the goal scoring department, Moana Chamberlain and Febey Pearce, are quality players and when in possession this is a side that could trouble the Zebras defence. They have goals in them, that's for sure. But will they be able to keep them out? The question lingers, how they will handle playing an opposition of this calibre? It's a level of competition they simply won't be used to: their defence certainly isn't running into star attackers like Allie Bery and Zoe Nichols each and every week. Their 2-1 loss at the hands of the Kingborough Lions in last seasons Cup suggests they are a side who is capable of competing with the WSL teams, but without any real sample size to work on, that's hard to know. Their passage to the Semi Finals has been a soft one, they had a bye then a Championship opponent in Taroona, so the Cup hasn't revealed much in that regard either. Still at some point, you have to respect what they have done in the Championship over the past few seasons and the Zebras cannot go in complacent or the Cupset may be on. Their opponents the Hobart Zebras are certainly rounding into some nice touch, downing Ulverstone 5-1 in the Quarter Finals and blasting 10 past Clarence last weekend. After a slightly sluggish start to the season, their best form seems to be back, and they are starting to look a lot more like the side who won the treble in 2017, than their 2018 selves. The speed of ball movement has picked up and they are attacking in waves, looking capable of mounting a title challenge in the WSL. So despite the travel factor this a game they should be winning, but they would do well to not underestimate their opposition. An opponent with nothing to lose and everything to play for, can be an extremely dangerous one. [caption id="attachment_11528" align="alignnone" width="585"] Rangers have dominated the NC, now they face their biggest test to date[/caption] Saturday 25 May Kingborough v Olympia, Lightwood Park, 6:00pm Live Stream Game Sunday 25 May Northern Rangers v Hobart Zebras, NTCA, 2:00pm