Lakoseljac Cup Round of 16 Wrap

Local Football returned on Saturday with a bevy of exciting Cup Football taking place around the state including the Round of 16 of the Lakoseljac Cup. At Birch Avenue Launceston United nearly produced the Cupset of the day, as they came within five minutes of dumping South Hobart out of the competition. A 2-1 Utd lead late into the second half had the defending Champions on the brink, but as is so often the way with South they found a way. An 85th minute leveler from Kobe Kemp was followed by a quickfire brace from Ewan Larby to secure a 4-2 win but not without a major scare. Their opponents from the 2019 decider are out though, as Launceton City eliminated Devonport with a 2-1 win at Buckby Landrover Park. Two stunning goals from new signing Rob Gerrard secured the win for City, as they survived a late fightback, with Eddie Bidwell pulling one back with 10 minutes to go. It wasn't to be however and City secured a famous win against their Northern rivals. The game was sadly overshadowed by a nasty injury that brought the game to a halt for nearly 90 minutes, after Jack Dance suffered a horrific double break in his leg. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery for him. It wasn't such good news for Launceston's other NPL side, as Riverside Olympic fell 4-0 to University. The Bees put in a commanding performance and never looked like losing, with Thomas Roach putting in a top class display, scoring twice, as did Samuel Platts. https://youtu.be/PQ76VUeXIRU Fellow Southern Championship sides, Hobart United and Taroona also joined them in the next round, as they chalked up commanding wins. Hobart United faced a long road trip to Somerset, where they raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes and from there never looked back. John Buga bagged a brace, whilst Behrane and Wani also hit the back of the net. The Sharks managed a late consolation marker, but simply couldn't deal with the defending Southern Champions, falling 4-1. It was even more lopsided at North Chigwell, where Taroona smashed Metro 8-1. Metro actually took the lead in that game after 25 minutes, but a near instant equaliser meant the lead lasted just moments, before Taroona blasted in six second half goals. The day's other fixtures were equally lop sided, as Glenorchy Knights were largely untroubled in a 5-0 win over Northern Rangers, new signing Alex Walter chiming in with a hat-trick which would please coach James Sherman after his side struggled for goals at times in 2019. Nick Naden and Alex Bellini chimed in with the other goals. [caption id="attachment_14123" align="alignnone" width="686"] Alex Walter hit a debut hat-trick for his new side[/caption] Their fellow NPL competitors Kingborough, also had a big win, though that came against a fellow NPL side, hamming Clarence Zebras 5-1. Keenan Douce scored with a cross turn shot and Chris Downes scored a brace against his former side, as the Lions roared out of the blocks and gave the Zebras a lot to think about ahead of the NPL kick off next Saturday. In the final game of the day, it was the Ben Hamlett show at Warrior Park, the Warriors Striker scoring five goals in a 10-1 demolition job over Beachside. After fighting to get back to 1-1 at the half hour mark, the dam walls burst open late in the second half and Beachside simply couldn't recover, as the Brown twins and Hamlett ran riot in attack. [caption id="attachment_14124" align="alignnone" width="484"] Hamlett hit 5- Solstice Photography[/caption] Final Scores Metro FC 1-8 Taroona, North Chigwell Launceston United 2-4 South Hobart, Birch Avenue University 4-0 Riverside Olympic, Olinda Grove 1 Somerset 1-4 Hobart Utd, Cardigan Street Glenorchy Knights 5-0  Northern Rangers, KGV Football Park Kingborough 5-1 Clarence Zebras, Lightwood Park Launceston City 2-1 Devonport, Buckby Land Rover Park 1 Olympia 10-1 Beachside, Warrior Park