A broken leg to South Hobart captain Nick Morton overshadowed a 1-1 draw between South Hobart and Kingborough Lions on Wednesday night at KGV. Playing in a catch up game from earlier in the season, Samuel Berazansky struck an equaliser to cancel out Jack Turner's opener, in a grind of a game that will see the South skipper's campaign come to a premature end.
Chances and space were at a premium early on in the game, but it was the Lions who had started the brighter and looked to be largely in control, despite not creating a host of scoring looks.
They would take the lead near the half hour mark when Jack Turner pounced at the back post. A Chris Downes free kick created chaos in the penalty box and Turner made South pay for not clearing their lines sooner, stroking home the opening goal.
Hamlett came close to immediately responding when he snuck in behind the lines, but he couldn't find a way past Perkinson who made a good save, extending himself.
James Hall then wasted a chance to double the Lions lead when he fired straight at Graham Wright with time and space on the left hand side of the penalty area.
A minute prior to half time, disaster struck. Hamlett slid a through ball to the top of the box, with a race between Morton and Perkinson developing. Both players arrived at the same time and looked to hit the ball, both striking it at the same moment. Perkinson got the more decisive contact and Morton's leg was rocked as a result. He immediately went down, and doctors confirmed soon after it was a leg break.
With their captain out of commission South looked to get back on track in the second half but they weren't finding much luck as the Lions continued to look comfortable in defence. As the game wore on, South's fresh legs from the bench provided a spark, with Sam Berezansky looking lively and the Lions starting to tire.
So it was that with 12 minutes remaining South would find their equaliser, as Berezansky was left with a tap in at the near post after some nice work from Feral and Tooze in the lead up.
Both sides had half chances in the final 10 minutes, but couldn't find the goal that would snatch it late ending with the 1-1 draw as the final whistle rang out.
The draw leaves the Lions sitting in sixth place, whilst South would jump ahead of the Olympia Warriors on goal difference should they fail in their pending appeal.
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