By Andrew Cooling.
Cup Final Rematch Headlines Lakoseljac Cup Quarters
The Quarter Final stage of the Lakoseljac Cup is headlined by a rematch of last season’s epic decider, with the Devonport Strikers returning to the scene of their third Cup triumph of the past six years, when they take on Glenorchy Knights at KGV.
The 2021 Men’s Season was in many ways defined by the incredible battle between Glenorchy Knights and the Devonport Strikers. The pair produced a truly memorable Lakoseljac Cup Final that went all the way to penalties and then arguably an even more dramatic title race that swung on the very final day, splitting them one trophy apiece and setting the stage nicely for this latest iteration of the rivalry on Saturday.
The sides have already met once this year with Glenorchy Knights getting the job done up at Valley Road with a 1-0 win in Round 2 of the NPL season. Since then Devonport have won 5 games from 5, whilst Knights have gone 3-1-1 in that same period. So the more recent form is with the Strikers but the recent history in head to heads with Knights.
The home ground advantage is also with the Knights, but that is something that has almost become a given for the Strikers in this competition who have been absolutely snake bitten when it comes to the draw. This will be the Strikers 13th consecutive Lakoseljac Cup game away from home, a streak dating back to April of 2018. Three of those were in Cup Finals which obviously has a fixed venue, but the other 10 times they have had a 50/50 shot of being drawn either home or away. The odds of being drawn away all 10 times are 1 in 1024, or approximately 0.0977%! Given they have won the Cup twice and finished Runner Up in another during that time, it’s fair to say they haven’t let their appalling run of luck faze them. But it’s a truly astonishing stat and it makes their record in this competition all the more impressive.
Kicking off before that one, we have South Hobart taking on Riverside at Darcy Street in a game they will be expecting to have few issues with despite some slightly patchy form in recent weeks. Riverside’s other results against top 4 NPL opposition, this year has yielded 5-0, 4-0 and most recently against Devonport last Saturday, 6-0 defeats. As such South will be the overwhelming favourites to progress through to the final four and if Riverside were to win, it would undoubtedly be the biggest Cupset of the Weekend. Even if Championship sides Hobart United or Rangers were to topple NPL opposition, this would be the biggest upset based on what we’ve seen so far.
In fact, Northern Rangers may not even consider themselves underdogs heading into their game against Olympia, given their strong showing in the Northern Championship so far this season and the Warriors struggles in the NPL. With a former Warrior’s star in Luke Eyles leading the way, Rangers are a perfect 5 from 5 to start the season with +13 goal differential and there is plenty of talent in this squad that could be playing at a higher level if they so desired. With a home draw at the NTCA ground the Warriors appear to be vulnerable to be knocked off by a lower division side given the defensive woes that have beset them in the NPL. Outside of their thumping 5-0 win over Riverside, the Warriors have lost all 5 of their other games, conceding 22 goals in the process and scoring just once. This looks a big chance of a Championship side beating a side from the higher division and Olympia will need to be better than they have been if they are to progress on the road here.
We already saw a case of it in the Round of 16 when Hobart United rolled Launceston City 2-0, a feat they will look to repeat when they head to the Den to take on the Kingborough Lions in Saturday’s final Quarter Final at 5:00pm. They will be hoping the Lions might have a few sore or tired bodies after their midweek catch up game in the NPL against Clarence Zebras on Wednesday. The performance in that game was another good one from the Lions who have been red hot in 2022. They made the Summer Cup Final and have now moved up to second in the league. With the exception of the opening day against Devonport, they have been outstanding this year and with one of Knights or Devonport about to be bounced, this is shaping as good chance for silverware for Jez Kenth’s men.
Hobart United have got plenty of talent in their ranks as we saw in the Round of 16, but this Lions side is humming right now and it represent a big step up in quality of opponent for them. Still, they’ve been involved in a number of cup classics in recent years and shown they are capable of mixing it with the best. If they bring their best football to the Den on Saturday, then expect fireworks, it could be a cup classic.
Prime Contenders Set To Be Eliminated in Women’s Statewide Cup
In the Women’s Statewide Cup, two of the top four favourites to hoist the Trophy are set to be eliminated at the quarter-final stage this weekend. The draw has thrown up a pair of massive fixtures that will pit the Super League’s current top four sides against each other. Leaders Launceston United will host second-placed South Hobart, whilst third placed Clarence Zebras travel to Valley Road to take on fourth-placed Devonport.
Launceston United made a surprise run through to the final last season before losing to Olympia in the decider but their path will be a more difficult one this time around. They do look a stronger side this year however, sitting undefeated and playing a great brand of football. They will enter this one as the favourites having already defeated South this season, winning impressively 3-1 on the road at Darcy Street. They now get the added benefit of home ground advantage at Floorworld Park which could prove decisive in what should be a battle of fine margins. South Hobart have been flawless in 2022 outside of that defeat at the hands of United, winning the Summer Cup as well as their other four WSL Fixtures. This shapes as a quality contest between to what to my eye, and indeed what the current league standings would suggest, are the two best sides in the State. It may only be the quarter-final, but this is a game well and truly worthy of the decider and whoever wins it will be every chance of going on to hoist the trophy.
The other big top-four battle will take place at Valley Road as Devonport meet the Clarence Zebras. These sides haven’t met yet in the WSL with their first league meeting set for next weekend. The Strikers have won 2 and lost 2 in the WSL and are yet to play in a cup match this season. The 2 losses were both narrow and came against the top two sides in the WSL so whilst they have come up short, they have shown they aren’t too far away from the level required to win silverware and should pose a difficult opponent here on home turf for the Zebras. The Zebras have thumpingly won both their games against Taroona and Olympia but have likewise lost their two games against the top sides in Launceston United and South Hobart. So with home ground advantage, the Strikers will be believing they are capable of eliminating this Zebras side who have shown themselves particularly strong in Statewide Cup competitions. They won it in 2020 and the same core group of players also won it when they were still Hobart Zebras in 2017 and 2019. That extra experience could prove important and might be something they lean on here, particularly if it stays close late on in the match which seems likely from what we’ve seen of these sides so far this year.
Those two marquee fixtures are great news for the remaining four sides hopes of silverware, with fellow WSL competitors Kingborough and Taroona set to take on Championship opponents in the other two matches, playing Ulverstone and Metro FC respectively. With two spots in the final four set to go to underdogs, there is also going to be a 33% chance of the two victors in these games again avoiding a Top four side in the Semi Final stage should they progress.
As I remarked upon when the draw was first made, it just shows that the well-worn cliche of “well you have to beat them eventually to win the Cup” that gets trotted out in response to a team receiving a tough cup draw is complete fiction. Kingborough could make the final having not played a single WSL side whilst Zebras may well have to have beaten 3 of them including 2 in the top 4 depending on how things play out from here. The luck of the draw is a massive element of Cup success and lady luck has smiled upon the Lions and Pirates this time around. They both have a tremendous chance to put their league struggles behind them and go deep in this competition with their draws against lower division opponents here.
Not that being in the higher division means the Lions should automatically be expected to stroll past Ulverstone. This is a strong lineup with some quality players who have excelled at the top level previously. A host of their brilliant WSL winning side of 2018 that posted a perfect season, remains at the club and they have dominated all 4 of their Championship opponents they’ve faced this year. They could certainly pose some major problems for a Lions defence who have looked distinctly vulnerable this season. The Lions have found themselves outgunned against the top sides and unable to keep them out at the back but they have displayed considerable firepower in attack. Suffice to say I’m expecting plenty of goals in this one.
Taroona meanwhile has a dream quarter-final draw against a side that plays two divisions below them in Metro FC. No disrespect meant to Metro here, as it’s always great to see the lower division sides mixing it with the sides in higher leagues, but this is probably a good reason why if you have to have byes in the Cup competition due to numbers, then those should probably be seeded.
Whilst I love the random draw element that the cup throws up different fixtures we don’t normally see, and I have no issues with the two top sides in the WSL playing each other at this stage. But when another side gets drawn against a mid-table team from the third division who haven’t played a single game yet to reach the Semi Final stage, well then that’s a case of the draw having too much of an influence on things for my taste. If the lower division sides can win their way through then that’s one thing, they’ve earned their spot and proven they can beat sides above them, but that’s not the case here and I do think byes need to be seeded or the latter stages risks being too unbalanced as a result.
Something to consider for future draws at any rate and who knows, maybe Metro can defy the odds and pull off a remarkable upset here. Taroona haven’t exactly been flying in 2022, though they did get a good win on the weekend against Olympia. Anyway, that will do me. Enjoy the weekend’s action and hopefully, we get some more memorable cup clashes that this stage always seems to throw up each and every year.
Lakoseljac Cup Quarter Finals
Saturday 7 May
South Hobart v Riverside Olympic, Darcy Street, 1:00pm
Northern Rangers v Olympia Warriors, NTCA Ground, 2:00pm
Glenorchy Knights v Devonport Strikers, KGV, 2:30pm
Kingborough Lions v Hobart United, Empire Couriers Park, 5:00pm
Women’s Statewide Cup Quarter Finals
Friday 6 May
Metro FC v Taroona FC, North Chigwell, 7:30pm
Saturday 7 May
Launceston United v South Hobart, Floorworld Park, 2:00pm
Devonport Strikers v Clarence Zebras, Valley Road, 2:00pm
Kingborough Lions v Ulverstone, Empire Couriers Park, 2:30pm