Round 8 Match of the Round: South Hobart v Kingborough Lions
Round 8 brings with it the second full round of fixtures in the Women’s Super League, with every side now having played each other once, taking us back to the match-ups we saw in Round 1. Perhaps most eye-catching of those week 1 scores was the Kingborough Lions holding the defending Champions South Hobart to a 1-1 draw, and they meet again this weekend in the Match of the Round.
The Lions will enter this one riding high, having battled past Launceston United in extra time last weekend. Coach Cam Heazlewood was pleased with his side’s performance, but said they would need to manage not getting tunnel vision for their upcoming Statewide Cup Final.
“It would’ve been nice to finish it off in normal time, but credit to the girls, we scored in the first minute of ET and kept pushing all the way through," he said.
"There were plenty of positives to take away from the match and it’s great getting that home final at Lightwood Park.
"I think with how close the league is this year, we have to focus on what competition we are playing in that week, we certainly don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We don’t want to focus on the Cup Final and lose focus on the league, because we have been competitive in that too.”
Heazlewood said that there were elements his side would take away from Devonport’s thumping 5-0 win over South last weekend, but he wouldn’t be directly copying their approach.
“There are things you can take from every week, but we can’t read too much into it," he said.
"We were pretty poor against Knights and then bounced back the next week and I imagine South will do the same, but there are parts you can take away from it.
"We are a very different side from them, so you don’t want to just take the entire blueprint and just copy/paste it, we have our own ideas and plans.”
Heazlewood felt his side was doing well to this point of the season, given the overhaul to both personnel and play style he had brought in for this season.
“I'm positive about how we are going so far," he said.
"We’ve changed how we play this year, being less reliant on playing as direct football but at the same time, if we need to play that way then we still can. We’ve got some quality players, Hannah Walsh has been a great pickup, and despite a few cheap goals, our young backline has been competitive and consistent so far this season.”
South Hobart meanwhile will be looking to pick themselves up after a very off-colour performance last week, finding themselves blown away 5-0 at home to Devonport in a shock result.
According to Ken Morton, speaking at a Friday media conference, the response had been positive from the playing group at training.
“It can happen, every team in the world can have an off day and that was ours," he said.
"But I think the spirit amongst the girls this week has been fantastic and the coaching staff have given them a good lift. They’ve trained really well, so we expect them to be sharp on the weekend.
“The players have responded well to the coaching, the commitment to the program is strong and we are looking forward to another good round of matches."
Morton was anticipating an open and exciting game of football but conceded the squad wasn't at 100% heading into it.
"We look forward to playing Kingborough, they’re always exciting games and usually open, the girls have picked themselves up after last weekend and they’ve trained well, I am really happy with the way they’ve gone about it," he said.
"We have a little bit of sickness in the camp at the moment, but the girls are positive.”
One player struck down by that sickness was South’s captain Sophie Westwood, who was a late withdrawal from Friday’s media conference, surely placing her availability into doubt for Sunday’s massive clash.
Given the key departures at the back they’ve already suffered from 2023-2024, South will certainly hope she is right to play, especially with Laura Davis to contend with leading the Lions' front line.
Round 8’s other fixtures will take place on Saturday with the Glenorchy Knights hosting Launceston United at KGV. United will need to bounce back from last week’s Cup heartbreak, and will need to be on guard against an improving Knights outfit who held the Strikers to a 2-2 draw at Valley Road in their last outing.
The Strikers will look to extend their lead on top as they travel to Taroona. Having struck such a big win over them in the Cup, they will look to pile further pressure onto major title rivals South Hobart by opening up a six-point buffer before South meet the Lions on Sunday.
Saturday 25 May
Glenorchy Knights v Launceston United, 12:15pm, KGV LIVE STREAM
Taroona v Devonport Strikers, 2:30pm, Lightwood Park LIVE STREAM
Sunday 26 May
South Hobart v Kingborough Lions, 2:00pm, D'arcy Street LIVE STREAM