Riverside Olympic have finished their season on something of a high note, holding South Hobart to a 1-1 draw at Darcy Street.
The visitors took a shock lead early in the first half when Fletcher Fulton fired home, but a Nick Morton strike less than ten minutes later would leave both teams deadlocked for the rest of the afternoon. It was a positive result for a young Roos side, while South would be disappointed not to take all three points after dominating for much of the game.
There were ominous signs early for the visitors as goalkeeper Jarrod Hill was called into action with a trio of sharp saves inside the first ten minutes. South's experienced attacking duo of Andy Brennan and Nick Morton wreaked havoc from the opening whistle, with their interplay creating plenty of chances. While they struggled to contain that threat at the defensive end, Riverside did still manage to work their way forward on occasion to threaten the South goal.
Those forays forward paid off in a big way just before the quarter-hour mark as they grabbed the lead. A long aerial ball led Mackenzie Hancox into space wide on the right, and he was able to hold possession deep before crossing into the middle. Fulton was waiting at the back of the area, and after bringing the ball down with a clean first touch he cut back past his marker and finished well to open the scoring with his sixth goal of the campaign.
The visitors could have doubled their lead shortly after with another chance in the penalty area, but this time Jasper King could only watch his shot skew wide of the target. That miss would be punished just four minutes later as South promptly levelled the scores. It was the usual suspects once again involved, as Brennan carried the ball deep to the byline on the right before playing a low, teasing cross back towards the penalty spot. It rolled perfectly to meet the run of Morton who slammed a shot through traffic and into the back of the net.
The rest of the half followed a similar pattern, with South creating the bulk of the chances. Morton saw a shot thump off the post and stay out, while Hill was kept busy with a handful of saves ranging from simple to spectacular. Riverside had just one more clear-cut opportunity before the break, but they very nearly converted as Hancox was denied by a scrambling goal-line block. Despite plenty of action, and a 20-6 shot count in favour of the hosts, the scores remained level at half time.
While South's shots continued to flow freely after the restart, Riverside did well to stem the tide slightly while pushing forward with more urgency themselves. Hancox continued to look dangerous, setting up a shot for Fulton and firing on goal himself before the hour mark, but his side struggled to find the target. Thankfully for them South also left their shooting boots in the change rooms during the break, as they hit just one shot on target in the second half.
That waywardness meant that, despite some back-and-forth in the middle of the park, the game crawled towards a stalemate as time wore down. There was still time for a late twist, though, and both sides went close to stealing a result before the final whistle. Jhostan Padron had a shot deflected just wide with two minutes left, before a stoppage time header from Bradley Lakoseljac flashed just barely over the crossbar.
That would be as close as the game would come to a winning goal, as it ended 1-1 shortly after. That left South Hobart with a second consecutive third place finish in the league, while Riverside finished in seventh place but with plenty of promise for the future.
https://youtu.be/ZG1JXRoXqyQ