South Hobart clinched their first men’s state league title since 2017 in style with a rampant 7-0 victory.
Having finished runners-up for the last three seasons, the Lakoseljac Cup champions added the McDonald's NPL Tasmania championship by putting Riverside Olympic to the sword.
“This means everything,” said delighted coach Max Clarke.
“Every day, 12 hours’ work has gone into this and the boys have been waiting eight years for it.”
Asked what South Hobart meant to him, Clarke added: “It’s home, it’s family, it’s everything to me - I love the place and these boys are so special to me.”
Captain Nick Morton’s third consecutive away brace and another double for Kobe Kemp were added to by Jacob Lancaster, Musashi Kokubo and sub Harrison Oates to give South an unassailable lead with one round remaining. The result sparked jubilant scenes at Windsor Park and secured the team’s spot in the upcoming Australian Championship.
Second-placed Launceston City did their best to take the title race to the final weekend by recording an eighth win in nine games, 3-1 at home to Glenorchy.
Goals came from defenders Daniel Latinovic and Kazuki Hashimoto plus the more familiar source of Thierry Swaby as Knights replied through Anthony Mamic.
The shock of the day saw bottom-placed Clarence avoid defeat for just the second time this season as an 89th-minute equaliser from Jaxon Richardson earned a 2-2 draw with perennial title-contenders Devonport.
Lachlan Burt’s fifth goal in as many games had given Zebras the lead before a double from Declan Zasadny appeared to have Strikers on course for victory.
The ever-reliable Noah Mies struck the only goal of the game as Kingborough won 1-0 at Launceston United.
Having confirmed the Women’s Super League title last weekend, Devonport could enjoy the bye as South Hobart cemented second place with a ruthless 8-0 win at Riverside.
A five-minute hat-trick to Caitlin Stalker and brace for Jaz White were added to by Lucy Roberts, Pishon Choi and Nina Daniels as Ken Morton’s side improved on previous scorelines of 4-0, 5-0, 6-0 and 7-0 this season.
Kingborough took a huge step towards securing third place with a 4-1 win at Launceston United.
An excellent long-range double from Hannah Walsh took the prolific Englishwoman to 10 in her last five games and was complemented by Soyoung Lee and Lucy Page as Dani Gunton headed United’s first goal in seven weeks.
Having secured their first point last weekend, bottom side Taroona made it back-to-back draws by holding Glenorchy 2-2 at Kelvedon Park on Sunday.
Knights looked to have won it when Eve Swan put them 2-1 up with five minutes to go but Jessie Williams leveled two minutes later. Chloe Mongin had earlier wiped out an Elianna Diafokeris opener.
Image: South Hobart celebrate clinching the NPL Tasmania title after victory at Riverside. Picture by Nikki Long.