By Andrew Cooling
Buoyed by a blistering start to the second half, South Hobart have rallied back from an early deficit to claim a 3-1 victory over Clarence Zebras in the Women’s Summer Cup Final.
Mia Cane struck twice as South ran over the top of the Zebras, dominating the second half and claiming the first major piece of silverware on offer in 2022.
The opening quarter of an hour was relatively uneventful as both sides took cautious approaches and prioritized defensive solidity. Both sides found little room to play around either penalty area with no clear-cut chances developing and set pieces looking as though they offered the most likely avenue to goal.
That changed on 16 minutes when Allie Berry chipped a ball through to Elianna Diafokeris who found herself in acres of space with only the keeper to beat. The young striker made no mistake, finishing emphatically past Butler to provide the game’s opening goal.
Berry nearly doubled that advantage just four minutes later when a corner fell to her in the penalty area, but her powerful shot was brilliantly kept out by a diving Butler in the South Hobart net. It would ultimately prove a decisive moment in the game and a massive sliding doors moment as South began to work their way into the contest from that moment on. Had Zebras skipped out to a two-goal lead then things may well have been very different.
Despite starting to see more of the ball, the Zebras defence was looking largely untroubled by South Hobart’s attack, with the dangerous Bonnie Nichols being well marshalled by the Zebras central defensive pairing of Leon and Dixon but a lapse in concentration would soon see South drawing level.
Bridie Cooling, who performed a tenacious defensive role and played a large part in negating the dangerous Nichols and Berry combination, launched a long range ball from wide on the right touchline into the penalty area, where Mia Cane had peeled off towards the back post.
The ball was allowed to bounce inside the area by the defence allowing Cane to pounce. The striker producing a top quality first time volleyed finish that left Ponting with absolutely no chance.
Given they had offered little in the final third to that point in time, it felt somewhat against the grain, but from the moment of drawing level South would not look back and their scintillating start to the second half would soon leave the Zebras in the dust.
Just two minutes after the restart a Lucy Roberts corner caused chaos in the box and when Cooling hooked the ball back towards goal, Mia Cane was able to get the slightest of touches on it to turn it home and provide the hosts the dream opening to the second half.
They had the ball in the back of the net again just two minutes later when substitute Nikki Moutsatsos found Bonnie Davies who curled a shot home but her celebrations were halted by the offside flag.
There was no denying South just another minute later however, when a similar counter attacking move saw Moutsatsos charging through the middle of Darcy Street and feeding Davies in space on the right. An unselfish Davies drilled a perfect pass to the back post where Talia White took a touch to compose herself before finishing with aplomb past Ponting to make it 3-1 just seven minutes into the second half, sending the home crowd in raptures.
South were firing on all cylinders now and their confidence was clearly flowing, leading to a host of chances throughout the half with Ella McConnon now running riot down the right wing.
Only some fine keeping from Ponting kept the margin at 2 goals, and such was South’s dominance in the second half that they never for a moment looked anything but the eventual cup winners; on another day they may well have won by more.
Allie Berry had a late chance to cut the margin to 3-2 and create a nervy ending when Zoe Nichols found her in the middle of the box, but she drove her shot straight at Butler who parried over the bar and by this point the sides body language told the tale, that this was all but over.
Shortly thereafter the final whilst blew out, signaling South’s triumph and the capture of their first trophy since relaunching their senior Women’s program. The perfect start to Alastair Russell’s tenure in charge and a signal they are almost certain to improve on upon last season’s 6th placed WSL finish and push themselves into title contention.