South Hobart have claimed their second WSL win in as many weeks, with a 7-2 demolition of the Kingborough Lions strengthening their claims for a place in the league's top three.
What shaped as a mid-table battle quickly turned into a one-sided rout, as South stunned the Lightwood Park crowd with another impressive attacking display. Niki Moutsatsos was the star with a hat-trick completed just after half time, and she was ably supported in the forward third by Phoebe Djakic and Eliane Fader. An injury to Phoebe Clifford rounded out a horror afternoon for the Lions, who have now lost their last three games with a combined score of 18-3.
The home side put themselves on the back foot almost immediately, as a pair of sloppy turnovers handed South two goals inside the opening ten minutes. Fresh off a brace last round, Djakic wasted no time adding to her season tally as she pounced on an errant pass in the opening moments and slid a shot past Ericka Mackintosh. Less than five minutes later it was the Lions 'keeper landing herself in hot water, as she looked to throw the ball clear but landed it at the feet of Niki Moutsatsos. Stranded at the edge of her area, she could only watch as the South winger sent a centimetre-perfect chip over her head and into the net.
The onslaught didn't end there, as South continued to press and Fader found her feet with a stunning individual burst. She tested Mackintosh's reflexes with a close-range header and saw a shot thump into the crossbar and stay out, before finally finding the back of the net on the third attempt after being played played into an acre of space behind the defence.
Just as it looked like the contest might already be over, the Lions hit back against the run of play to stay within touching distance. It certainly wasn't pretty, but a corner to the back post found the head of Kate Bonertz-Benn. Plenty of players had a swing at the ball as it rolled towards the line, but if any South defenders managed to get a touch, it wasn't enough to keep it out.
Whether Bonertz-Benn was credited or not surely wouldn't have bothered her too much-- the Lions were back in the fight and looked a little more settled in the immediate aftermath. After being well held over the last fortnight, Laura Davis started to get the ball at her feet and run at her marker. That created a rare few chances for her teammates, but both Isabelle Dadswell and Amy Ollington couldn't trouble Georgia McMullen in the South Hobart goal.
They would very quickly rue those missed chances as South added another two goals before the break. Fader scored her second with a shot squeezed through traffic that found the bottom corner, and then turned provider with a cross to Moutsatsos in the middle for a simple finish. The referee's whistle saved the Lions from any further pain, but a 5-1 deficit at the interval wouldn't have been part of their planning.
Any changes they made before the restart didn't have the effect they would have hoped for as Moutsatsos grabbed her hat-trick less than three minutes into the second half. It was a typically direct attack from South that saw them move from one penalty area to the other in a matter of moments, and it ended with another tidy one-on-one finish from Moutsatsos. She was subbed off before the hour mark, but the damage was well and truly done with a best afield performance.
The removal of their talisman didn't stop South from pushing for more goals, and they found their seventh from her replacement Charlotte Ingram. Another defensive half turnover from the Lions let Djakic carry the ball to the byline, and rather than shoot from the impossible angle she cut the ball back across goal for the unmarked winger to tap it home.
Things went from bad to worse for Kingborough just minutes later as Clifford went down in the middle of the field and stayed there for some time. The stretcher was brought out to help her from the field, with an apparent ankle injury from a tangle with her opponent. That incident and the stoppage afterwards took a lot of the sting out of the contest as both teams went through the motions without any real chances at either end of the ground. That remained the case until the dying minutes of the game, when Davis sparked the home crowd to life with a bustling run past several defenders. As McMullen advanced to cut off the shot, she instead passed across the goal to Ollington who finished into the open goal.
That was the last meaningful action of the afternoon as it finished 7-2 to the visitors. South will surely fancy their chances of making it three in a row when they host Ulverstone next week, while the Lions will look to bounce back against the winless University.
The onslaught didn't end there, as South continued to press and Fader found her feet with a stunning individual burst. She tested Mackintosh's reflexes with a close-range header and saw a shot thump into the crossbar and stay out, before finally finding the back of the net on the third attempt after being played played into an acre of space behind the defence.
Just as it looked like the contest might already be over, the Lions hit back against the run of play to stay within touching distance. It certainly wasn't pretty, but a corner to the back post found the head of Kate Bonertz-Benn. Plenty of players had a swing at the ball as it rolled towards the line, but if any South defenders managed to get a touch, it wasn't enough to keep it out.
Whether Bonertz-Benn was credited or not surely wouldn't have bothered her too much-- the Lions were back in the fight and looked a little more settled in the immediate aftermath. After being well held over the last fortnight, Laura Davis started to get the ball at her feet and run at her marker. That created a rare few chances for her teammates, but both Isabelle Dadswell and Amy Ollington couldn't trouble Georgia McMullen in the South Hobart goal.
They would very quickly rue those missed chances as South added another two goals before the break. Fader scored her second with a shot squeezed through traffic that found the bottom corner, and then turned provider with a cross to Moutsatsos in the middle for a simple finish. The referee's whistle saved the Lions from any further pain, but a 5-1 deficit at the interval wouldn't have been part of their planning.
Any changes they made before the restart didn't have the effect they would have hoped for as Moutsatsos grabbed her hat-trick less than three minutes into the second half. It was a typically direct attack from South that saw them move from one penalty area to the other in a matter of moments, and it ended with another tidy one-on-one finish from Moutsatsos. She was subbed off before the hour mark, but the damage was well and truly done with a best afield performance.
The removal of their talisman didn't stop South from pushing for more goals, and they found their seventh from her replacement Charlotte Ingram. Another defensive half turnover from the Lions let Djakic carry the ball to the byline, and rather than shoot from the impossible angle she cut the ball back across goal for the unmarked winger to tap it home.
Things went from bad to worse for Kingborough just minutes later as Clifford went down in the middle of the field and stayed there for some time. The stretcher was brought out to help her from the field, with an apparent ankle injury from a tangle with her opponent. That incident and the stoppage afterwards took a lot of the sting out of the contest as both teams went through the motions without any real chances at either end of the ground. That remained the case until the dying minutes of the game, when Davis sparked the home crowd to life with a bustling run past several defenders. As McMullen advanced to cut off the shot, she instead passed across the goal to Ollington who finished into the open goal.
That was the last meaningful action of the afternoon as it finished 7-2 to the visitors. South will surely fancy their chances of making it three in a row when they host Ulverstone next week, while the Lions will look to bounce back against the winless University.