Surprise Results In Lakoseljac Cup Quarters
After the favourites all won comfortably in the Round of 16, the quarter-final stage of the competition threw up a couple of stunning score lines in an entertaining weekend of football.
The opening game of the weekend produced the first Cupset of the year. The lone Championship side remaining in Hobart United pulled off a memorable victory by marching into Windsor Park and downing NPL side Riverside Olympic 1-0.
United would’ve taken a lead into the halftime break if not for the heroics of Ari Johnson in the Riverside goal, who saved a penalty as well as the retake in the first half to keep out John Buga in a first half that was at times a charged affair.
It was a goal from Abel Behrane that eventually broke the deadlock as his in-swinging corner shortly after the second-half restart, which was not dealt with by the Riverside keeper or defence and swung into the back of the net for an Olimpico goal. Not really the type of a goal a team should be conceding, but certainly a rarity, though apparently not on this particular weekend of local football which saw 3 of them scored.
Riverside would have no answer as they struggled to create anything to break through a compact United side and the lone goal would prove enough. It must surely rank as one of the most significant wins in the Club’s history and is one that sees them through to the final four for the very first time.
Less surprising was the result at KGV, where the Devonport Strikers continued their dominance in this competition by advancing to the final 4 with a 2-1 win over the Kingborough Lions. This is a football team that just knows how to win games and that craft was on full display here, as they took a first-half lead then almost completely shut things down in the second half to snuff out the Lions.
Their irrepressible Spaniard Roberto Fernandez Garrido extended his scoring streak and maintained his record of scoring in every game this season by burying the opener through the legs of the keeper after a deft through ball from Ali Dulleh.
Dulleh was eligible to play in this game after his red card for last week was referred to the Tribunal, who agreed with the referee's report that the red card should be rescinded. That was a result the Strikers will be pleased with, as his impact here was profound and he got a goal of his own soon after as Garrido turned provider for Dulleh, playing him through on goal where he produced a clinical finish.
The Lions never really looked like they were going to get back into this game and overcome the 2 goal lead. They did cause some late heart flutters when they received an 84th-minute penalty after a Toby Barton push on Toby Moss, which Kemp converted, but it was too little too late.
At Buckby Landrover Park it was déjà vu, as for the second week in a row the Clarence Zebras rallied back from a 1-0 deficit to down Launceston City 2-1.
Just as it was a week earlier, Mason Smith opened the scoring early as he finished off some nice build-up from Toby Simeoni. It was a lead that would last just four minutes before Riley Dillon restored parity, finishing off at the back post after City failed to adequately clear their lines.
William Humphrey then had a glorious chance to restore City’s lead, but he thumped his spot kick into the upright. That came back to haunt the hosts when Clarence’s brilliant Argentinian, Xuan Cappellino had his say, reacting sharply in the box to finish off Curtis Miley’s work and put his side 2-1 ahead.
On balance of chances the Zebras were good value for their victory and the home side can have few complaints at their departure from the competition, with Lachie Clark doing his best to keep his side in the tie with some nice saves. The Zebras have really turned a corner in 2023 and made significant strides on the pitch, now sitting just 2 wins away from Silverware that seemed unthinkable heading into the year.
On Sunday there was another major shock as South Hobart absolutely smashed the Glenorchy Knights 7-2 at Darcy Street. Just a fortnight after playing out a low-scoring grind of a game that ended 1-0 to Knights, South completely turned the table and ran rampant. The Knights had conceded just a single goal in 6 competitive fixtures leading into this game, but after just 22 minutes here found themselves down 3-0 with Van Doorne, Morton and Jackson Dent all hitting the back of the net, with Dent’s the pick of the strikes as he lobbed Gardner from range.
Daniel Sagno just snuck a penalty past O’Connell who got a piece of it but couldn’t keep it out to reduce the lead to 3-1 but Van Doorne then bagged his second just prior to the break to restore the 3-goal buffer.
Sam Berezansky continued the onslaught into the second half by chiming in with a brace whilst Kyle Vincent pulled one back for the Knights, but it did little to halt South’s charge.
Nick Morton then put the cherry on top of the cake with a delightful solo effort to see the game ending at 7-2 and South punching their ticket into the final four.
WSL Heavyweights Tested In Cup Quarters
The Women’s Statewide Cup had less surprising results but the favourites were made to work harder than anticipated as the underdog sides all put up commendable efforts and came close to causing the boilovers.
At Ulverstone, the Reds gave a wonderful account of themselves and came close to causing a major shock by eliminating their fierce coastal rivals Devonport. Georgia Anderson had them well on their way by sending them into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead courtesy of her 16th-minute strike.
But the Strikers were able to get back on track in the second half and ten minutes after the restart Nikita Boyd restored parity. Star striker Jazmin White then produced the go-ahead goal on 65 minutes that would ultimately see them through. Ulverstone pushed hard to try and get back on terms, but the WSL side were able to prevail, although in a far closer manner than many would have anticipated, especially given Ulverstone only sit mid-table in the Northern Championship. This really was a fantastic result for them, even if they ultimately came up just short and their cup journey has come to an end.
At Clare Street, South Hobart won an entertaining game over the New Town White Eagles, who likewise will take plenty of positives from an encouraging performance against a side in the higher division, despite their eventual defeat.
The White Eagles defence was doing a good job dealing with South in the opening 30 minutes, who had the aid of a considerable wind at their backs making life tough for the Eagles to play out from the back. Unable to unlock the defence with passing, Lucy Roberts decided to blast one from 35 yards that swerved over the keeper and opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
Had the White Eagles been able to keep it at 1-0, with the wind at their backs in the second half, things could've got really interesting. But two goals just prior to the break meant they were facing a mountain to climb at 3-0 in favour of South. First Mamic rounded the keeper and showed good composure to finish off, before an unfortunate own goal from Gray spun back wickedly into her own net.
The White Eagles scored in the first minute of the second half to suggest they would not go quietly, Nina Daniels doing some nice work out wide to tee up Ollerhead for the volley and classily cut the margin to 3-1 but they couldn't make further inroads.
A Lucy Roberts penalty midway through the half put to rest any hopes of a comeback though as she struck truly to make it 4-1. Prue Evans provided a wonderful highlight reel goal with her long-range strike to cut it back to 4-2, before Emily Flies rounded out the scoring with a cheeky chipped effort in stoppage time.
At Floorworld Park, Launceston United were given a much sterner test than they faced 7 days earlier by Taroona, before eventually winning 2-0. Having been dispatched 8-0 in the league a week prior, this was a significant improvement from the Pirates, thanks in no small part to the returning Izzy Ottavi in goal. She made some key stops here to keep her side in the clash for most of the afternoon, with the score stuck at 1-0 for most the game after an early strike from Charley Read who was well set up by Laura Dickinson.
It took till the 74th minute for Courtney Marten to finally put the tie to bed when the American attacker found the back of the net for the second week in a row.
The tie of the round was always going to be at KGV and so it proved with the Kingborough Lions repeating the scoreline from their Super League clash a week earlier and once again downing the Clarence Zebras 3-2.
The Zebras took the lead this time around as Millie Baric picked out the bottom corner with a well-taken first-time finish in just the fourth minute of the game.
But sloppiness allowed the Lions back into the game as Cara Lashmar scored at the near post with an Olimpico corner goal that went in untouched. Our second of the weekend.
Danielle Kannegiesser then put the Lions ahead in first-half stoppage time with a wonderful strike from outside the box, as Davis laid it off to her to pick out the corner to perfection. This would prove a masterful performance from the experienced Kannegiessser who was the clear player of the match.
Her second-half strike to extend the lead was even better, as again she combined with Davis, this time running onto a ball and absolutely powering a thumping strike that picked out the side netting on the inside of the goal. It was a pure strike and had the Lions with one foot into the final four.
The Clarence Zebras were not done yet though, as Millie Baric mirrored Lashmar's first-half effort by scoring herself from yet another Olimpico corner. It would not be enough, however, as the Lions held on to win 3-2 and advance through to the final four of a competition that they have typically played their best football in across recent seasons, and so it is proving once more in 2023.
The Semi Final draw for all of the Cups will be live streamed from 9:30am Wednesday May 3 through the Football Tasmania Facebook page.
Lakoseljac Cup Quarter Finals - Australia Cup Preliminary Round 5
Riverside Olympic 0
Hobart United 1 (A.Behrane 54’)
Kingborough Lions 1 (K.Kemp 85’)
Devonport Strikers 2 (R.Garrido 24’, A.Dulleh 42’)
Launceston City 1 (M.Smith 16’)
Clarence Zebras 2 (R.Dillon 20’, X.Cappellino 48’)
Glenorchy Knights 2 (Sagno, Vincent)
South Hobart 7 (I.Van Doorne x2, N.Morton x2 , S.Berezansky x 2)
Women’s Statewide Cup Quarter Finals
Ulverstone 1 (G.Anderson 16’)
Devonport 2 (N.Boyd 55’, J.White 65’)
New Town White Eagles 2 (K.Ollerhead 46’, P.Evans 84’)
South Hobart 5 (L.Roberts 27’ 74’, J.Mamic 39’, J.Gray OG 43’, E.Flies 90’)
Highlights
Launceston United 2 (C.Read 11’, C.Marten 74’)
Taroona 0
Clarence Zebras 2 (M.Baric 4’, 74’)
Kingborough Lions 3 (C.Lashmar 27’, D.Kannegiesser 45+1’, 62’)
Under 21 Statewide Cup
Kingborough Lions 2-8 South East United
Burnie United 0-7 Devonport Strikers
Launceston City 2-1 Glenorchy Knights
Clarence Zebras 1-4 Riverside Olympic
Boy’s Under 17 Quarter Finals
Kingborough Lions 1- South Hobart
Launceston City -0 Devonport Strikers
Hobart City Beachside 1-1 Clarence Zebras
(Clarence Zebras won 3-0 in Penalties)
Launceston United 7-0 Glenorchy Knights
Girl’s Under 17 Quarter Finals
Launceston City 3-0 Kingborough Lions
Taroona 0-2 South Hobart