The Devonport Strikers have shaken off their mixed league form to advance in the Lakoseljac Cup, beating South Hobart 2-1 at Darcy Street in the quarter finals. It was an impressive display from the Strikers against one of the NPL Tasmania leaders and they could have easily won by a bigger margin. In the end, goals to Miles Barnard and Eddie Bidwell and some late heroics from Nathan Pitchford were enough to see them move on to the semi-finals.
The matchup saw two of the state's premier backlines going head-to-head, and it had all the makings of a defensive struggle in the opening exchanges. Both sides fell into their usual patterns, with South staying patient in possession and the Strikers looking to play in their forwards quickly. Neither tactic was successful in the first 20 minutes of the game, more due to stellar defensive play than a lack of effort in attack.
Strikers goalkeeper Pitchford was finally called into action before half-time, making a pair of sharp saves before the break to first deny Kasper Hallam and then Sam Berezansky with long-range efforts. Devonport had more of the attacking play for much of the half, but they struggled to convert that into genuine threats on the goal. They finally hit the target in the final minutes of the half, with Joel Stone firing from a tight angle and forcing a close-range save from Nick O'Connell. That left the game still in the balance at half-time with the prospect of extra time and penalties already a consideration given the defensive strength of the teams.
Those thoughts went out the window quickly after the restart as the Strikers opened the scoring less than five minutes into the second half. Eddie Bidwell was full of energy on the left wing throughout the entire game, and after receiving the ball inside his defensive half he drove forward and played a long through-ball that snuck behind the South Hobart defence. There it met the run of Daniel Syson, and while his shot past the advancing O'Connell bounced off the woodwork and stayed out, the rebound fell straight at the feet of Barnard. The Fox in the Box made no mistake from point-blank range, tapping home into an empty net to give his side a well-deserved lead.
Not content with a one-goal advantage, the visitors continued to push hard against a South Hobart defence that was suddenly caught on the back foot. Barnard almost added a second with a header that flew just over the crossbar, and Bidwell fired a low shot on target but straight at the goalkeeper. That must have been the range finder the winger needed, as he doubled his side's lead just after the hour mark. As is so often the case for Devonport, it was the creativity of Joel Stone that opened the door with a scooped pass that looped over the defence and into the path of Bidwell. O'Connell came off his line to collect, but a moment of hesitation from the gloveman let Bidwell steal in and get his head on the ball, sending it slowly rolling goalward and eventually over the line.
O'Connell was far from the only South player slow off his mark, with their defence a step off the pace for much of the second half. That left the door open for Devonport to bury the game with a third goal, but they couldn't quite land the killer blow. Barnard blasted a shot across the face and just wide, Brody Denehey scuffed an open chance from close range, and Stone forced a turnover deep in attack but had his effort well saved by O'Connell.
They were left ruing those missed opportunities when South Hobart pulled a goal back from the penalty spot with 20 minutes still on the clock. A high cross from Tobias Herweynen drifted from the left to the back post, where Pitchford lunged to palm it away. That touch from the goalkeeper didn't clear the danger, and as Bradley Lakoseljac collected the rebound and steadied Pitchford slid in from behind and took his legs out from under him. It seemed like a clear-cut decision for the referee, and captain Nick Morton stepped up and converted the penalty to keep South Hobart alive.
The Strikers continued to play with confidence across the ground despite conceding, and that saw the final minutes quickly tick away as they controlled the tempo. The game doesn't end at 90 minutes, though, and South very nearly stole in for an equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time. A half-clearance saw the ball fall in front of Sam Berezansky outside the area, and he hit a first-time ball into the mixer where a crowd of bodies waited. Herweynen rose the highest and flicked a header on target, but he could only watch as Pitchford sprung up and palmed the ball over with a fantastic save. That proved to be a match-winning play from the Golden Glove winner, as the final whistle sounded moments later and his side celebrated a 2-1 win.