A stunning second-half performance helped Ulverstone to stave off a Women's Super League boilover, as they twice came from behind to beat South Hobart 6-3.
The upset was on the cards for much of the day at Darcy Street after South led 3-1 with more than an hour off the clock. But Ulverstone's class across the park shone through late, as three goals in nine minutes and a Jazmin White hat-trick broke the game open and saw them storm away to a big win.
The quality displayed in that explosive finish was sorely lacking early in the game, as the visitors struggled to make their passes stick and keep possession. That saw them concede just four minutes after kickoff, as a sloppy turnover in the middle of the ground left South with a numbers advantage on the break. A simple through ball found Niki Moutsatsos in space, and she coolly finished past the 'keeper to give South an early lead.
From there Ulverstone settled, and created the bulk of the scoring chances in the first half. Only a brilliant reflex save from Isabella Declerck kept them from equalising inside ten minutes, while a cross to White was just barely too far away for her to get a shot on target.
That mattered not just before the half hour mark, though, as she buried her first goal to level the scores. After winning the ball to the left of the area she had time to steady and shoot from a tight angle, and she produced a very tidy finish to beat Declerck and find the back of the net.
Ulverstone continued to dominate the general play and went close to scoring, denied by another spectacular Declerck save and some wayward finishing in front of goal. They would have been ruing those missed chances at half time, as South found a second goal from just their second shot on target in the dying moments of the half.
Charlotte Ingram made a bustling run down the left and shook off numerous challenges from her marker before crossing from the byline. Ulverstone goalkeeper Georgia Anderson got a hand to it but could only deflect it into the path of Pishon Choi, who tapped it home and re-took the lead.
Ulverstone would have undoubtedly talked about their starts and finishes to halves at the break after conceding in the first four minutes and the last two minutes. That conversation mustn't have quite stuck, though, as South Hobart once again struck just two minutes after the restart to double their advantage. A 50-50 contest at half way saw the ball bounce free to Phoebe Djakic, and using her strength she took it all the way to the penalty area, beat two defenders and finished well with her left.
While Ulverstone continued to create more goalscoring chances, some more outstanding goalkeeping from Declerck and scrappy defending across the board saw South hold their own for a long stretch. They held strong until just after the hour mark, when a period of total dominance of possession and on the scoreboard started for the visitors.
After being pinned back in defence for a long time, South tried to clear the ball long but turned it straight back over in the middle. A through ball to Milly Mcmillan found her in the area and one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and she thumped a shot home to narrow the margin.
A Lucy Foote header shortly after thumped off the post and out, before Georgia Foote went one better and scored one minute later. A sloppy pass from South's defence was easily cut out, and some tidy passing from Ulverstone saw the ball end with Georgia just inside the area. She slid a shot through traffic and into the bottom corner to level the scores.
She had her second goal four minutes later, with a rocket from outside the area that flew into the top corner before Declerck could even move. Just nine minutes removed from a 3-1 lead and now left chasing the game, South looked totally rattled and struggled to even get the ball into their attacking half.
The scoring pace eased slightly, but White sprung to life in the final ten minutes to emphatically end the contest. She scored twice more, the first a point-blank finish and the second a long-range chip, to complete her hat-trick and remove any doubt about the final result.
There was some late drama for the victors, as Mcmillan picked up a second yellow card and was subsequently sent off in the 95th minute for some backchat towards the referee. The numbers disadvantage was too little, too late for South, though, as the game ended with Ulverstone 6-3 winners.