Isky Van Doorne has waved goodbye to South Hobart with a man-of-the-match performance in his final game, as a pair of assists from the Calgary Flyer led South to a 2-0 win over Glenorchy Knights.
The result keeps South in the thick of the NPL TAS title race, and while they struggled to land a killer blow to end the contest, they were never really troubled as a goal in each half saw them claim a vital three points. Confirming post-match that he will be taking up a playing opportunity in Leipzig, Germany in the coming week, Van Doorne was at his electrifying best and was ably supported by a multitude of solid performances across the park.
The game barely crawled into first gear from the kickoff, as both teams were sloppy in the opening exchanges. Glenorchy almost exclusively looked to play the ball long, and while their wingers looked dangerous at times they failed to create any real chances. South, on the other hand, tried to play their trademark combinations through the midfield and took the upper hand once those passes started finding the target.
In his first game back from injury, Darcy Hall sparked South into action with a shot on target and a pass to Nick Morton, with both plays forcing reflex saves from Knights 'keeper Dmitri Nester. With some momentum finally building, it wasn't long before the ever-dangerous duo of Van Doorne and Ben Hamlett combined to open the scoring.
Hamlett won the ball from a tough contest in the middle and played it in front of Van Doorne on the right. Moving at full pace, he drove into the box, forced his way through a challenge and found the trailing Hamlett in the middle, and he tapped it into an open net to make it 1-0 to the hosts.
While South still weren't operating at full capacity, they dominated in general play and had their chances to double the lead before half time. The biggest came with just minutes left until the break, as a huge double chance went begging.
Adam Gorrie had his run to the back post rewarded with a cross to his feet, and his shot thumped off the crossbar and out. The rebound fell to Hamlett on the other side of the area, but after beating his man and seeing plenty of open net to aim for he skewed a shot into the side netting.
Heading into the break one goal down and with zero shots of their own, Knights might have felt lucky to still be in the contest. While they still struggled to move the ball with any fluency, they started to fire on goal early in the second half and looked set to equalise ten minutes after the restart.
The dangerous Callum Brown broke free down the left wing, and as he drove into the box seemingly had plenty of time to shoot. Instead he tried to square it into the middle through heavy traffic, and after a scramble in the box South were eventually able to clear.
Despite that close call, though, it never felt like the game was getting away from South as they controlled much of the play and still looked dangerous. Oscar Thomas and Hall both went close to scoring, while Van Doorne, Hamlett and Nick Morton continued to work tirelessly in presenting for the ball and pressing the Knights defence.
They finally found the elusive second goal with around 20 minutes left in the contest, and again it was Van Doorne providing the assist. It started with Morton in the middle, as he won a 50-50 ball and played the Canadian through on the right. He took the ball to the byline and crossed low to the penalty spot, where it was met by the run and thumping finish of substitute Samuel Berezansky.
With a two-goal hole to climb out of, the Knights really needed to throw caution to the wind in the games closing moments. While that endeavour may have been there, the fundamental skill errors that plagued them throughout the game stopped their forward moves time and time again. With more solid defending and good control of possession, South were able to whittle away the remaining time with ease and secure the comfortable 2-0 win.
South will now look ahead to a huge week for the club, with the FFA Cup draw mid-week and a trip to Valley Road to face the league-leading Devonport Strikers on Saturday. Glenorchy, meanwhile, will face a week of soul-searching after back-to-back tough losses, before they host Kingborough on Saturday.
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