The Clarence Zebras will be looking to kick off their new era with silverware but standing in their way are the defending Summer Cup champion Olympia Warriors, as they prepare to meet in Saturday's Women's Summer Cup Final.
Having stormed through the group stage with a minimal fuss dispatching University 15-0 and Taroona 8-0, the new entity in Clarence Zebras will face a much sterner test in the decider but will still go in as the hot favourites to make it a perfect start following the amalgamation of the Hobart Zebras and Clarence United that was made official last November.
The Warriors advancement to the final from Group B was less dominant, but in fairness they did have a tougher group to navigate. They showed a strong fighting spirit to get the job done in the second halves of both their group games to emerge on top. A Mia Cane double secured a 2-0 win over the Kingborough Lions in a rematch of last years final, before they launched a stunning come from behind win to account for South Hobart. Staring down a 2-0 half time deficit and elimination from the tournament, the Warriors scored four second half goals to claim a 4-2 win and book their spot in the final.
Whilst this is not technically a rematch of last seasons thrilling final day Women's Super League decider, given the core of the squad comes from the Hobart Zebras and the fact that Chris Hey is the coach, it's close enough and Saturday's battle should be a similarly hotly contested showdown between the two sides who dominated in 2019. That's not to say that Clarence United side of things haven't brought anything to the table player wise with the merger, indeed in Zara Dixon and Amelia Davie they have provided arguably the best centre back and goalkeeper in the state. That reinforcement at the back to go with a superb attack led by Allie Berry, Zoe Nichols and Danielle Kannegiesser is what has them as the favourites to take out the WSL this season and has been a big reason for their utter dominance thus far in the Cup.
Kannegiesser said the playing group was excited to be taking on the Warriors in the decider and that it offered them the chance to get the new club off to the best possible start.
"It's so exciting, we love big games and being a newly developed club we're extra excited to put our stamp on the season."
"We've had a pretty good preparation, we're looking forward to taking on a really competitive team tomorrow and we will see how we go."
Given the talent in the two squads and their close proximity on Hobart's Eastern Shore, a new rivalry seems likely and it was something Kannegiesser hoped would develop.
"They are a quality team and we love playing against them. Last year Hobart Zebras and Olympia had such a good rivalry so hopefully we can design a new rivalry this year with Clarence Zebras moving forward as a new club."
Whether Kannegiesser is played in defence and given the same man-marking role she played on Madi Chambers in that final day showdown of 2019 will be interesting, as the reigning WSL Best and Fairest winner undoubtedly looms as one of the keys to the game for Olympia. Along with speedster Bonnie Davies, the Warriors have a potent attack and the weapons to provide the Zebras with plenty of headaches at the back. Despite losing star playmaker Olivia Bomford to Canberra, the Warriors still have no shortage of quality in their ranks and despite the final result not going their way, on balance of play they were probably the better side the last time around.
Warriors Goalkeeper Jenna Farrow said the squad was hoping to emulate their Cup victory from 12 months earlier.
"We're very excited, obviously its only pre-season but we won it last year in extra time and it was just such a great feeling, so we're hoping to do it again this year."
"We're going into this game as underdogs.. they're obviously a much stronger side this year than they were last year having merged two teams, so it should be very interesting, but we're very excited."
She said that whilst there had been a large turnover in the playing list, for the six players who were apart of the final day defeat last season, it would be a motivating factor.
"We definitely reviewed last years game, it was quite disappointing for a few of the girls and it does put a bit of fire in the belly for some of us."
The Women's Summer Cup final kicks off at 2:00pm at KGV. As part of Female Football Week, a Female Football Festival will also be held on the day, kicking off at 11:00am.
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The Warriors won the Cup final rematch with the Lions 2-0 in the group stage- Tanner Coad[/caption]
The Warriors won the Cup final rematch with the Lions 2-0 in the group stage- Tanner Coad[/caption]