In the Milan Lakoseljac Cup Round of 16, Kingborough Lions United FC have cruised to a 5-1 win over Clarence Zebras yesterday at Lightwood Park.
Keenan Douce opened the game in the 16th minute when he scored from near the halfway line was a cross that floated over former Lion now Zebras’ keeper Nick O’Connell.
Luke Huigsloot equalised for the travelling Zebras when his header landed home over the head of keeper Lee Mackie.
Hall and Downes added on a goal each before HT which had to give the Lions a world of confidence.
Half time brought smiles to Kingborough but on the other side, we saw Zebras’ Captain Jayden Hey dressing down his teammates.
One would imagine he told his team to lift in the next half.
It was interesting how they didn’t opt to use their change-rooms during the break and had their HT chat on the pitch.
Downes scored a fantastic free kick in the second half with his curling effort landing in the top right corner. A huge rupture of applause came from the home fans on that and for good reason.
Phil Kantzos finished off the scoring with a lobbed effort which landed home.
It’s worth noting that Kantzos copped a hard knock/tackle after his shot.
He was on the ground for sometime, before being mobbed by his teammates.
Zebras’ Matthew Pace was also sent off with two yellow cards shortly after.
TTGB were able to get Danny Cowen’s comments after the match. Thanks Danny for your time.
“Any day you score 5 goals and get a win at home is a good day, we wonโt get too ahead of ourselves though, we know what we are capable of and we also know what we need to work on going into R1 and coming weeks”
Itโs a great confidence boost to advance in the cup and in that fashion but we are also well aware that we will be facing a tough and organised outfit in Croatia this coming weekend.
I’m confident if we bring more of what we displayed yesterday coupled with a good game plan we will be in for good shout at 3 points to start the season.
The coaching staff and club have done well recruiting over the off season and have been able to bolster our ranks with some quality players. Weโve also had a couple of players return to the club in Shane Cartwright and Jack Gates along with a lot of young talents that are coming through so in all I think we are looking alright for squad depth.
It’s never a good start for a newly merged club to be knocked out in the first round of any cup competition.
Zebras’ Coach David Smith will now look to next weekend when they host arguably one of the NPL TAS title favourites Olympia FC Warriors, at Wentworth Park.
Olympia advanced to the Quarter Finals of the Milan Lakoseljac Cup last night, disposing of Beachside SC last night in a 10-1 scoreline
Perhaps that could be considered a warning message to the Zebras.
I am indebted to CMW PHOTOGRAPHY and Melissa Docking who have allowed TTGB to use their images of the game. Thank you heaps ladies!
I was unable to take photos this weekend but I will be ready for the NPL and WSL next week!
Transfer News
Lion’ Moses Khasif has been ruled out for up to 6 months which effectively takes him out of the shortened season.
After a spell at Gold Coast United (NPL QLD) in 2018, Jack Gates has returned to Kingborough and slotted in well with the youthful side.
It was quite the day for the Lions as all teams below got wins. Is this the year the Callies finally come out of the cave?
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