The Saturday wrap : summer cup r2

NPL Summer Cup

Kingborough Lions 6 (K. Douce, B. Hamlett x2, K. Kemp, J. Turner and J. Khasif) d Olympia Warriors 0 at Lightwood Park.

*Why didn’t anyone bother to paint the technical line this week? Kingborough Council should of really taken care of this. Little things like this have to be avoided in Tasmanian football.*

Kingborough continued their run of victories with a more convincing win from last week’s efforts, defeating a plucky Olympia outfit 6-0. Lions went into their home bout full strength with Keenan Douce and Kobe Kemp both making a quick recovery from their knocks last week while Jack Turner was stationed at midfield after a CB trial by Coach Jez Kenth v Zebras. Speaking of Zebras, former GK Sheku Kamara was on the pine for his former Lions side. Kamara hasn’t been seen in NPL TAS since 2018 after playing on the mainland.

Olympia continue to try pick up the pieces after clubs came in for their standout players last year. Former Lions keeper Jake Hayers started in favour over Elliot Hoysted who played hours before in their Southern Championship Summer Cup clash v Zebras in a 1-0 win. Brayton Allan and Joel Sammut also completed the lineup of former players while Jake Vandermey wore the captains armband.

Kickoff was delayed while referee Mr Peart spotted Lions keeper James Ross wearing the same colour white socks as Olympia’s kit. Ross quickly found some black socks and ran back to the box so we could begin. It was quite a comedic moment as the crowd and Ross laughed it off.

Allan looked to have scored the opener but was deemed offside by AR Claire Green.

Brayton Allan kicks the ball in anger after being deemed offside

Late tackles and yellow cards were flying in the early moments with Kingborough’s Joseph Juma earning the first slice of cheese caution. Speaking of cautions Olympia Coach Rob Clarke put one of his players in his place after he disputed a decision. Clarke’s voice was echoed to the stands “Hey! You want to stay on the field? Get on with it!” Even with the eventual margin well done to Clarke for showing some pride to get his team to not let decisions and goals get the better of them mentally and to simply play the game. And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.

*(L) Kobe Kemp and Joseph Mwarbu show a bit of sportsmanship while Juma and Matt Bomford look away from Mr Peart.*

Douce opened the scoring converting from just outside the box into the top left corner of Hayers much to the delight of The Den. Olympia’s Austin Yost had the chance to equalise shortly after but was stopped by Ross. Ben Hamlett shortly chimed in the goals-fest with a brace and also a yellow card for his troubles. Kemp, Turner and super-sub Jackson Khasif finished off the scoring in what was a complete whitewash.

Mercury writer Dan Thurley who I was fortunate enough to watch the game along side said “It’s not that Olympia have played badly, they have just been outmatched by a stronger fitter side” Well said Daniel.

Olympia will return to Warrior Park in a must win clash v Zebras while Kingborough will travel up North for an away day at Launceston City’s turf.

Launceston City 3 (Gediminas Kruša ,Yasin Mohammadi x2) d Clarence Zebras 2 (Riley Dillion x2) at KGV

Glenorchy Knights 3 (Nic Naden, Eli Luttmer and Alex Walter) d Riverside Olympic 1 (M Jones) at Windsor Park. A tidy first win for Knights who also celebrated Coach James Shermans birthday in style.

WSL Summer Cup

Olympia Warriors 4 (Mia Cane x3, Katherine Ollerhead) d Glenorchy Knights 0

Olympia continued their winning streak defeating Glenorchy by four goals with Mia Cane leading the way with a lovely hat-trick. Knights Coach Jaydan Wiggins used his defensive tactics and elected not to initiate pressing and hold the line for the majority of the match. With at least 80 % possession it made it very easy for Captain Madi Chambers and Meggie Goscombe to run rings around and dart past the defence. Wiggins tactics frustrated Olympia’s Coach Matt Kilsby during the match despite the end result.

Knights keeper Nikki Havea did well making six saves in the second-half but just couldn’t keep them out of the net.

*Olympia’s Meggie Goscombe and Knight’s Lydia Gorniak*

Cane opened her account at the 15 min mark, before getting a fantastic long range bouncing goal past the keeper. A first-half hat-trick completed with a run around the keeper. Cane is already making her mark and we haven’t even reached the start of the regular season yet.