IC- South Hobart FC

Mark Wakefield 

South Hobart brushed aside Clarence United 8-0 at Darcy Street this afternoon to go back to the top of the PS4 National Premier Leagues Tasmania ladder with the Hobart JEEP Zebras yet to play this round. Alex Leszczynski, Kobe Kemp and Nicholas Morton were the stars for South Hobart in strong team performance.

On a perfect April's day, the South Hobart boys were out to prove that last weekend was just a blip on the radar for them. As the sun beamed down over the luscious green expanses of Darcy Street, South Hobart controlled the game from start to finish. Neither side managed a shot until the 13th minute, but despite this, South were dictating how the game unfolded.

In the 20th minute, Morton burst through midfield, playing a neat one two with the imperious Leszczynski before he lashed a cracking strike into the top left of the net to make it 1-0.

In the 25th minute, Leszczysnki scored an absolute screamer. Matthew Dyson had thrown the ball out to one of his teammates but it was immediately turned over and ended up with the big striker. He rolled off his man before unleashing a strike that must have been close to destroying the ball itself. It nestled in the left hand side of the net with Dyson not even getting a chance to react.

Clarence, to their credit, defended resolutely for the remainder of the half and held firm. New man Kyungmin Choi went close in the 24th and 42nd minutes from free kicks, the first of two narrowly flashing past the right hand upright with Wilson beaten all ends up.

The second half was a different story as South's supreme fitness and technical abilities came to the fore the longer the game went on.

In the 46th minute a handball inside the Clarence defensive box off the arm of George Hallard saw Charlie White point to the spot. Leszczynski stepped up and buried it into the top left, before being recalled to take it again after one of his teammates had encroached on the area before the kick. He stepped up and pummeled it into the top right with so much conviction that it nearly burst the net.

It was 4-0 in the 53rd minute. Alfred Hess got on the end of a curling, dipping free kick from Loic Feral to nod home.

In the 64th minute Hess got his second of the match. In a goalmouth scramble, Clarence cleared two efforts off the line before Hess got the third chance at it and slotted home from no more than three yards out.

In the 71st minute it was 6-0. Leszczynski who had been hitting the ball well all afternoon decided he would try his luck from a free from 35 yards out, blasting a shot that dipped nastily just in front of Dyson, bouncing off his chest and back towards Daniel Brown who ran in and prodded home.

It was then Kemp's turn to run riot to cap off a stellar game for the young lad. In the 78th minute he picked up a ball in midfield, his sumptuous first touch taking him past a marker before he cut a shot unexpectedly into the bottom left corner as he ran right.

In the 92nd minute, it was Kemp again. He played a short corner before working past two Clarence defenders and then hitting a cheeky outside of the right foot shot from about 6 yards through a see of legs past a deceived Dyson to round out the scoring at 8-0.

It was a dominant display by South Hobart who well and truly atoned for last weeks loss with today's performance. They ended up having close to thirty shots during the game compared to Clarence's six.

South Hobart coach Ken Morton was pleased with the result, "Yeah, good day at the office today."

"Created a lot of chance, it was a good win for us, it gets us back on track and a good performance from every player. I think everyone stood up today and did their jobs and we made the win."

"They were stubborn (Clarence) and they tried to make it difficult but we had that patience today and I was happy with that".

"He (Leszczynski) is in good form. He's a hard working player for us he's done really well. He's raised the bar for us as far as that target man role goes for us this season."

Clarence United coach Alan Jablonski was circumspect after the loss, "Well, obviously average (the performance) as far as the scoreline goes. I though the boys worked hard but we just had a chat then and there are a lot of reasons why the last two weeks have been the way that they have been."

"Probably both (fitness and mental issues with the conceding of a lot of goals in the second half of the last two games)... we have conceded two goals in the first three minutes of second halves the last three games so its got to the point because we are focusing on it we are probably overdoing whatever it is we are doing and worrying about it too much."

So it's a well earned rest for the Clarence boys next week, and they will need it to recharge and reset for the rest of the first round of matches. South on the other hand will go into next weekends Lakoseljac Cup Semi-Final against Olympia FC Warriors full of confidence and ready to end their run and put their name up for the national stage once more.