Last-minute heartache for Olympic as Lions claw way into final

On a day when Kingborough killed off Northern hopes in both senior cup competitions, Olympic lost 2-1 to a stunning last-minute winner against a team which had spanked them 8-1 just a couple of months earlier.

They were without both their star imports after Canadian centre-back Adrian Anthony picked up a knee injury and Chilean striker Emanuel Ponce was sent off in last week's league loss to Clarence, lost two more influential playmakers at half-time, conceded two contentious penalties and finished with 10 men.

But coach Helder Dos Santos Silva could not have been more proud.

"They fought every single ball, they competed against one of the strongest teams in the league and I'm so proud of all of them," he said.

"They were amazing, fantastic. We've improved a lot and are still a work in progress. We did not get to the final this year but we're going to get where we want to because we're a very young team.

"They follow instructions like no-one else and give their blood for the club."

Olympic took an early lead, conceded on the stroke of half-time, were kept in the contest by the exceptional goal-keeping of Dan Nash and put a modest Windsor Park crowd through an emotional roller-coaster after the break.

Forced into a reshuffle, Olympic brought Michael Mejia into defence with Henry Cook a lone striker ahead of a packed midfield and the formation worked a treat.

The last of four corners inside the first six minutes was dropped by Lions keeper Masatoshi Kawano for James Trevis to sweep home.

The corner-taker, Gedi Krusa, also had four shots from distance while Nash was building up an impressive highlights reel with instinctive saves to deny Kobe Kemp, Otto Schwarz, Alex Brown and Noah Mies.

Nash was even equal to Kemp's tame 43rd-minute penalty - awarded for Cook's brush with Jacob Huigsloot - but the Lions captain kept his cool to tap in the rebound.

Injuries to Krusa and Will Prince saw both replaced along with James Pelletier as Olympic brought on Liam Poulson, Dan Shaw and Romain Pinto and switched Cook to full-back.

Their best chance to regain the lead came when Austin Marshall charged down a Kawano clearance while Lions were handed a golden chance when Max Reissig was adjudged to have fouled Mies. Taking penalty responsibility from Kemp, Mies's spot-kick struck the post and although he tucked in the rebound, the former City striker was ruled offside despite the ball inadvertently reaching him from Reissig.

The ongoing Nash heroics looked certain to produce extra-time until the keeper-captain took out a clean-through Alfred Hess two minutes from time to earn a straight red. Sub keeper Ari Johnson came on but was powerless to keep out Greg Downes' perfectly-placed free-kick.

"We lost a bit of width with Will and creativity with Gedi but I had to change things," Dos Santos Silva said about his enforced half-time changes.

"Dan Shaw came in from Championship and did really well. I could not have asked for more from him. We brought 'Anthony' (Pinto) and Michael in and they were outstanding.

"At the end of the day this is a defeat but one I'm very proud of."

Lions - who wore black armbands in memory of Mies' grandfather Peter - will play the winners of Devonport versus Glenorchy who play on Sunday at Valley Road.

In the Women's Statewide Cup, Launceston United's bid for a fourth-straight final also ended at the paws of the Lions.

Missing Maddie Lohse and Izzy DeClerck, Nick Rawlinson's team fought back from 2-0 down to level things up before going down 4-2 just a week after losing 4-3 to the same opponents.

Cara Lashmar and Laura Davis put the hosts in control but a quickfire Lucy Smith double early in the second half restored parity from Bianca Anderson and Chelsea Wing assists.

United keeper Jaz Venn kept the Lions out to force extra-time but goals either end of the extra period saw the hosts through.

They will play Devonport who won 5-0 at South Hobart with doubles for Whitney Knight and Lucy Foote with sub Grace Sims adding a last-minute fifth.