Taroona hopes tumble in rout

A TROUNCING by Olympia Warriors has seemingly sent Taroona on the way out of the Southern Premier League title race.

The second-placed Taroona was pummelled 8-1 by a youthful ninth-placed Olympia outfit at Warrior Park, making it back-to-back losses for the club.

The absence of key midfield workhorse Eli Luttmer and a main playmaker is starting to take its toll.

A first half hat-trick from Gift Ochaya cancelled out Toby Dove’s early Taroona goal and sent Olympia on its way to a third victory.

Second-half goals from George Vafakos, Carl Larzabal, Bruno Almeida, Aaron Browning and Harry Woolley humiliated Taroona at the final whistle.

And things got worse for Taroona as Beachside capitalised on its loss the following afternoon, defeating New Town Eagles 3-0 at Clare St.

A brace from Tom Gordon plus a Daniel Brown single was enough to consolidate top spot and stretch the lead over Taroona to eight points.

And on Sunday, Taroona’s loss took its toll on the shape of the table as Tilford Zebras defeated a nine-man University 5-2 at Olinda Grove.

The Zebras’ win against the gutsy Uni side, which lead 2-1 at halftime, saw them leapfrog Taroona into second spot by a point, but linger seven points behind Beachside.

Patrick Watts and Miles Barnard had seen Uni go ahead at the break, despite James Galloway being given a straight red card and Ryan Smith scoring a Zebras goal.

Incredibly, Lindsay Millington was sent off on the hour mark and from there Ethan Engels saved the Zebras with a second half hattrick. Adam Lapolla chimed in with a goal to round out the 5-2 score line.

At North Warrane, a solitary Josh Hope goal clinched a 1-0 win for NTC over Nelson, helping it to within a point of Taroona.

Clarence defeated the winless Glenorchy Knights 3-0 at Went worth Park on Saturday.

A Darcy Hall brace helped South Hobart to a 3-1 win over Kingborough Lions at Darcy St yesterday.

In a top of the table clash in the Southern Women’s Premier League yesterday, an impressive four-goal haul from Stacie Hutchinson saw NTC brush aside Olympia 5-1.

With the sides going into the game level on points, NTC consolidated top spot thanks to Hutchinson’s bag and a single from Marion Dunbabin at KGV.

Taroona overcame New Town Eagles 5-2, Tilford Zebras and University shared the points with a 3-3 draw while Clarence and Kingborough played a scoreless draw.