Clarence United won the Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy in Tasmania by beating Northern Rangers 2-0 in Saturday’s final before a large and vocal crowd at KGV Park.

The match was played amidst a marvellous atmosphere created by the rival sets of fans.

Clarence got off to the perfect start against Rangers when a Sam McIntyre free-kick after just two minutes gave them the lead.

The ball took a deflection on the way and beat Rangers goalkeeper Marshall Pooley, despite his full-length dive which enabled him to get a hand to the ball but not keep it out.

Derek Schipper went on a great slalom run through the Clarence defence in the 7th minute, but just when it seemed he must score, he trod on the ball and the chance went begging.

Former Clarence player Paul Bremner was in excellent form for Rangers and demonstrated some great ball artistry in midfield, while Thataetsile Kakadumane also did well for the visitors.

Bremner, a striker, and Kakadumane, a midfielder,  changed roles at times, while Mark Ambrose and Andrew Nicholson also switched flanks in vain endeavour to bring Rangers back into the game.

Clarence’s use of the wings caused the Rangers back-four many problems and the speed of Chris Hunt and Ben Hamlett, as well as the creative midfield play of Joseph Stevens, were a constant source of danger.

Luke Cripps, Luke Huigsloot, Hamlett, McIntyre and Ben Parker all went close to scoring for Clarence, while Rangers’ Sam Nugteren and Bremner forced fine saves late in the match from Clarence keeper Michael Moschogianis.

Pooley, who was agile and brave, had an excellent game for Rangers and saved several certain goals, while the Clarence back-four of Mattias Toghill, Matt Lewis, Parker and Julian McMahon were outstanding.

Clarence’s second goal came in the 66th minute with a marvellous move started by McIntyre on the right as he picked out Chris Hunt on the left with a long diagonal pass.

Hunt crossed for Hamlett to force a save from Pooley, who saved again within seconds from Cripps, but Huigsloot scored from the rebound to make the game safe and give Clarence their first trophy at this level.

A 79th-minute goal by Sam Reibel, from Brendan Garth’s cut-back, gave Clarence their victory over Tilford Zebras in the Under-19 cup final, but it took some expert goalkeeping by Clarence’s Trent Cornish to prevent Zebras from scoring.

In the women’s final, Clarence, who had two excellent midfielders in Kathryn McLeod and Jane Archer, took the lead against Olympic through Paris Crow, but a hat-trick by Bliss Cantrell and a goal by Sarah Morris gave Olympic the silverware.

Kingborough Lions United failed in their bid to finish fourth in the Premier League competition when they lost 3-1 to Hobart Olympic at KGV Park on Wednesday night.

The loss enabled Clarence United to finish fourth and qualify for the State-wide final-four series.

Michael Bulis put Olympic ahead in the 23rd minute from Chris Tsakiris’s pass after a long clearance by goalkeeper Dmitri Nester, but Greg Freeman equalised in the 34th minute to make it 1-1 at half-time.

Bulis restored Olympic’s lead in the 54th minute with an excellent finish, while an own-goal in stoppage time by Lions defender Damien Pearce completed the victory, which enable Olympic to finish sixth on the ladder.

New Town Eagles completed their league program to finish seventh when they downed relegated University 2-0.

First-half goals by central defenders Michael Anderson and Chris Wass, both with headers from Ben Whitehall corners, gave Eagles victory.