Former Sydney FC skipper, Mark Rudan, capped off a successful coaching season by guiding the state champions to a historic victory in the finals series on Sunday.

Both goals came in the opening half.

United struck with just 11 minutes on the clock when Yuichi Yamayuchi entered left of the 18 yard box and squared a ball to Glen Trifiro, who fired it past goalkeeper Matthew Ferguson.

The second goal came four minutes later when Ibrahim Haydar headed the ball home to double the lead.

South Hobart had their chances, including a Nick Morton goal that was ruled offside, but their dreams of a comeback were seriously dented when the midfielder left the field injured on 74 minutes and substitute Ben Hamlett was shown a straight red for violent conduct on 80 minutes.

United’s Glen Trifiro picked up the John Kosmina medal for best on ground.

The nation’s second tier football comp kicked off this year with Queensland, NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT taking part.

Western Australia and Northern NSW are expected to join next year. Victoria is currently locked in a legal battle about the future of its NPL model while the Northern Territory is expected to adopt a partial model in the future.

Taken from a report by Damian Gill, Football Federation Tasmania