This week of the FQPL had plenty of drama once more as the competition settles into a tight affair.
By Matthew McInerney
Wide Bay Buccaneers 2 (Wilks 85’, Lynch 90’)
Rochedale Rovers 5 (Coyne 42’, 90’, McKain 34’, Norris 40’, Fellows 82’)
Martens Oval Field 1
Rovers move into second
Two Andrew Coyne goals powered Rochedale Rovers into the FQPL top two.
The Rovers were forced to work hard by the winless Wide Bay Buccaneers, who suffered a mid-week FFA Cup loss to Wide Bay Premier League team Doon Villa.
Jonathan McKain broke the deadlock in the 34th minute and two goals in three minutes handed the visitors a 3-0 half-time lead.
When Sam Fellows scored in the 82nd minute it gave Rochedale a 4-0 lead, but the Buccaneers showed more fight than ever before.
Buccaneers import Ben Wilkes scored his first FQPL goal in the 85th before teammate Jacob Lynch scored in the 90th minute.
Coyne’s second goal sealed the results.
Logan Lightning 2 (Brownlie 26’, Guy 67’)
Sunshine Coast Wanderers 0
Cornubia Park 1
Lightning strike Sunshine Coast
Goals to Royce Brownlie and Zander Guy led the home side to victory at Cornubia Park.
The result extended Logan’s unbeaten run to six games, a streak that includes a 1-1 draw with FQPL pace-setters Peninsula Power.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Wanderers, who will face Peninsula this weekend.
A win can ensure they maintain pace, a loss could see them drop out of the top five (pending other results).
Holland Park Hawks 3 (Madle 59’, 70’, McMillan 74’)
Southside Eagles 2 (Bretag 50’, Wilson 75’)
Whites Hill Reserve 2
Hawks clip Eagles
A run of five losses finally came to a halt for the early season leaders as a Marek Madle brace handed Holland Park a 3-2 win at their Whites Hill Reserve home.
Southside Eagles hit the lead through Cameron Bretag in the 50th minute after a scoreless first half, an effort cancelled out when golden boot favourite Madle scored nine minutes later.
Madle scored his second in the 70th, and Sean McMillan’s 74th minute goal put Holland Park on track for a big win.
That lasted a minute, as Jarrod Wilson put Southside within striking distance.
Holland Park overcame the final nervous 15 minutes to secure maximum points, while Southside stay 12th.
Souths United 3 (Grimley 52’, 90’, Anderson 34’)
Eastern Suburbs FC 5 (Farina 44’, 86’, Balarezo 20’, Shol 38’, Coulson 90+6’)
Wakerley Park 1
Suburbs nervy but hold on
Scot Coulson’s strike six minutes into the injury time settled Eastern Suburbs’ nervous supporters at Wakerley Park.
Souths United and Easts fought a tit-for-tat battle throughout their FQPL clash, a game which featured eight goals and six yellow cards.
Easts managed to hold a 3-1 lead at the main break courtesy of goals to Jayden Balarezo, Youeil Shol and the first of captain Jordan Farina’s efforts.
When Farina scored his second in the 86th minute the game looked over.
Ethan Grimley’s second half double on top of Joshua Anderson’s 34th minute effort put Souths within striking distance.
Luckily for the visitors, Coulson was on the spot deep into the injury time period to send Easts to fifth.
Mitchelton FC 2 (Yannakopoulos 25’, Dozzi 52’)
Capalaba Bulldogs 0
Teralba Park 1
Mitchelton add to Capalaba woes
Mitchelton FC have ensured Capalaba’s poor run of form continued courtesy of a 2-0 home win.
Capalaba enjoyed a four-win streak to be among the top rungs of the FQPL table, but five consecutive losses has seen the club slip from the top four to sixth and losing ground.
Mitchelton, the team arguably most affected by washouts this season (they still have two catch-up fixtures to play), scored a goal in each half to deny the Doggies.
Kosi Yannakopoulos was the first to fire home in the 25th minute, before Jordan Dozzi’s 52nd minute goal allowed Mitchelton breathing space.
The result moved Mitchelton to 14 points, ninth on the table and six points behind fourth-placed Logan Lightning – the team they face in the next round (May 11).
Capalaba will face Eastern Suburbs on May 12.
Ipswich Knights 1 (own goal 45’)
Wolves FC 3 (Martinez, 56’, 93’, Krkeljas, 49’)
Eric Evans Oval 1
Wolves strike against Ipswich
A first-half own goal gave Ipswich Knights fans a reason to celebrate and the faint hope the winning drought would end.
The Knights have not won a FQPL game since they smashed Wide Bay Buccaneers 6-0 in the third round, way back on February 18.
Six losses and a draw since, they were desperate to get past the Wolves.
The own goal was as close as they got as Alaska Krkeljas netted four minutes after the break, before Alejandro Martinez handed Wolves the lead in the 56th.
Martinez put the cherry on top in the 93rd minute to continue Wolves’ fantastic run of five straight wins, meanwhile consigning the Knights to their seventh straight loss.
The now seventh-placed Wolves will need to fire if they are to extend their run to six straight against Souths United next week, while the Knights will face Rochedale.
Peninsula Power – BYE
Leaders Peninsula Power had the bye this week and will resume against the Sunshine Coast Wanderers in what is set to be a cracker in two weeks’ time on Sunday, 13 May.