Olympic leap clear of the pack at the top as Strikers and Pride falter whilst at the bottom the Magpies Crusaders, Cairns and SWQ Thunder record important wins.
Sunshine Coast 1 (Debbage 35’)
Cairns FC 2 (Taylor 23’ Paull 77’)
Kawana Sports Precinct Field 5
Paull rescues points for Cairns
Nathan Paull scored his first goal for Cairns at the most vital of moments to ensure Cairns earned their revenge over Sunshine Coast and took all three points back to the tropical north on Saturday afternoon.
Josh Taylor had given the visitors a first half lead with his 11th goal of the campaign but the visitors were pegged back by a desperate Sunshine Coast side just over ten minutes later when youth prospect Kaelan Debbage grabbed his maiden senior goal.
The hosts could not muster a response in the second half and succumbed to their fourth straight defeat, leaving them six points adrift at the foot of the table as Cairns jump to ninth.
SWQ Thunder 3 (Edwards 73’, Grant 82’, Brusaca’ 87’)
Redlands United 0
Gatton Football Club
Thunder secure second successive win
SWQ Thunder picked up their first win of the season in Gatton on Saturday against a Redlands United side who had Scott Sargent sent off after just 39 minutes for a second bookable offence.
The hosts left it late to secure the points, only opening the scoring in the 73rd minute through Nick Edwards’ second of the season before an Anthony Grant goal and a maiden strike from Federico Brusaca’ made the points safe in the final ten minutes.
By that time both sides were down to ten men after Keagan Sheridan picked up a second booking for the hosts with the score at 1-0, but the Thunder held on for their second straight win and fourth of the season, condemning their Cleveland-based opponents to their fifth consecutive loss.
Olympic FC 1 (Mundy 49’)
Western Pride 0
Goodwin Park
Centurion Mundy rises to occasion
Matt Mundy rose to the occasion on his 100th appearance to score the only goal of the game as Olympic stretched their lead at the top of the table to five points in a tempestuous encounter at Goodwin Park.
A total of 12 yellow cards were shown to the two teams as the league’s top two sides did battle on Saturday night, including two to Greg Hawash who was sent from the field in the shadows of half time.
Mundy settled the contest shortly after the break with only his second goal of the season to maintain his team’s winning run ahead of Wednesday night’s massive FFA Cup tie at Wolter Park.
Brisbane Strikers 0
Lions FC 1 (Reardon 67’)
Perry Park
Lions bite back after derby defeat
Strikers suffered their second straight league defeat as Lions responded superbly to their Classico defeat against City to do the double over the two time reigning Premiers at Perry Park on Saturday night.
Nathan Reardon’s third goal of the season in the second half was enough for Lions who leap-frog Strikers to go back into the top four as Lions kept their seventh clean sheet of the season.
David Large’s side have little time to regroup ahead of Tuesday night’s FFA Cup test against an in form Peninsula Power side at AJ Kelly Park.
Brisbane City 1 (Sibatuara 68’)
Moreton Bay United 2 (Fox 32’ Arop 59’)
Corporate Travel Management Stadium
Jets power on
Moreton Bay United consolidated their spot in the top four with a gritty 2-1 victory over ten-man Brisbane City at Corporate Travel Management Stadium on Saturday night.
The visitors took the lead in the first half thanks to a fine finish from Brenton Fox, who netted his seventh of the season and doubled their advantage after the break through Chom Arop’s deft lob.
By that time City were already a man down after centre-back Tom Aulton received his marching orders just before the half time break for a second bookable offence but City still posed their visitors problems and pulled a goal back through Sam Sibatuara with around 20 minutes to go.
But the Jets held on to record their fifth win in a row ahead of their FFA Cup tie against Olympic on Wednesday night.
Magpies Crusaders 3 (Farquhar 32’, Lyall 39’, Shipton 60’)
North Queensland United 1 (Walker 90+3’)
Sologinkin Oval
The Crusade continues as Magpies win the north
Magpies Crusaders jumped out of the bottom two with a fine victory over North Queensland United in the northern derby in front of another big crowd at Sologinkin Oval on Saturday night.
Goals from Lewis Farquhar and Michael Lyall put the hosts firmly in control in the opening half and Liam Shipton all but secured the points with his maiden NPL QLD goal for the club on the hour mark.
Darren Walker grabbed an injury time consolation for North Queensland United, who return to Townsville just two points outside the bottom two places.
Brisbane Roar Youth 0
Gold Coast United 1 (Stollery 67’)
Logan Metro Sports Complex
Gold Coast claim M1 Derby bragging rights
Brisbane Roar Youth fell to a fourth defeat in a row, falling 1-0 to Gold Coast United at a chilly Logan Metro Sports Centre on Sunday night.
Curtis Stollery got the only goal of a frenetic encounter mid-way through the second half when he reacted first to a scuffed shot from Nicholas Panetta to guide the ball home from close range.
Gold Coast have now won their last four matches and have closed to within eight points of a top four spot.
Words: Simon Smale
Photo: Patrick Kearney
