It took until the final round but the Football Queensland Premier League (FQPL) top four has finally been confirmed with Logan Lightning and Souths United joining Peninsula Power and Eastern Suburbs in this year’s Final Series.
With the final results, Easts confirmed their inevitable promotion to the National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland and Peninsula Power have officially remained unbeaten for the entire 2018 season.
Peninsula Power 4 (Close 7’, Strickland 35’, Cronin 74’, Dozzi 76’)
Sunshine Coast Wanderers 0
AJ Kelly Park
Power go full season undefeated
Peninsula Power have officially gone the entire FQPL regular season without losing a single game.
The Power’s invincible status was confirmed with a dominant 4-0 win over Sunshine Coast Wanderers at AJ Kelly Park.
Like most of their games this season, Power were in control from the offset, scoring inside the first ten minutes. From then on, it was all one-way traffic with the Power adding three more throughout the match.
The loss spells heartbreak for the Wanderers who finished in fifth place and miss out on a finals spot to Souths United – with only minimal goal difference separating the two sides.
Wide Bay Buccaneers 0
Southside Eagles 3 (Schafer 42’, K. Scriggins 49’, R. Scriggins 72’)
Martens Oval
No silver lining for winless Wide Bay
Wide Bay Buccaneers have lost 3-0 at home to fellow strugglers Southside Eagles, going the entire season without registering a single point.
The game presented a good chance for Wide Bay to make sure they finished the season with a favourable result, but it was not to be as they were outclassed by the Eagles, largely thanks to the exploits of brothers Kelton and Rhyan Scriggins who both found the back of the net.
Logan Lightning 1 (Brownlie 77’)
Mitchelton FC 0
Cornubia Park
Lightning secure finals berth
Logan Lightning have scrapped past Mitchelton FC 1-0 at Cornubia Park, jumping into third place and booking their place in this year’s final series.
The game was make or break for the Lightning who were fifth heading into the contest, with only a win guaranteeing the club a top four finish.
It looked as if the game was heading to a frustrating stalemate, until player-coach Royce Brownlie emerged as the hero for the Lightning, popping up in the 77th minute to score the winner.
Ipswich Knights 1 (Marconato 13’)
Rochedale Rovers 1 (Njie 3’)
Eric Evans Oval
Knights hold Rovers
Ipswich Knights have recorded an impressive draw against sixth-placed Rochedale Rovers in their final game of the season.
It looked as if it was going to be another long game for the struggling Knights when Benjamin Nije scored for Rochedale in just the 3rd minute.
The Knights were not deterred however and hit back shortly after through Giuliano Marconato.
With both teams failing to score for the remainder of the match, the game ended 1-1.
Capalaba Bulldogs 1 (Ono 53’ (P))
Eastern Suburbs FC 5 (Takemoto 7’, Yango 17’, Shol 33’, 65’ (P), 75’)
John Frederick Sportsfields
Suburbs confirm promotion
Eastern Suburbs FC have confirmed their inevitable promotion to the NPL with a resounding 5-1 victory over Capalaba Bulldogs.
Easts were all but promoted heading into the clash and they comprehensively outclassed the Bulldogs at John Frederick Sportsfields.
Club leading scorer Youeil Shol netted yet another hat-trick in the victory that not only secures them promotion but also the advantage of a home semi-final.
Souths United 2 (Aoci 2’, Anderson 75’ (P))
Wolves FC 2 (Romano 65’, Krkeljas 70’)
Wakerley Park
Draw enough for Souths
Souths United have drawn 2-2 with Wolves FC in a thrilling encounter at Wakerley Park.
Souths opened the scoring in just the second minute thanks to Kado Aoci, the early strike giving United a 1-0 advantage into half time.
Wolves came out of the sheds the better of the two teams and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 65th minute, before taking the lead five minutes later thanks to Aleksa Krkeljas.
However, a 75th minute penalty to Souths which was duly converted by Joshua Anderson was enough to snatch a crucial point for the home side.
The result proved to be enough for Souths to finish fourth and make the finals, stealing in ahead of Sunshine Coast Wanderers on a superior goal difference of two.
Holland Park Hawks – BYE
Words: Samuel Johnson
Image: Patrick Kearney