Western Pride fell to defeat at the hands of Brisbane City, while a Marek Madle hat-trick helped Lions to their 14th straight win in the final round of the National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland.
With the top four confirmed, Olympic will now host Pride at home, while Moreton Bay United will travel to Richlands to play Lions in the semi-finals this weekend.
Redlands United FC 0
Lions FC 4 (Macuace 48’, Madle 52’, 78’, 81’)
Cleveland Showgrounds 1
Madle hat-trick helps Lions to victory
A Marek Madle hat-trick helped Lions to their 14th straight win in the final round of the regular season with a 4-0 victory over Redlands United FC.
Jheison Macuace opened the scoring with a goal in the 48th minute, before Madle netted three times in the space of 30 minutes to take his goal-scoring tally to 18 goals in 13 games for Lions.
Lions’ next challenge will be taking on Hyundai A-League side Adelaide United in their FFA Cup Round of 16 match on Wednesday night at Perry Park, before hosting Moreton Bay United in a semi-final this weekend.
Sunshine Coast FC 0
Gold Coast United FC 0
Kawana Sports Precinct 2
Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast held to draw
Sunshine Coast FC and Gold Coast United FC ended their seasons with a 0-0 draw at Kawana Sports Precinct in the final round of the NPL regular season.
SWQ Thunder FC 5 (Hall 4’, Cooper 10’, 44’, Kibombo 75’, Weber 82’)
Cairns FC 0
Clive Berghofer Stadium
SWQ Thunder end season with a win
SWQ Thunder recorded their fourth straight win to round out their NPL season, defeating Cairns FC 5-0 at Clive Berghofer Stadium.
The hosts got off to an early lead with a Wade Hall goal in the 4th minute, before Travis Cooper scored twice before the break to extend their lead to three.
SWQ Thunder’s Kimba Kibombo added another goal in the 75th minute before Daniel Weber put the final nail in the coffin for Cairns with a goal in the final ten minutes of the game.
Brisbane Strikers FC 7 (Matcham 5’, 57’, 64’, Knight 7’, Maltby 10’, Henslee 30’ (P), Cheshire 79’)
Magpies Crusaders FC 0
Cleveland Showgrounds 1
Brisbane Strikers end season on a high
Brisbane Strikers ended their NPL season on a high with an impressive 7-0 win over Magpies Crusaders at Cleveland Showgrounds.
Greig Henslee scored from the penalty spot in his final match for the club, while teenage centre-forward Joshua Matcham scored a hat-trick in his starting debut.
Goals to Strikers’ Samuel Knight, Zachary Maltby and Gregory Cheshire rounded out the scoring for the hosts.
Brisbane City FC 3 (Preston 14’, Bolton 38’, Sibatuara 75’)
Western Pride FC 2 (Duckworth 65’ (P), OG)
Corporate Travel Management Stadium
Pride relinquish home semi-final
Western Pride relinquished their chances of hosting a semi-final after falling to a 3-2 defeat against Brisbane City at Corporate Travel Management Stadium.
The hosts got off to the better start, scoring through Hugo Preston in the 14th minute, before Kye Bolton doubled their lead before the break.
Western Pride hit back in the 65th minute with a goal to Joe Duckworth and found themselves level after an own goal, but City’s Samuel Sibatuara found the back of the net in the 75th minute to secure the three points for the hosts in their final game of the season.
Brisbane Roar FC Youth 0
Moreton Bay United FC 1 (Bernardi 12’)
Logan Metro Sports Complex
Moreton Bay secure win before finals
Moreton Bay United secured a win in their final game before the Finals Series, defeating Brisbane Roar FC Youth 1-0 at Logan Metro Sports Complex.
The only goal of the game came through Moreton Bay’s Nicholas Bernardi in the 12th minute.
The Jets will now face Premiers Lions in a semi-final match this weekend.
Olympic FC 6 (Basinac 31’, Ito 53’, Smith 64’, Byrne 76’, Psaros 86’, Bellas 90’ (P))
North QLD United FC 2 (Edwards 63’, 73’)
Goodwin Park 1
Olympic secure home semi-final
Olympic FC have secured a home semi-final with a convincing 6-2 win over North Queendland United FC at Goodwin Park.
The hosts opened the scoring with an Almir Basinac goal in the 31st minute, before Kazuya Ito, Alexander Smith, Daniel Byrne, Costa Psaros and Panayoti Bellas rounded out the win with five second half goals for Olympic.
Despite a Robin Edwards brace in the second half, North Queensland were unable to claw their way back into the game as a dominant Olympic recorded their sixth straight win.
Olympic were already locked into second place thanks to Western Pride’s loss the night before, but have made a statement with this strong win heading into their semi-final match against Pride.
Words: Elizabeth Lepre
Image: Patrick Kearney
