A smattering of mid-week match-ups wrote an extra chapter into the Premiership narrative of the National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland Men’s season this week.

Gold Coast Knights resurrected their slim title chances with derby bragging rights on Wednesday night, while Peninsula Power retook a shared stake at the summit with a win over Brisbane City.

These results poise Round 9 as the season’s most pivotal, with a Brisbane Classico headlining a weekend of fixtures that could prove decisive in the context of the title race.

Feature Match: Lions FC v Brisbane City

Brisbane City and Lions FC went down in the annals of Australian football history when they registered their place as Queensland’s only representatives in the National Soccer League in 1977.

With either party playing out of Perry Park, emotions ran rife when the two sides met in the Brisbane Classico, with the winner cementing themselves as Queensland’s premier club.

While both sides come into the clash with differing fortunes, the magnitude of the occasion will not be lost on either party as they take the fight to Lions Stadium this weekend.

Lions FC’s re-emergence into the top-tier of Queensland football in 2018 marked a 30-year hiatus out of the spotlight, a figure that only serves to make their subsequent consecutive Premierships a feat of even more incredible proportions.

Establishing themselves as one of the most prestigious NPL Men’s teams Australia-wide, Lions have been the epitome of consistency. Recording just ten losses in their three-year tenure, they’ve become a fixture to dread for opposition teams.

Contending with the loss of Warren Moon at season inception, Darren Sime has ensured their winning ways have remained a staple of their game.

Despite oft being the competition’s exemplary outfit, the 2018 Champions languish six points adrift of the apex. Consigned to a 2-1 loss to Gold Coast Knights last Saturday, points will be pivotal as they look to recover lost ground.

Achieving a perfect equilibrium in both defence and attack, Lions boast an arsenal of attackers that have ravaged 60 goals from their opponents. A front third headed by Golden Boot leader Joe Duckworth is supplemented by an equally prolific midfield, with the Hore brothers chipping in 13 goals from the middle.

Brisbane City’s mid-season resurgence was extinguished by an 11-game winless run that has seen them sink to joint-bottom.

With just three points acquired throughout this streak, all accrued in hard fought draws, City will be hoping to make amends for an uninspired campaign by claiming bragging rights in the Brisbane Classico.

With two consecutive draws secured in the weeks leading up to last Saturday’s clash, their flame of fervour was seemingly doused in a 3-1 loss to Gold Coast United. But City will be looking to stoke the embers of hope that remain as they seek to avoid a club-record lowest finish.

Welcoming a swathe of senior players back into the fray over the past few weeks, the calibre of depth at their disposal bodes well for the men in blue and white.

City’s saving grace lies in their attack. While a drought of goals has hounded them in recent rounds, the class of attackers threatens to wrench the Lions open at any point in the game.

Matt Smith will need to use all of his tactical nous to tranquilize the rampaging Lions, with relegation threatening should they not secure a result.

Match Details
Saturday, 24 October, 7:00pm
Lions Stadium
Live Stream Link

Feature Match: Olympic FC v Sunshine Coast Wanderers

The paradigms of Olympic’s season have well and truly shifted since the season’s resumption round. A twelve-game unbeaten streak has salved a start to the season that saw the side secure just eight points, catapulting them into a shared spot at the summit.

Coach of the Month Ben Cahn has taken their game to new heights this season. Favouring a liquid brand of football that sees them flow up the pitch with finesse, they’ve been thwarted just three times as they’ve coasted to a ladder lead.

Having briefly charted a course out of the congestion that was Round 16’s three-way table-topping tie, Peninsula Power’s two games in hand mean Olympic will be incentivized to cap off their remaining fixtures with a win.

Buoyed by a 3-0 win over Capalaba FC last round, the red and white are in a prime position to capitalise on a wounded Sunshine Coast Wanderers side.

With an engine room headlined by the fleet-footed Daniel Leck, Olympic’s midfield incisions threaten to scythe open Sunshine Coast, whose rearguard will have to be watertight should they play party crasher on Sunday.

Flying the flag of Sunshine Coast football after Kawana counterparts Sunshine Coast Fire were relegated, the Sunshine Coast Wanderers have been a shrewd addition to the NPL Queensland.

The 2019 FQPL Premiers channelled their triumph into 2020’s top tier debut, looking part and parcel of the weekly rumble as they’ve ambled to eighth.

While their 22 points from 20 games is an admirable total, Wanderers will rue a frailty in winning positions that has capped their aspirations to the lower rungs of the table.

This fragility was out for all to see in mid-week’s match of the season contender against Eastern Suburbs. Leading 2-0 after 22 minutes, their lead was eclipsed by a series of Suburbs stunners that resigned them to a 5-3 loss.

With three of their final four games coming against the top four, Sunshine Coast will need to harness their workmanlike tenacity to come out of their final fixtures unscathed.

Recording an honourable 2-1 loss to Olympic FC in Round 22, courtesy of a late Yinka-Kehinde winner, Wanderers will be hoping to foil their foes’ table-topping target this weekend.

Match Details
Saturday, 17 October, 5:00pm
Wolter Park
Live Stream Link

Brisbane Roar Youth v Peninsula Power

An air of stoicism unbecoming of their age has permeated from the Brisbane Roar Youth this year.

Their strategy of recruiting the state’s brightest young talents has paid dividends for the black and orange, coasting into sixth in what is their best season of NPL Queensland football to date.

With last week’s bye providing a brief respite from the status quo, the Young Roar will be invigorated as they set their sights on an assault on table-toppers Peninsula Power.

Peninsula Power’s mid-week plundering of Brisbane City propelled them into a joint sitting with Olympic at the apex.

The result extended their winning streak to four, a run which has brought with it a monsoon of goals, their frontline raining down nine from their past four.

With a game in hand on their Premiership partners, Power will be looking to put Young Roar to the sword and state their credentials as Queensland’s premier club.

Match Details
Saturday, 17 October, 5:30pm
Corporate Travel Management Stadium
Live Stream Link

Other Round 17 Matches:

Brisbane Strikers v Redlands United
Saturday, 24 October, 6:30pm
Perry Park
Live Stream Link

Eastern Suburbs v Gold Coast Knights
Saturday, 24 October, 7:00pm
Heath Park
Live Stream Link

Moreton Bay United v Gold Coast United  
Sunday, 25 October, 3:00pm
Wolter Park
Live Stream Link

Key Players:

Daniel Clark (Peninsula Power): Clark flicked his side into a tied top of the table spot when he struck the winner against Brisbane City mid-week, his second goal in as many games cementing him as one of the form players at the crux of the season.

Abrahim Yango (Eastern Suburbs): The twinkle-toed Yango’s two-minute brace was instrumental in his side’s comeback win over Sunshine Coast Wanderers, with his searing pace and bag of tricks a constant threat on the counter.

Josip Milicevic (Brisbane Strikers): Capping off an industrious performance in the engine room with a maiden Team of the Week appearance, the prodigious Milicevic has been the orchestrator for Strikers in recent weeks despite having just eight senior games under his belt.

Words: Angus Barnes
Image: Ian Judd/Lions FC