With just over a month and a half of fixtures to be played the FQPL 3 Darling Downs competitions are starting to head to the business end of the season, as finals football can be seen just on the horizon.
QPL3 Women
South Toowoomba Hawks have returned back into the top four, despite a loss to Highfields Gold last weekend. They take on the other side at Highfields this weekend. And will be conscious that USQFC are one point behind them in fifth. Green will no doubt be energised with their win over Wanderers and will be looking to go for back to back wins, which has been a rarity in their season.
USQFC suffered a comprehensive defeat at Willowburn on Sunday, but can rebound quickly with a match up against Wanderers this Saturday night. Wanderers will take some positives out of their narrow loss to HF Green, and aim to bring that positive momentum into the match. With the likes of Kayla Miller leading the attack for USQFC, Wanderers defenders will need to start well and finish better to stay with the Phoenix for the full 90mins.
Rockville Rubies are still a mathematical possibility to make the top four, and what better way to test their finals aspirations and credentials by taking on Highfields Gold at home on Sunday morning. A loss could see Gold drop off the pace with league leaders Willowburn, but a win keeps the pressure right on the magpies.
After an emphatic win against USQFC, Willowburn will face an in form Rover side, who are undefeated in their last five matches. The last time these two squads they shared the points and no doubt this will be another enthralling match. A win to the Rovers goes close to cementing them in the top four, but a loss could put them back in the firing line for the likes of Hawks and USQFC.
QPL3 Men
Two week is both a long and short time in football, just ask the Gatton Redbacks, who two weeks ago were looking at the prospect of missing out on finals, now they sit in third spot, four points clear of fifth placed Rockville. Redbacks will face Willowburn on Saturday night, who will no doubt be feeling the pressure of Saints drawing closer. The magpies registered the sixth draw of their season with Rovers last Saturday night, one statistic that coach Jamie McMillan is looking to remove heading into to the pointy end of the season.
After a 2-0 loss to Saints, Wanderers will need to rebound quickly, but they will need to do it without the safe hands of Matt Willocks, as a fiery encounter saw both he and Noah Lawson shown their marching orders last week. Wanderers face Highfields who realistically could still feature in the finals series if they could string some wins together. Coach Park-Ballay has started to turn the fortunes of the team around with the green and gold no longer prepared to just make up the numbers.
Despite not getting the win, Rockville will be buoyed with their 0-0 draw against Willowburn and will have a sense of confidence that they can take points off Saints. The last time they met it ended in a 5-4 epic. There is every expectation that this will be no different.