Gold Coast United gloveman Glen Moss says his side are champing at the bit to play in front of an expected bumper crowd in Saturday night’s free entry flood fundraiser against the Newcastle Jets at Skilled Park.
The gates at the Robina Stadium will be thrown open in a grand gesture from United owner Clive Palmer, with all spectators encouraged to make a donation to assist with the massive rebuilding effort underway in southeast Queensland after the recent floods that devastated the region.
Last time Palmer offered free admission, in December last year, the heavens opened up and saturated Skilled Park’s much-maligned surface to the point where it was deemed unplayable and the match against the Central Coast Mariners was called off after 20 minutes.
This time around, Moss is hoping Mother Nature is kinder and allows the club to show its support for all those affected by the floods.
“A few of the boys in the team that live in Brisbane and commute down to the Gold Coast have been affected. It’s never been far from our thoughts and it’s a great gesture from Clive and a good chance for us all to show our support,” Moss said.
“It’s all for a good cause and we can’t wait.”
“The boys are looking forward to it and they were rapt when they heard it was going to be free admission again. It’s such a shame the last one rained out and finished the way it did.”
“It was something we were looking forward to a lot. It was a massive disappointment when we got there and it was flooded but the turnout was pretty good – but Saturday night should be even better.”
Away from the fanfare off the pitch and Newcastle will be happy to face United, having picked up a win in their last meeting and having held Miron Bleiberg’s men scoreless in their last trip to Robina before John Curtis scored a last-gasp winner.
But despite the challenges presented by the Jets, Moss says nothing less than three points will do in the race for second spot.
“It’s a massive three points on Saturday night and a packed house should help us along quite nicely,” Moss said. “The new partnership with Bruce and Smeltzy looks quite good and I think that’s where our goals will come from, and if we can remain solid at the back like we have for most of the season, we should get the points.”
“Dino Djulbic, Michael Thwaite and Kristian Rees have all been doing magnificently in defence and I’m just doing my bit. But Newcastle have had some good results and they’ll want to make a charge for the top six. It’s going to be a really tight game.”
