Gold Coast United have revitalized their charge for a top two finish, snapping a four-game winless streak in style with a 4-0 win over the North Queensland Fury at Skilled Park on Friday night.
Normal service resumed for boomerang striker Shane Smeltz as the Kiwi scored one goal and helped set up two others in his first game in gold and blue since leaving for Turkey in Round 2, leading the triumph over a depleted and generally poor Fury side that was without dangerman David Williams and midfield fixtures Ufuk Talay and Gareth Edds.
United coach Miron Bleiberg dropped Adelaide-bound midfielder Zenon Caravella to the bench in his first match since announcing his move to the Reds, but he only had to wait 14 minutes to see gametime after hardman Steve Pantelidis was forced off after a clash of heads that opened up an old wound.
But all eyes were on Smeltz to see if he could deliver the attacking spark that United were missing in his absence – and he did in spades, having a hand in each of Bruce Djite’s two first-half goals.
That brace ended a 14-game scoreless drought for the part-time Socceroo and it took the return of the man he was brought in to replace for him to do it.
The first came in the 22nd minute, courtesy of a long-range pass from John Curtis that found the New Zealand international in the middle of their attacking half.
The league’s reigning Golden Boot laid it off to Bas van den Brink, who unlocked the Fury defence with a classy ball through to Djite that caught defender Ramazan Tavsancioglu in no man’s land.
With acres of space in front of him and nobody on his case, Djite waltzed into the box and slid the opener past gloveman Sebastian Usai.
He had his second in the 44th minute and Smeltz was there again, latching onto a long ball from defence, chesting it down and putting the strong marksman through for his brace.
Smeltz didn’t have to wait long into the second half before he had a goal of his own, with Curtis the provider.
His pass in the 51st minute stunned a Fury defence that stopped dead in their tracks awaiting an offside call that never came and Smeltz took advantage, tapping away his first goal since leaving for Turkey and sparking spirited celebrations with the home fans.
Bleiberg gave Smeltz an early shower in the 70th minute and New Zealand’s World Cup star game off the ground to a rousing reception, replaced by fan favourite Chris Broadfoot.
In the 83rd minute Broadfoot picked up where Smeltz left off and set up 18-year-old striker Chris Harold’s first ever A-League goal with a pass that once again made the Fury defence look pedestrian, and the youngster kept his cool and slotted home a goal in his maiden start in front of 2,514 fans.
That figure will be dwarfed next Saturday when United return from their midweek trip to face Melbourne Heart, as Clive Palmer will be throwing the gates of Skilled Park open once more, this time for the visit of the Newcastle Jets in a fundraiser for the devastating floods that caused mayhem across south east Queensland this week.
Gold Coast 4 (Djite 2, Smeltz, Harold)
North Queensland Fury 0
