Round 8 of Queensland’s NPL saw business return to usual with teams looking fresh after the Easter Break.
Round 8 of the National Premier Leagues, Queensland saw business return to usual with teams looking fresh after the Easter Break.
Due to the ANZAC Day public holiday, Thursday night football made an appearance as Brisbane City hosted Harimau Muda ‘A’ in a scoreless draw at Spencer Park.
The stalemate was a hard fought affair with a number of chances for both sides late on going begging.
A share of the points means City moves up into third spot and maintains their unblemished home record while the Malaysian Under 23’s sit back in ninth spot with two games in hand.
On Saturday, Brisbane Roar NYL put in a clinical performance against former A-league rivals Northern Fury winning 5-1 at Perry Park.
Roar Youth opened their account with a thunderous striker from Jai Ingham after ten minutes.
Ingham doubled his tally in the 36th minute from the penalty spot to take the Roar into the break two nil up.
The second half saw Patrick Theodore secure a double while captain Ben Litfin also got on the score sheet.
Braedyn Crowley added to his season tally securing a consolation goal for the Fury in the 62nd minute.
In Ipswich, SWQ Thunder succumbed to yet another defeat after Western Pride secured their first victory of the season, downing the Toowoomba outfit 3-0 The battle of the cellar dwellers saw a cagey first half with both sides going to the break even.
It took til the 76th minute for the Pride to break the deadlock with Peter Drager redeeming himself for an early miss from the penalty spot.
Will Jordan doubled the Pride’s advantage just five minutes later with a powerful strike.
The fast finishing Western Pride managed to put daylight between themselves and bottom placed Thunder after securing the 3 points in stoppage time through Lincoln Rule’s headed effort.
North of Brisbane, a four-all goal-fest at Wolter Park saw Moreton Bay Jets and Olympic take a share of the points.
Royce Brownlie opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Olympic drew level through Daniel Byrne’s penalty kick.
Goals to Mitchell Sheumack and Brownlie in the second half saw the home side take a two goal lead before Reuban Way snatched a goal back moments later.
Moreton Bay went two goals ahead through Ryota Nakaooka in the 73rd minute, before Byrne scored his second to give Olympic a sniff.
Tim Smits completed the comeback in the 84th minute, levelling the score yet again and managing to keep both sides tied on the ladder on twelve points.
On Sunday, Palm Beach Sharks snatched the points from Brisbane Strikers 3-2 in a nail-biter at Perry Park.
Palm Beach dominated the first half’s proceedings, scoring in the first minute through Justyn McKay and the 42nd through Nic Mircovic.
The second half saw a remarkable turnaround from Strikers who launched a comeback courtesy of some Matt Thurtell brilliance in the 63rd minute.
Strikers drew level shortly after through a long range bullet from Jheison Macauce.
Both sides piled on the pressure in the closing stages amounting to a Strikers own goal gifting Palm Beach the win at the death. The win ends Brisbane’s perfect home record.
A second half hat trick from Alex Smith saw FNQFC take the points in a convincing win 4-1 against Sunshine Coast Fire at Stockland Stadium.
The Cairns outfit took their time to warm into proceedings, Chris O’Hare striking a psychological blow moments before half time to go into the break a goal up.
The second half saw Smith run riot, knocking home three goals, Ethan Doherty managed to keep the score line respectable, hitting the back of the net in the 70th minute.
Redlands United had the bye and used the long weekend to prepare for their round 9 clash with Olympic on Saturday.
Image courtesy of Emily Wilson
