All Square in Nth Queensland Derby
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Sunshine Coast - Tyson Holmes
With the Hyundai QSL finalists already looking decided with five rounds to play, Round 17 kicked off with most sides merely jostling for position on the table.
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Written by Jarrod Ellis / Photo: Robyn Woodall / Monday 19th July 2010
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The only match that beared any real significance on the standings was Saturday’s North Queensland derby between third placed NQ Razorbacks and fourth placed FNQ Bulls.
The Bulls have long held the wood over the Razorbacks and hopes of securing a win over their rivals were low in Townsville as the home side entered the match without the services of experienced heads Keiran Gonzalez, Lorenzo Sipi and David Mayes. The absence of those three left the Razorbacks heading into the game with the average age of the squad just above 19.
Despite that the home side started the brighter of two, coping well with the physical presence of the more experienced Bulls team. The visitors were unlucky not to score though and may have felt hard done by when Joshua Evans scored in added time to give the Razorbacks a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
Razorback hearts would be broken though as Joe Rusch yet again came to the rescue of the Bulls, firing in an equaliser in the 78th minute, maintaining the Bulls undefeated record against their nearest rivals.
The result maintains the status quo, both sides sitting in third and fourth on the table, the Razorbacks ahead by only one point leaving it all to play for with only four rounds remaining.
Brisbane continued on their winning ways, easily dispatching Whitsunday Miners 3-0 in Mackay. The second-placed Strikers have been in pursuit of Sunshine Coast all season long and despite their quest looking nigh impossible it seems they haven’t given up hope of topping the table just yet.
The Miners came into the match without the influential trio of captain Brett Neeve, Daniel Scotton and goalkeeper Brad Moss, only making the difficult task facing them even harder.
During the week Miners’ coach Troy Mundy had spoken of the need to ‘focus for ninety minutes’ if his side were to have any chance of a result and the early signs were encouraging for the home side.
Whitsunday went into the break with the score 0-0 a result that they no doubt would have gladly settled for. The second half wouldn’t prove as enjoyable though as Mundy’s fear of not competing for the full ninety came to fruition.
As so often has been the case this season for Brisbane, Matt Thurtell was the man who would break the deadlock. The young striker scored Brisbane’s first in the 76th minute before adding a second from the penalty spot four minutes from time.
Michael Angus rounded out the win in the 89th minute after returning from an illness that ruled him out of last week’s match against NQ Razorbacks.
Down at Stockland Park, Yuta Gonai continued his recent impressive form as he struck first for Sunshine Coast in a 2-0 win over Capricorn Cougars. The Fire started heavy favourites for the match, knowing a win would leave them only three points from claiming the title.
After their impressive 5-0 win over Whitsunday last week Cougars coach Brad Smith would have been hopeful of securing some kind of result against the competition leaders but it wasn’t to be for the visitors despite a valiant effort.
Gonai’s first half effort was followed up by a goal from Fire’s talisman Tyson Holmes who added a second only seven minutes from time. Holmes took part in the match despite trialling with North Queensland Fury the previous day, a move that would not come as unexpected following his form in the QSL these past two seasons.
The final game of the round was a clash between Bundaberg Spirit and QAS at Martens Oval that eventually finished 4-3 in favour of the visitors.
Bundaberg have come along in leaps and bounds in recent weeks and are becoming more confident of achieving their goal of moving off the bottom of the ladder.
QAS have a good record against the Wide Bay side however and it wouldn’t have come as a shock to the home support when Ken Dougall gave the visitors the lead in only the 22nd minute.
Earlier in the year conceding an early goal would have knocked the heart out of Bundaberg but they wasted no time in finding an equaliser on this occasion, star striker Nick Fitzgerald pulled his side level only five minutes later with a well taken goal.
However that was to be as good as things got for the home side as QAS played some good football, keeping Bundaberg under pressure for much of the game.
QAS striker Koh Satake scored a brace, recording goals either side of a 68th minute effort from Bobby Russell, essentially securing the three points with a 4-1 scoreline and only twenty minutes to play.
The Spirit didn’t give up however and continued to search for a way back, pressuring the QAS into putting the ball into their own net in the 74th minute before Fitzgerald added a second in the 89th. They proved to only be consolations though as QAS held on for a deserved 4-3 win.
From the pages of Goal Weekly
