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Redlands 0-2 Wolves FC
(Aoci ’24, ’40)
A first half brace from Kado Aoci saw the Wolves make it four wins out of four in an impressive display on the road at Redlands. Aoci’s partnership with playmaker Sasa Radulovic proved the difference - the Wolves’ number 10 assisting the clinical frontman for both his goals.
The loss is Redland’s first of the season, but they’ll take a lot of confidence from an offensive second-half display, where the only missing factor was a goal.
The win keeps Wolves to within a point of the top and sets up a mouth-watering clash against joint-leaders Rochedale next week. Redlands will be pleased at where they stand after a difficult fixture list to start the season and they’ll be looking to get back to winning ways when they host UQ next week.
Taringa 1-5 Lions FC
(Biggins ’67) (Kenyon ’28; Butler ’58; Osman ’78; Khan ’85; Carlos ‘90+3)
An all-round impressive display in Lions’ 5-1 demolition of Taringa handed them their first three points of the season and continued Rovers’ winless start to the campaign.
The goals were shared across the team, with Brodie Kenyon grabbing the opener and only goal of the first half in the 28th minute. The floodgates opened after the break, firstly Andrew Butler doubling Lions’ lead before Matt Biggins pulled one back for Taringa in the 65th minute. From then on, clinical finishing was the word of the day for the newly promoted side, with goals by Matt Osman, Shoheel Khan and Shaun Carlos completing a frantic last 15 minutes.
Taringa must tighten their defence, with an average four goals conceded per game not a good omen to take into next week’s trip to Brisbane City. Lions will look to kick on from their first win when they host Souths United at Luxury Paints Stadium next week.
Rochedale Rovers 2-1 Brisbane City
(Efstathis ’48; Cheshire ’84) (Chester ’40)
Rochedale recorded their fourth win of the season with a come-from-behind victory over City at a rain-soaked Underwood Park. The morale-boosting performance was made all the sweeter with Gregory Cheshire netting with five minutes left to the delight of the Rovers’ bench and travelling supporters.
An evenly matched opening 45 saw both sides trade chances to no avail, until Steven Chester’s low drive in the 40th minute snuck past Mario Aparacio and into the bottom hand corner of the goal. Rochedale dominated the second half and did not have to wait long for the equaliser – an unmarked Nick Efstathis tapping home at the back post from a 48th minute free-kick. Spurned chances by Cody Lovell and Jake Mclean hinted City might hang on for the point, but a mesmerising solo run and finish by Cheshire following a swift Rochedale counter-attack after defending a corner handed them all three.
The hard-earned win sees Rochedale trail Olympic by a single goal at the top of the table and one point above next week’s opponents Wolves. City will take heart from their first half performance but need to analyse what went wrong in the second period to avoid another slip-up when they host Taringa next week.
Souths United 3-3 North Pine
(Symons ’46; Andrews ’83; (Keslake ’39; Keune ’54; Gay ’86) Wheeler ‘90+3)
A six goal thriller at Wakerley Park saw both sets of supporters go home with mixed feelings following Jon Wheeler’s stoppage time equaliser. Just moments before, it had looked like Souths United had stolen all three points with two quick-fire goals in a pulsating encounter.
Hardly ideal conditions troubled both sides’ build-up play in an evenly matched start to the game. The deadlock was broken six minutes before half-time, when Jake Keslake fired home the opener from a Pine corner. Souths began the second period with newfound vigour and Yianni Symons levelled within a minute of the restart. The equaliser immediately spurred Pine back to action and another corner led to Jason Keune netting to retake the lead.
Sensing the game was slipping away from them, Souths raised the tempo and got their just rewards with two quick-fire goals of individual brilliance, first by Michael Andrews and four minutes later by Hayden Gay. A loss would have been harsh on the visitors and Wheeler made sure that wouldn’t be the case, popping up to convert Pine’s third goal from a corner three minutes into stoppage time.
The draw leaves both sides reeling at the bottom half of the table.
Capalaba 0-1 Peninsula Power
(Hurlin ’34)
Richard Hurlin’s first half strike was enough for Power to take home all three points from an evenly matched Sunday afternoon encounter at John Fredericks Park.
Power was in red-hot form coming in to the game, recording two consecutive 6-0 thrashings of Taringa and Souths. Capalaba were seeking their first win of the season after their worst start to a BPL campaign since they gained promotion in 2009.
Power will gain confidence from keeping their third consecutive clean sheet, as they anticipate a showdown with leaders Olympic next week. Capalaba go back to the drawing board as they will look to muster their first three points of the season away at North Pine.
Olympic 6-6 University of Queensland
(Butters ‘3, ’50, ’52; Fisk ’59; Byrne ’80; McMillan ’82) (Stewart-Mclean ’17, ’30, ’63; Posada ’33; David ’49; Bell ’75)
A scoreline that stands out at any level of football, Olympic’s 6-6 draw with UQ was a match of twists and turns that will be remembered for years to come. Olympic’s Michael Butters and UQ’s Daniel Stewart-Mclean shared a hat-trick each as the competition’s leaders had to come from behind twice to earn a draw against a spirited UQ side.
It was business as usual as Michael Butters opened the scoring for Olympic with just three minutes on the clock. From there on, UQ demonstrated clinical finishing as a brace from Stewart-Mclean and a Nicolas Posada goal led them to a 3-1 lead at half-time.
UQ extended their advantage when Loic David slotted home early in the second half, but three goals in ten minutes – two from Butters and a Mark Fisk strike – saw Olympic draw level. UQ did not kneel down and again capitalised on their chances with Stewart-Mclean completing his hat-trick and Cohen Bell opening up a two-goal advantage. But Olympic were not to be denied a result and they came back to draw level again – late goals from Danny Byrne and David McMillan making it a dozen strikes for the night.
Both sides will look back to this fixture as one of the most drama-packed meetings of the BPL. UQ will hope to continue their clinical scoring when they travel to Redlands next week, while Olympic, who had an astounding 34 shots throughout the game, will be desperate to shore up their defence away to Easts.