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Round Eight of the BPL saw no changes at the top end of the table as Rochedale, Peninsula Power, Olympic and Wolves all recorded convincing victories. Elsewhere, Capalaba made it two wins in a row overcoming City on the road while one goal was enough for Redlands to send Taringa home empty-handed. On Sunday afternoon Lions FC’s prolific goalscoring continued as they piled eight past a hapless North Star.
Peninsula Power 3:1 Eastern Suburbs
(Hurlin ’17; Roulston ’42, ’58) (Seeto ’19)
Peninsula Power knew a win would see them at least temporarily hold top position on the table and they made no mistake in doing just that with a convincing home performance.
The home side took the lead through a spectacular 30-metre Richard Hurlin free-kick that flew into the top corner. It was a quality goal worthy of praise at any level of the game. Easts responded almost immediately after Luke Gauci obstructed Apai Okuno on the edge of the box. Ryan Stenhouse’s resulting free-kick was blocked but the ball fell invitingly to Jordan Seeto who made no mistake from less than five yards, slipping the ball under a hapless Jake Reesby. However, two goals on either side of the break by youngster Anthony Roulston sealed the win, but didn’t escape controversy. His first was a blatant handball not seen by the referee and its timing was crucial for Power. Going into half time with the lead, the hosts pushed on in the second period and Roulston grabbed his brace with a lovely placed header from a Hurlin centre.
Power enjoyed top spot for a little shy of 48 hours as Rochedale’s win on Sunday brought Peninsula back to second, but Easts remain outside the top six although they will be confident in climbing back up when they host North Pine next week.
Brisbane City 1:2 Capalaba
(Russel ’11) (Owen ’21, ’62)
Capalaba backed up their first win of the season at North Pine before the Easter break with another narrow victory, this time on the road at pre-match favourites Brisbane City.
It didn’t look promising early on for the Bulldogs, as Bobby Russell’s attacking foray resulted in a spot kick which he duly converted. But the early setback did not deter Capalaba, who looked the more dangerous and equalised through a lovely one-two through City’s defence which Sam Owen finished off. Owen then emulated Russell’s earlier effort, storming forward only to be brought down and then slot home from the penalty spot. It proved to be the difference between the teams, as the Bulldogs survived a second-half onslaught from the Azzurri, who hit the woodwork twice and did everything, but score.
The morale boosting victory lifts Capalaba to 10th on the table ahead of their local derby with Wolves FC, while City will be expected to return to winning ways when they travel to North Star next week.
Redlands United 1:0 Taringa Rovers
(Mojica ’49)
Redlands outplayed travelling Taringa Rovers in a dominating performance which culminated in a single strike by Jose Mojica to keep the Devils in the top six.
The hosts controlled the first half and peppered Rovers’ defence with constant attacking pressure. Dangermen Rhys Meredith and Graham Fyfe came closest to breaking the deadlock, the latter having a goal disallowed in what seemed like a marginal offside. The opener and what proved to be winner came early in the second half, when Mojica slid in to round off Fyfe’s fine dribble and cross. Soon after, both sides had legitimate appeals for a penalty but neither were awarded, as Redlands slowed the tempo and proved their defensive worth to the final whistle.
Redlands have a great chance to make it three wins in a row when they travel to Souths next week, while Taringa face the daunting task of searching for their first win of the season against Rochedale.
North Pine 0:5 Olympic FC
(McMillan ‘8; Panic ’48; Byrne ’59, ’83; Butters ’75)
An exhilarating second half performance has seen travelling Olympic humiliate North Pine and send them rock bottom of the BPL.
Although Olympic opened the scoring early on through Alex Panic, it was not until the second 45 that their attacking moves started to click together to devastating effect. Alex Panic doubled their lead straight after the interval and by the hour mark the wheels fell off Pine’s defensive stability. Danny Byrne made sure of the win with the first of his brace, which sandwiched Michael Butters’ strike for 4-0.
The win sees Olympic maintain third spot on the ladder and keep the pressure on leaders Rochedale and Peninsula, while winless North Pine will be desperate to lift off the bottom when they travel to Easts next week.
University of Queensland 2:4 Rochedale Rovers
(Bell ’68, ’75) (Smits ‘4, ‘89; OG ’30; Way ’54)
UQ’s impressive three-game unbeaten streak has come to an end at the hands of visitors Rochedale, who put to bed their disappointing home loss to Redlands in the last round to maintain top spot on the table.
Rovers got off to a flyer with Tim Smits pouncing on a loose ball to open the scoring within five minutes. On the half hour mark, Reuben Way’s corner was mishandled by UQ custodian Tim Allen to double the visitor’s lead. Way would soon be credited with a strike of his own, as he put the game seemingly out of UQ’s reach with a clinical finish before the hour mark. However, the students have already shown they can never be written off and two quick-fire goals from Cohen Bell hinted an unlikely comeback was on the cards. It proved to be a false alarm for Rochedale, as Smits grabbed his second goal late on to assure his side would go home with all three points.
UQ’s challenging fixture continues at Peninsula Power next week, while Rochedale are again on the road, although they should be more comfortable at a struggling Taringa Rovers.
Lions FC 8:2 North Star
(Munn ‘6; Thomas ’17; Osman ’21, ’55; Butler ’40; Musson ’81; Khan ’82, ’88)
(R. Brownlie ’59; P. Brownlie ’68)
Lions FC continued their climb up the table, disposing of a hapless North Star in a goal-fest between the newly promoted BPL sides.
Devon Munn got the ball rolling for the hosts, opening the scoring within ten minutes. Lions did not have to wait long for a second, with the prolific Greg Thomas marking his name on the scoresheet. Matt Osman added a third moments later, before Andrew Butler put the result beyond any doubt right before half time. If the home fans expected things to slow down after the break they were wrong, as Osman grabbed his brace ten minutes after the restart to make it 5-0. Brothers Royce and Paul Brownlie pulled two goals back for North Star within ten minutes of each other to restore some pride to the scoreboard, but this only seemed to spur the Lions on. The hosts humiliated their opponents with three goals in the last ten minutes, with substitutes Gareth Musson and Shoheel Khan netting to emulate a Manchetser United - Arsenal inspired result.
The Lions will be eager to keep their run going in a difficult trip to Olympic next week, while North Star will hope to keep their unbeaten home record when they host Brisbane City.
Wolves FC 5:1 Souths United
(Clulow ’31, ’56; Aoci ’55; Janovsky ’80; Cearns ’88) (Andrews ’41)
A ruthless second half performance by Wolves FC saw the defending Premiers dispose of travelling Souths United to keep the pressure on the top three.
Wolves FC came into the fixture having been out of action for three weeks, but if they were lacking match practice it did not show, as Trent Clulow bagged his fifth goal of the season on the half-hour mark. Souths responded almost immediately through Michael Andrews to leave the game deadlocked at the break. Wolves took ascendancy in a frantic two minutes after the restart, first with talisman Kado Aoci and almost instantly after that Clulow completing his brace. The goals dashed any hopes Souths had of an upset result and two late strikes by Alex Janovsky and Blake Cearns rounded off another solid display by Sam Saif’s men.
The win sees Wolves sit in fourth and trailing Rochedale by four points, but with an all important two games in hand. Souths United hold the worst defensive record in the league and the result was their fourth loss on the road from four.
Pld W D L Pts
1. Rochedale Rovers 8 6 1 1 19
2. Peninsula Power 8 6 0 2 18
3. Olympic FC 7 5 1 1 16
4. Wolves FC 6 5 0 1 15
5. Redlands United 7 4 1 2 13
6. Brisbane City 8 3 2 3 11
7. Eastern Suburbs 6 3 1 2 10
8. Queensland Lions 6 3 0 3 9
9. UQ 8 2 3 3 9
10. Capalaba 6 2 1 3 7
11. North Star 6 1 1 4 4
12. Souths United 8 1 1 6 4
13. Taringa Rovers 6 0 2 4 2
14. North Pine 7 0 2 5 2