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Another scintillating round of BPL action has seen Rochedale and Power consolidate their position at the top of the table, while North Pine, North Star and Souths continued their struggle for points. Round 9's Friday night action saw a 3-3 thriller between Capalaba and Wolves - the Bulldogs staging a miraculous comeback in the last 15 minutes.
Capalaba 3:3 Wolves FC
(Sargent '74; Warden '83, '85) (Janovsky '7; Mikula '22; Aoci '45)
Wolves will wonder how they let three points slip away, after surrendering a three-goal lead in a frantic final 15 minutes at Carmichael Park on Friday night.
The visitors did not take long to settle in, Alex Janovsky pouncing on a poorly cleared ball from a free kick to calmly finish inside the box. Soon after the Wolves were two up, Paul Mikula converting a spot kick after Josh Harding clipped a storming Blake Cearns. Wolves seemed to have the game all but wrapped up by half-time, Kado Aoci sliding the ball home from Patrick McMahon’s pinpoint low delivery. Capalaba’s fans could be forgiven for heading home early, but those who stayed would not be regretting their decision. Midfield dynamo Scott Sargent began the comeback with an opportunistic goal after some good lead-up work by Mikhail Hastings. Barely ten minutes later and Greg Warden was stepping up to the penalty spot to cut the deficit to one goal. Moments later Warden sent the home supporters into raptures, volleying home from close range after Zac Brattan’s long range shot was deflected.
It’s an inspiring point for Capalaba that leaves them unbeaten in three, while Wolves are showing frailties absent from their near-perfect season last year.
Peninsula Power 3:0 University of Queensland
(Carseldine '12; Bonar '17; South '76)
Peninsula Power took one step further to cementing their credentials as genuine title contenders this year, comfortably disposing of an inconsistent UQ.
The result was arguably decided by two brilliant strikes with less than twenty minutes on the clock. Myles Carseldine struck first – a sumptuous thunderbolt from outside the box. Lewis Bonar was quick to follow, expertly curling a long range shot past a helpless Tim Allen. Power was in control for the majority of the game and they wrapped it up with 15 minutes to play, Josh South rounding off a brilliant counter-attack spanning the length of the field.
The performance was no less than Power deserved and handed them their 7th straight win to put a disappointing start to the season behind them and move within a point of competition leaders Rochedale. UQ have now lost two in a row- a trend they will quickly want to buck when they visit North Pine next week.
Taringa Rovers 1:5 Rochedale Rovers
(Pase ‘33) (Tabulo ‘5; OG ’20; Smits ’36; McLean ’50, ‘90+3)
The competition leaders made sure they would remain at the top with a ruthless performance away to Taringa.
The visitors got off to a flying start through Carl Tabulo, who volleyed home after a neat ball from Tim Smits. Taringa were unfortunate to go two behind on 20 minutes when Daniel Trueman headed a long Rochedale throw into his own net. Moments after Alistair Pase had pulled one back for Taringa, further comical defending by the hosts led to Rochedale’s 3rd - a poor back header to the ‘keeper allowing Smits to pounce. Two second half strikes by Jake McLean rounded off the score and a comfortable night for Rochedale.
Tim Brown’s team will be expected to maintain their position at the top when they host Souths next week, while Taringa will continue searching for their first win of the season when they travel to UQ.
North Star 1:3 Brisbane City
(Brownlie ‘73) (Shepherd '47, '55 Rowley '49)
Three goals in ten explosive minutes at the start of the second half saw Brisbane City grab all three points at North Star to remain in the top six.
A dour first half where both teams cancelled each other out ended goalless. But the Azzuri came out of the sheds a different side in the second period, Andrew Shepherd breaking the deadlock with an unstoppable drive. Moments later, David Rowley blasted home from the edge of the area to sink a lacklustre North Star. Returning from injury, Shepherd grabbed his brace within ten minutes of the restart, scrambling past Matt Bradley to tap home. Royce Brownlie notched his third goal of the season and nothing more than a consolation with a little over fifteen minutes to go.
It was a much needed morale-boos for City ahead of their game with Olympic, while North Star will go back to the drawing board as they look to try and get something out of a matchup with the reigning premiers.
Eastern Suburbs 5:2 North Pine
(Lewandoski '1, '54; Stenhouse '12, '24; Boyd '60) (Coffey ’44; McIntyre ’89)
A dominating Easts made light work of a Gorillas side that remains winless and conceded its 30th goal of the season from just eight games.
The Tigers recorded the fastest goal of the season thus far, when Brendan Lewandowski netted with 30 seconds on the clock. Captain Ryan Stenhouse was soon to follow suit, placing a well-timed shot past Gorillas’ custodian Sam Nickolls. Stenhouse grabbed his second and his side’s third on 24 minutes with another sumptuous free-kick he is quickly gaining a reputation for. Lone frontman Shane Coffey gave his side a lifeline when he headed in a Boris Kimmel cross at the stroke of half time. It was only a temporary boost, as Lewandowski made sure of the result early in the second half, moments after missing a penalty. Stenhouse produced another brilliant free kick, delivering on the platter for Matt Boyd to head home. By this stage Pine’s Coffey had been shown a straight red card for an ugly challenge on Easts’ ‘keeper Phil Zabakas, however a late Jim McIntyre strike restored some parity to the score.
Easts remain on the brink of the top six ahead of a potentially tricky trip to Lions FC. North Pine continue to be outclassed at this level and a change at the club is needed quick if they are to rescue their season.
Souths United 2:3 Redlands United
(Eagers '70; Kedda '86) (Meredith ’57; Fyfe ’59; Rodriguez ’83)
A breathtaking 5-goal second half has seen Redlands scrape across the line with all three points against Souths after a heart-stopping encounter.
An uneventful first half produced few highlights, but perhaps both sides were warming up for an inspiring second 45. Redlands United struck two quick goals through Rhys Meredith and Graham Fyfe to grab a foothold on the game. But Souths showed resilience, refusing to implode and getting back into the match through Benjamin Eagers with 20 minutes to go. Rapid attacks from both sides resulted in another strike by the impressive Jose Rodriguez that gave Redlands breathing space. But Souths didn’t lie down and moments later somehow pounced again, this time Thomas Kedda giving the home faithful hope. But it wasn’t to be, Redlands holding on to all three points in a frantic final few moments.
The win sees Redlands remain fifth, while Souths need to give that extra bit more if they are to get anything from a trip to Rochedale next week.
