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North Star 3:1 North Pine
(OG ’13; Fairgrieve ’42, ’54) (Roulston ’82)
As the northern derby set foot, both sides were desperate for their first victory of the league campaign and a rise from the foot of the table.
A first-half largely dominated by North Star began with a stroke of luck for the hosts, as a Jon Wheeler own goal opened the scoring within the first 15 minutes. A further strike by Peter Fairgrieve just before the break added value to Star’s dominance. Fairgrieve grabbed his brace within ten minutes of the restart, getting on the end of a precise Royce Brownlie cross to wrap up the result. To Pine’s credit, they did not fold and pressed looking for a way back into the game. It came too late however – Chris Roulston’s follow-up effort from Shane Coffey’s shot proving a mere consolation.
North Star will look to build momentum on the back of their first taste of victory when they travel to fellow promoted Lions FC after the Easter break. North Pine will be ruing a missed opportunity to pick up valuable points, as a home match with Olympic FC looms in two weeks.
University of Queensland 1:0 Eastern Suburbs
(Posada ’59)
UQ followed on from their two impressive results against Olympic and Redlands with a solid home victory courtesy of Nicolas Posada’s third goal in as many games.
Facing an Easts side seemingly short on match practice after the postponement of their last two fixtures, UQ looked well composed and compact in defence. Neither side offered much to get excited about during a lacklustre first half, although both looked livelier after the break. The goal arrivedon the hour following relentless UQ pressure. Nicolas Posada pounced on a loose ball from a free-kick Easts failed to clear and his deflected shot flew past Tom Carroll. Minutes later Easts’ Apai Ukuno had a goal disallowed for offside. This was the closest the Tigers would come as they could not get past a resolute Uni back four.
Unbeaten in three and now in touching distance of the top six, UQ will be full of confidence ahead of hosting Rochedale after the Easter break. Easts need to regroup quickly as they come up against Olympic in a midweek catch-up game.
Rochedale Rovers 2:3 Redlands United
(Lovell ’22; Efstathis ’74) (Fyfe ’45, ’82; Denniss ’85)
Redlands United snatched victory from Rochedale’s grasp with two late goals handing last year’s grand final winners their first loss of the year.
An entertaining first half comprised of two spectacular goals. Firstly, it all looked to be going along a routine tempo for the Rovers as Cody Lovell thumped in a low strike from the edge of the area. But not to be outdone, Redlands responded in scintillating fashion, Graham Fyfe somehow managing to beat Tom Patterson from the edge of the centre-circle. Rochedale were struggling to produce their fluency and somewhat against the run of play went ahead through a Nick Efstathis header from a pinpoint Terry Hughes cross. This immediately spurred Redlands on and John Thompson’s foul on Fyfe earned them a penalty- which the Scot duly converted. Moments later, neat work from Sao Jose on the edge of the box set up substitute Ashley Denniss to fire home the winner from the edge of the box.
Despite the loss, Rochedale remain in pole position on the table, while Redlands will occupy a spot in the top six ahead of their home clash with Taringa in two weeks.
Olympic FC 1:2 Peninsula Power
(Panic ’81) (Hornby ‘6; Taylor ’10)
An explosive start from Power from which Olympic never really recovered has seen Peninsula walk away with a valuable three points to leapfrog Olympic and close the margin with leaders Rochedale to just one point.
Power’s tactics seemed to be direct and they took great advantage of their aerial threats from the outset. Two lofted balls into the area were not dealt with by an unconvincing Olympic defence and punished by Matt Hornby and Josh Taylor within ten minutes of the start. From there on Olympic regained their structure and threw bodies forward, but it was to no avail as they lacked a finishing touch. A mistake late on by Power custodian Jake Reesby allowed Alex Panic to slot home and set up a nervy last ten minutes for the visitors, but nonetheless they held on by the nearest of margins.
The win is Power’s fifth in a row and leaves them in good stead for when they host Easts in two weeks. Olympic are winless in two matches and leaking goals – a problem they will need to address ahead of their midweek clash, also against Easts.
Souths 0:5 Brisbane City
A ruthless display away from home sees the Azzuri break a torrid four-game winless streak and climb back into the top six.
It was all City in the opening stanza, the visitors opening the scoring through a tenth minute penalty. The goals flowed on throughout the half, as Souths’ defence capitulated and by the end of the half had conceded their 30th goal for the season. The score was 0-4 and the home crowd could be well excused for heading off for an early night. A fifth strike flew in not long after the restart, although a City red card soon after stemmed the flow of the game and goals.
The result sees Souths reeling towards the bottom of the table and with the worst defensive record in the league, while City will enjoy a top six spot coming into their match against Capalaba in two weeks.
Pld W D L Pts
1. Rochedale Rovers 7 5 1 1 16
2. Peninsula Power 7 5 0 2 15
3. Olympic FC 6 4 1 1 13
4. Wolves FC 5 4 0 1 12
5. Brisbane City 7 3 2 2 11
6. Redlands United 6 3 1 2 10
7. UQ 7 2 3 2 9
8. Eastern Suburbs 4 2 1 1 7
9. Queensland Lions 5 2 0 3 6
10. North Star 5 1 1 3 4
11. Capalaba 5 1 1 3 4
12. Souths United 7 1 1 5 4
13. North Pine 6 0 2 4 2
14. Taringa Rovers 5 0 2 3 2