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North Pine 1:6 Redlands United
(Keslake ‘50) (Lee ‘7; Rodriguez ’20; Sao Jose ’32; Fyfe ’72, ‘90+1; Macuace ’75)
Redlands United stormed to victory on the road at North Pine, maintaining their solid start to the season and humiliating the hosts to their 9th match without a win.
The game was all but decided in a dominating first half-display by the end of which the Devils held a three goal advantage. Sleek passing was the common phrase for Redlands’ goals, with Michael Lee, Jose Rodriguez and Igor Sao Jose, who enjoyed another dominating display in the front third, all netting before the break. Jake Keslake gave the hosts a lifeline just after the restart, but a converted penalty from Graham Fyfe all but ended the contest. Further goals by Jheison Macuace and Fyfe were just as pleasing to the eye as they were to the Redlands scorecard.
The ease and passing fluency which Redlands exhibited throughout the match was reminiscent of the great BPL sides of the past five seasons – most notably Rochedale Rovers and Brisbane Wolves. These teams certainly need to be aware of the ‘tiki-taka’ style of play being bred by Matt Chandler at the Cleveland Showgrounds.
Capalaba 4:4 North Star
(Owen ’38; Sargent ’55; Schiavo ’62; Hurford ‘67) (Lacey ’72, ’89; Previtera ’80; Fairgerieve ‘90+1)
In one of the most unforgettable classics in BPL history, North Star emerged from four goals down to snatch a dramatic point from Capalaba at the depth.
The Bulldogs seemed in total control halfway through the first half, until the side all but self-destructed. Sam Owen had put the hosts ahead in the first half, before a further three goals in twelve second half minutes by Scott Sargent, Antony Schiavo and Geoff Hurford looked to have Capalaba riding on cloud nine. Within five minutes of the fourth, the comeback began. Brad Lacey pounced and a lack of celebration showed North Star knew their faith. But when Liam Previtera cut the deficit to two with ten minutes to go, the visitors could smell an unlikely miracle. Streaming forward in all-out attacks, Star got their third goal and Lacey his second with a minute of regulation time to come. The unbelievable became fact when Peter Fairgreave sunk the hosts with a stoppage time equaliser.
It was a game that North Star supporters who were there to see it will talk about for years to come and one Capalaba will take a long time to recover from.
Eastern Suburbs 3:1 Taringa Rovers
(Woodruffe- 2; Lewandowski) (Maeda)
Easts turned in a dominating home performance, highlighted by a Russell Woodruffe brace against a winless Taringa Rovers, to remain in the mix with the top six.
Veteran Woodruffe showed why he is one of the league’s most lethal finishers – his scintillating first half performance paving the way for a comfortable home win. After having opened the scoring through a precise drive from a tight angle, Woodruffe then unleashed from 25 metres to hit a top corner belter to the delight of the home fans. The start of the second half saw a more adventurous Taringa and Yu Maeda pulled a goal back for the visitors. However Easts took a stranglehold of the midfield and controlled much of the play thereafter, Brendan Lewandowski making sure of the win with his eighth of the season.
Easts only lie outside the top six on goal difference to Olympic, while Taringa cannot buy a win this year as another relegation scrap is beginning to look very likely.
Lions FC 1:2 Wolves FC
(Simic ’73) (Aikenhead ’17; Cearns ’30)
Two first half goals by John Aikenhead and Blake Cearns helped Wolves to a slender win on the road at Lions.
Wolves looked the better side throughout the first half and their attacking forays were soon rewarded through Aikenhead. Cearns added another on the half hour mark and at that stage it was looking like another comfortable victory for last year’s Premiers. Lions FC did not back down and their continued second-half persistence led to Matija Simic’s strike. But Wolves held on to a precious three points and a place in the top four.
Sam Saif’s men now lie just three points adrift of top of the table Rochedale, although with a game in hand that margin could be nullified. The loss sees Lions FC end a four-game winning streak ahead of a tough trip to Peninsula Power.
