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A rain-soaked weekend in Brisbane meant only three games went ahead as scheduled. Saturday’s double match-up saw City and Capalaba record comfortable victories over Taringa and North Pine respectively. Sunday’s only kick-off was a much-hyped clash between 5th Easts and 6th Olympic, with the loser all but out of contention for the minor premiership. Taringa Rovers 1-3 Brisbane City
(Yu ’50) (Murray ’37 ’43 ’58)
An inspiring Antonio Murray hat-trick propelled City past Taringa and within a point of the top six.
The hosts looked promising early on but after missing a few chances and having a strong penalty claim waved away by the referee, it was the Azzurri who struck first. Antonio Murray and Jared Austin combined brilliantly in the final third for the former to head home with less than ten minutes remaining in the first period. Murray soon doubled both City’s tally and his own when he gathered an under-hit back pass by Stewart Simons and made light work of some woeful defending to round and beat Schon Hansen.
Taringa were back in the contest within five minutes of the restart as Harun Omerovic rounded City custodian Aurelio Berson and crossed for substitute Yu Maeda to tap home. But the hosts’ celebrations and hopes were short-lived as eight minutes later Austin found Murray who once again calmly and expertly put the ball away into the top corner for his hat-trick.
It was a much needed victory for City, who with a game in hand on sixth-placed Olympic can now look to break into the top six when they play bottom side Souths next week. Any top six hopes are all but over for Taringa and they must now concentrate on avoiding a relegation battle.
Capalaba 4-2 North Pine
(Schiavo ‘3 ’31 ’45 Brattan ’45) (Coffey ’56 ’79p)
A scintillating Antony Schiavo hat-trick brought the house down at John Fredericks Park, dragging strugglers North Pine along for the ride.
On the day local icon Geoff Hurford played his 100th game for the Bulldogs, youngster Schiavo stole the limelight kicking off his tally as early as the third minute. A quick free kick from Jaspal Benning caught Pine ‘keeper Sam Nickolls off guard and Schiavo pounced on the rebound. Just after the half hour mark, Capalaba continued to convert their domination onto the scoreboard; doubling their advantage as Schiavo tapped in off a low-cross by Joel Drewek.
Just as it looked Pine were going to get a breather only two down at half-time, Schiavo and Zak Brattan produced a killer phase of play. First Schiavo headed in his hat-trick off a Brattan cross and shortly after he returned the favour for his former Brisbane Roar National Youth League teammate.
With the pressure seemingly lifted off their shoulders, the visitors opened up and restored pride to the scoreline in the second period. Shane Coffey bagged a double, firstly latching onto a loose ball to power home and then converting a late penalty.
Three points keeps Capalaba right in the mix for a top six spot, while the Gorillas remain second from bottom.
Olympic FC 1-4 Eastern Suburbs
(Panic ’66) (Horan ’19 Lewandowski ’36 Stenhouse ’45p La Spina ’89)
Easts opened up what might prove to be a decisive five-point gap between fifth and sixth on the ladder, trouncing hosts Olympic in this week’s ‘six-pointer’.
With only two points separating the sides and the loser all but dropping out of minor premiership contention, the stakes were high in front of a healthy crowd at Goodwin Park but the local faithful were soon silenced when Daniel Horan opened the scoring within twenty minutes. It got from bad to worse for Olympic, as first Brendan Lewandowski and then Ryan Stenhouse all but sealed the game for a hungrier Tigers side.
The ever-reliable Alex Panic proved his worth once again with a well taken goal for Olympic in the second half, but by then the match had well and truly slipped away from them. It got even worse for the home side, when Dominic La Spina banged in a fourth on the stroke of full-time.
The Tigers will arguably be the happiest side after this weekend, going a long way to booking themselves a spot in the finals with a chin-dropping display.
