NPL Queensland: Fury welcomed home; Olympic top

Olympic FC took ownership of first place in the NPL Queensland following the Easter break, while the reformed Northern Fury enjoyed a successful welcome home.
Lethal strikers Tim Smits, formerly of Brisbane Roar, and Antonio Murray, a one-time England C squad member, both took their goal tallies to eight in just the fourth round of fixtures.

Olympic FC 3 (Byrne 45' Smits 75', 88)
Palm Beach Sharks 1 (Lucas 36')

Attacking stars Tim Smits and Danny Byrne combined to turn a 1-0 deficit into a three-point lead at the top of the NPL Queensland ladder for Olympic FC.

After Chris Lucas gave Palm Beach, twice losers in the opening three rounds, a surprise 36th minute lead, Byrne put a pin in the visitors' elation with an equaliser on half-time, before the prolific Smits struck twice in the final fifteen minutes to seal the turnaround result.

Smits' brace took him to eight goals in four games ahead of Olympic's trip to Cairns this weekend, while the Sharks host Sunshine Coast on Saturday.

Brisbane Strikers 5 (King 25', 60' Thurtell pen 45', 57' Henderson 85')
FNQFC 1 (Eigl 5')

Brisbane Strikers banished memories of their pre-Easter thrashing at the hands of Olympic by consigning Far North Queensland to a third loss in succession.

The first of Saturday night's Cleveland Showgrounds double header proved not to be the tonic Heat needed to recover from their 7-0 loss to Brisbane City two weeks ago as the Strikers awoke from conceding early to put five past the Cairns-based Heat.

While Paul Eigl's 5th minute opener will be of concern to the Strikers coaching staff, the subsequent half-time lead and eventually straightforward three points - sealed by braces from wingers Greg King and goalscoring ace Matt Thurtell - will give them confidence as they sit only goal difference from second.

Bouncing back will be difficult for FNQ as they next meet league-leaders Olympic, though they will have the backing of a home crowd on Saturday night.

Redlands United 3 (Fyfe 45', pen 56' Close 51')
Moreton Bay Jets 1 (Brownlie 72')

Moreton Bay suffered their first loss of the season in the second of Saturday's double header, going down 3-1 to Redlands in a bruising encounter.

The visitors went within inches of an early lead from Tim Lawson's stinging drive, but a fully-stretched Mitch O'Brien tipped the shot onto the crossbar.

Lawson later skewed a better-placed opportunity wide and was made to pay for that miss on the stroke of half-time when United talisman Graham Fyfe swept a sweet free-kick into the far corner.

The hosts doubled their lead shortly after the break when a clever interchange between Fyfe and attacker Jheison Macuace teed up Ramone Close for a simple finish, before Fyfe, formerly of the Scottish Premier League, sealed the result from a Macuace-won penalty five minutes later.

The Jets hit back with a goal in the 72nd minute from Royce Brownlie's header, his fourth of the season, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Devils from sullying their perfect record and moving ahead on goal difference.

Sunshine Coast 1 (Bechar 11')
QAS 0

Sunshine Coast added three NPL points to the list of Stockland Park landmarks on Sunday as a lone Nicolas Bechar goal was enough to overcome the Queensland Academy of Sport.

The QAS have struggled to settle into the early season pace, scoring just twice in the opening rounds, and Bechar's 11th minute goal, coincidentally the eleventh conceded by the Academy, was beyond the visitors' reach against the league's stingiest defence.

Fire will next travel to Palm Beach's Mallawa Complex to decide supremacy of the Coasts.

Brisbane City 8 (Murray 20', 22', 55', 76', 88' Frazier 52' Biggins 61' 78')
CQFC 1 (Geddes 77')

Brisbane City's hotshot striker Antonio Murray fired the Newmarket club to a thumping 8-1 victory over a hapless Central Queensland on Sunday.

Former Ipswich Town, Hibernian and Histon man Murray, 28, found the net twice before the break and three times after it in a battering which also included one from Eric Frazier and a Matt Biggins double.

While Chris Geddes did manage one for Energy to remain the side's only goalscorer this season, the eight goals shipped took their goals against column to a staggering 32 - more than double that of FNQ, the next most generous defence.

Northern Fury 3 (Navarro 35' OG 44' Read 63')
Western Pride 0

Northern Fury fired a warning shot to Townsville's visiting teams with a commanding 3-0 win over Western Pride in their first home match as a reformed club on Sunday.

Jake Navarro was involved in both of Fury's first-half goals, netting the first in the 35th minute before contributing to a Western Pride own goal briefly before the players entered the changerooms. Front-man Alex Read, who spent time with both Fury and Newcastle in the A-League, later capped the scoring on a proud afternoon for North Queensland football.

Gareth Edds' side can continue the fortification of the Townsville Recreation Reserve when they host the QAS this Sunday, while Western Pride will look to reverse consecutive losses at home to Redlands.