QLD Wrap: Strikers, cards and 'keepers

Brisbane Strikers fired an eight-goal warning to their fellow finals aspirants in Round 16 of the NPL Queensland, while a madcap match wounded Redlands' standing.

Elsewhere, Sunshine Coast and Olympic FC tuned up for their top-four tussle to come in Round 17.

Brisbane City 1 (Frazier 78')
Moreton Bay Jets 0

Brisbane City did what was needed of them to defeat Moreton Bay at Spencer Park on Friday, scoring the only goal of the game through substitute Eric Frazier.

Frazier, previously with eleven goals to his name, entered the match after the break to seal all three points for City in the 78th minute, culling Moreton Bay's hopes of confining City to consecutive home draws; instead, the hosts improved their unbeaten run to thirteen with an eleventh victory of the season.

The Newmarket club, who host Brisbane Roar in a pre-season friendly at the end of the month, kept to within a potential five points of leaders Olympic with the win, while the Jets will look to move on from consecutive losses, following a profitable mid-season period, at home to Strikers next weekend.

QAS 0
Northern Fury 3 (Robinson 2' Eisenhut 49' Kelly 77')

Northern Fury made it two from two on their three consecutive trips south with a comfortable 3-0 victory over the QAS on Saturday afternoon.

Gareth Edds' Fury led from start to finish as Mitch Robinson took advantage of sloppy QAS marking to head home a 2nd minute corner, a lead that would be extended after the break in a match played as a lead-in to Brisbane Strikers' hosting of CQFC Energy.

Diminutive midfielder Michael Eisenhut doubled Fury's lead within five minutes the restart when he weaved with class through the heart of the Academy defence, before Reyze Kelly quite spectacularly volleyed into the top corner of the net with the outside of his boot to complete the 3-0 scoreline.

The Townsville team stayed ever so faintly in touch with the top four but will need one of those to drop three of their remaining six matches, while continuing their own five game unbeaten run away to Palm Beach next round.

Brisbane Strikers 8 (Bradford 2', 77' OG 18', 85' Richter 55', 61' McVey 63', 69')
CQFC Energy 1 (Waterland 81')

If Brisbane Strikers didn't bounce back to form with last week's 4-0 win over FNQ, their Saturday evening demolition of CQ Energy must have convinced fans at Perry Park.

Consecutive clean sheets for the hosts were only foiled late when Sander Waterland combined with Chris Geddes, but coach David Large has still seen his team now plunder twelve goals in two games since conceding six in the first half away to Olympic three weeks ago.

Clark Bradford, Jonti Richter and Josh McVey all shared braces, alongside a pair of own goals, in a win which could see Strikers move from fifth to third if they win their catch-up match.

The defeat for Energy, however, was the sixth time they have conceded more than half a dozen goals, though they can take some shelter from helplessness as they return home to meet 10th-placed FNQ in Round 17.

Redlands United 1 (Macuace 72')
Western Pride 3 (Purdy p.55' Drager 75' Jordan 80')

Western Pride managed both the upset of the round and their finest win of the season on Saturday night with a dramatic 3-1 defeat of Redlands United at Cleveland Showgrounds.

Redlands swatted aside the Ipswich club 4-1 back in round 5 but were this time on the end of a horror evening as Cameron Draper, Scott Bow and Haydyn Eames all saw red in the two-goal loss.

A sensational sequence of events were set into motion ten minutes after the break when Pride custodian Steve Purdy became the first goalkeeper to score in NPL Queensland history when he converted a Peter Drager-won penalty, a story followed within a minute by the dismissal of Draper for bringing down Drager in a one-on-one.

Livewire attacker Jheison Macuace restored parity for Redlands despite their numerical deficit but man-of-the-moment Drager again skipped clear to put the visitors ahead just three minutes later for a match-winning lead.

Will Jordan sealed victory in the 80th minute from Drager's assist as the minutes following descended into the ridiculous with Bow earning a second yellow and Eames a straight red for engaging in words with spectators.

Sunshine Coast FC 4 (Dwyer 51' Bechar 59' Firth 69', 84')
Palm Beach Sharks 0

Sunshine Coast found their goalscoring groove at home on Sunday as they eased to a second-half spun 4-0 win over Palm Beach.

The Gold Coast based Sharks ventured to a more northern coast looking for an improved performance on their 6-0 defeat by Olympic and managed a stalemate to half-time, but from there Fire find their touch to stay inside the top four.

Leon Dwyer eased concerns of another misfire for the hosts when he turned in Nico Bechar's byline cutback after the French winger rid himself of a defender.

Bechar then grabbed his own by finishing off a sweeping team move and was followed in the scoring act by goals from Dylan Firth, 19, in the 69th and 84th minutes.

Sunshine Coast thus drew to within a point of Redlands, whereas Palm Beach fell from eighth to ninth.

Olympic FC 4 (Bowater 27' Smits 35', 62' Ingham 45+1')
FNQ FC Heat 2 (Morrison 34' Murphy 78')

Olympic FC overcame a persistent Far North Queensland on Sunday afternoon in part thanks to Tim Smits' eighth and ninth goals in four matches.

Smits' pair of half-volleys took him above City's Antonio Murray atop the league's goalscoring charts, though his first was required to help Olympic back into a lead following the visitors' first-half equaliser.

Midfielder David Bowater managed to poke the hosts into the lead within moments of entering the pitch as an injury-enforced substitute, but his goal was surprisingly cancelled out by Cameron Morrison's near-post header in the 34th minute.

Smits put Olympic back ahead within a minute though and when Jai Ingham's third for the hosts on the stroke of half-time was followed by a fourth from the centre-forward midway through the second half, it appeared as though the league-leaders might run away the scoreline.

However, Heat managed to come back into the contest when midfielder Tom Murphy reacted quickest to score the visitors' second and, despite the same man turning an open-goal chance for a third onto the crossbar shortly afterwards, it was a show of spirit from a team which will fancy their chances when they meet bottom-placed Central Queensland next round.