Rovers Cup Win Comes At A Cost
Rochedale 3 (Luke Howell 66’, Jose Mojica-Rodriguez 75’, 90+3’) Ipswich Knights 0 HT: 0-0
Played at Underwood Park
Rochedale Rovers won the most important game of their season so far but it came at a cost when they beat Ipswich Knights 3-0 and moved into the last eight of Westfield FFA Cup qualifying in perfect footballing weather at Underwood Park on Saturday evening. It took more than an hour for the game to be broken open by Luke Howell who came forward for a lateral short free kick from the the right and headed home after a perfectly timed run. Nine minutes later, Jose Mojica-Rodriguez started his double tally with another header from a corner and finished it off with a goal in time added on created by Greg Cheshire running straight and hard as Knights were forced to push men forward. But all the talk after the game surrounded some potentially long-term injuries to Paul Mooney and Michael Baird, both from seemingly innocuous challenges which often turn out to be more serious than expected. Even prior to kick-off it was a war of attrition with both sides missing key players. A training ground injury to Uryu Nagata left Rovers short in defence but not as short as the Knights who were missing Dale Robinson and Lucas Wilson through injury while Jason Tobin was cup-tied having played in an earlier round for Lions FC. Arguably, it was the unexpected late scratching of Morten Levinson which had the biggest impact for the away team. With Scott Sargent head-bandaged for the most of the game and Matt Baker being replaced in goal for the Knights with vision issues it was a war of attrition but the massive reward on offer eventually ended up in the lap of the better team on the night.
Neither side could claim to be even close to the top of their game which was reflected in a scrappy first half of football with both right fullbacks, Phil Davies (pictured above) and Taku Kakimoto, shutting down their highly rated opponents in Emmanuel Peter and Greg Cheshire respectively. After the break though, it was just a case of if Ipswich could hold out long enough. Fittingly, it was the two replacements for Rovers who made the difference. Mojica-Rodrigues stretched the defence and fully deserved his double while Faichinie added a work-rate in the midfield which kept an already under pressure Knights on the back foot. But the chance of a win against the run of play still raised it’s head when Jarryd Gore, who had an excellent game deputising for Nagata, gave away an unfortunate penalty and Peter’s low strike was brilliantly saved by Brandon Cuminao. It could well have been a turning point but it’s worth considering that Rovers still scored three times and were starting to get momentum going forward. When all the cards are counted and the deck has been put away, Rochedale are through to the next round of the Cup. Depending on a favourable draw, of which they have every chance with plenty of quality teams already outed, they are one game away from a semi-final match with a prize in the Round of 32 and potential games on cable television against A-League opposition on offer. Next weekend, Rovers and Knights face tough opposition with Mitchelton on the agenda for the former and Capalaba heading out West for the latter. This game will have a bearing on both. FB Media Player Of The Match: Luke HOWELL (Rochedale Rovers) Howell was clearly the best player on the field and it was no surprise when he cracked the game wide open with a great headed goal. With Cuminao behind him, he never looked ruffled.
Referee: Andrew Lindsay
Team line-ups Rovers: Cuminao, Davies, Howell, Gore, Grant, Sargent, Mooney, Shizuno, Cameron, Cheshire, Baird. Subs: Faichinie, Mojica-Rodriguez, Nagata, Floyd. Knights: Baker, A.Butler, C.Butler, Davis, Kakimoto, Liddy, Peter, Rule, Sotiriadis, Teshager. Subs: Davison, Duncan, Johnson, Munn, Savini.
