Bulldogs Climb Into Top Four
Capalaba 5 (OG 10’, Azzawi 18’, 90’, Wemyss 20’, Watt 58’) UQFC 2 (Henny 27’, Sakurai 50’)
Halftime: 3-1
Played at: John Fredricks Park
Capalaba capped off the first half of 2016 in an impressive fourth place following their hard-fought 5-2 defeat of UQFC at John Fredricks Park on the first chilly Saturday evening of the Flight Centre Premier League season. The Bulldogs started the game at full steam ahead and went ahead in the tenth minute through an own goal which barely crossed the line but was awarded by the referee on some excellent advice from his assistant Anthony Mortensen. Eight minutes later Ahamad Azzawi did what he does best, smacking home a twenty metre effort which dipped and bent, leaving Sam Long stranded on the goal line. Before the Students had a chance to recover it was 3-0 when Aaron Wemyss scored a rare goal, pushing up from left back. It looked like a white wash was about to unfold but San Henny had other ideas and scored a header just before the break. When Yoshi Sakurai scored again five minutes into the second half, a whiff of an upset was in the air. But the final result was decided by Sam Watt who rifled home a low shot from the right hand side of the box and Azzawi who scampered into the box, dribbled through three defenders and slipped the ball inside the near post. The visitors can take one important positive from this game. They were terrible for the first half an hour but were much better defensively and structurally for the remainder. Still, they were outclassed today and at times were agricultural with their tackling. Even the most intensive supporter would be hard-pressed to recognise many of the names in the Capalaba side but it doesn’t matter because the sum of their parts is greater than the whole. Every player looks at home in their position and it shows. Early season doubts about defensive fragility have been resolved despite conceding twice. Both of those goals had an element of luck and came as the result of broken play after a set-piece. Wemyss in particular was good, often releasing the two whirling dervishes of Azzawi and Yuji Hirayama up front with accurate passing. One of the few players remaining from last season, Hirayama is reveling in playing with his Japanese counterpart just behind him in the Number 10 role. Some of their passing interchanges were a work of art. At the the halfway point of the season, what lies ahead for these teams based on tonight’s performance? Obviously things are looking grim for the Students who have now lost eight in a row which is not good because they are better in defence than attack and still contrived to concede five goals for the second week in a row. The future for Capalaba however now lies in their own hands and they are better than they were when they got off to a slow start so in theory they should collect more than the 19 points they already have under their belt. If they lose for the second time to North Pine next weekend they really will be kicking themselves. It remains to be seen whether they can take the next step and turn the tables on Lions FC or Holland Park Hawks, but they are in a good place right now and they deserve it. FB Media Player Of The Match: Ahamad AZZAWI (Capalaba) The Japanese import oozes class and no one in the league has a better touch. He’s a genuine number ten in the style of, dare I say it, Lionel Messi. If you haven’t had a chance to see him play yet, do it because it’s worth the price of admission alone.
Team line-ups
Capalaba: Chandler, Wemyss, Coulson, Watson, Fields, Roby, Dunn, Watt, Azzawi, Hirayama, Fellows. Subs: Basnett, Smith, Tuyishime, Kai UQFC: Long, Fisher-Smith, Leggett, Franks, Romyn, Sakurai, Hamish, Croll, Maguire, David, Henny. Subs: Farr, Pascale, Tharumanathan, Toussaint.
Referee: Drew Ninnes
