The Weekend Wrap
Flight Centre Premier League Holland Park Hawks 2 (Smith 24’ pen, Madle 45+2) Peninsula Power 0 Holland Park Hawks took another step on the dream journey when they got closer to a debut top-flight Grand Final appearance with a 2-0 win over Peninsula Power at Whites Hill Reserve. Both goals arrived in the first half and it’s worth noting they were created by Dean Briggs and Andy MacAskill who are fast becoming the big names in Flight Centre Premier League football. Peninsula bow out and if they are honest with themselves, a fractured season could’ve been a lot worse than fourth place. FB Media Match Stats. Possession: 1st Half 47% - 53% / 2nd Half 51% - 49% Overall Possession: 49% - 51% Shots on target: 4 - 2 Shots off target: 6 - 8 Penalties 1 - 0 Free kicks: 11 - 15 Offside: 1 - 1 Corners: 2 - 5 Yellow Cards: 2 - 2 Red Cards: 0 - 0 Lions FC 3 (Fetahagic 63’, Jomanday 79’, 84’) Mitchelton 2 (McVey 21‘, Sarasol 90+3) Mitchelton have been travelling nicely of late but they met their match and were taught a second-half lesson by resurgent Champions Lions FC who advance to their second Flight Centre Premier League Grand Final in a row on the back of their 3-2 win. All three goals for Lions were scored with a header, one from Adjin Fetahagic and two from Sekou Jomanday, in windy and bumpy conditions which ensured plenty of aerial combat. The decision to move the game from Lions Stadium owing to construction almost backfired as the uneven surface gave the Mustangs a foot into the game, culminating in an unstoppable free kick from Josh McVey. in the twenty-first minute. But from then on it was all one way traffic and a late goal to Gabriel Sarasol gave the scoreline some respectability if not a fair reflection of the contest. Importantly, yellow cards are no longer a suspension issue for Lions but Shade, Yoshikoshi and Sarasol all will miss the Grand Final if they are cautioned next week against Hawks. FB Media Match Stats. Possession: 1st Half 50% - 50% / 2nd Half 54% - 46% Overall Possession: 52% - 48% Shots on target: 10 - 5 Shots off target: 11 - 5 Penalties 0 - 0 Free kicks: 19 - 16 Offside: 0 - 3 Corners: 8 - 3 Yellow Cards: 3 - 3 Red Cards: 0 - 0 Mt Franklin Women’s Premier League Mitchelton 3 (See 26’, 40’, Lutkins 57’) Annerley 0 Mitchelton are one step away from an era-defining victory with the Treble of Mt Franklin Women’s Premier League Premiers and Champions as well as Elaine Watson Cup winners, after easily sweeping aside Annerley 3-0 at Teralba Park. Kate Lutkins scored her third goal in a week but this time it was Velvet See who scored a double, taking her total to five for the season. More than anything, Annerley will be glad to get this game out of the way so they can focus on the clash against Pine Hills next weekend with a shot in the big dance on the line. Pine Hills 3 (Young 57’, 74’, Fuller 75’) Peninsula Power 1 (Whitfield 24’) A healthy crowd and some passionate support turned a game into an event as Pine Hills took one more step towards a Grand Final with a 3-1 win over Peninsula Power on a windy and chilly evening at James Drysdale Reserve. Gemma Young was the paragon for the Pythons, scoring twice with clinical headers after going behind early to a goal from the prolific Brittany Whitfield. Largely unremarkable in Men’s Capital League football, the women’s game at Pine Hills has plenty to recommend both on and off the field. Next weekend’s game against Annerley will be a toss of the coin and they have every chance of coming away with a win if they can play to the same high standard away from home at Elder Oval. Capital League 1 North Star 0 Southside Eagles 1 (Falco 42’) Southside Eagles won another massive game in an impressive season when they beat North Star 1-0 in the knockout semi-final at O’Callaghan Park and it was fitting that Josh Falco, who has been close to the best player in the league this season, scored the winner three minutes before the break. The season is over for Star, of course, as they exit first from the thrilling four-way race to the title but Eagles will be ecstatic to get a shot at a Grand Final place at Wakerley Park where they lost 3-0 in Rd3 but redeemed themselves with a come from behind 3-2 upset at Memorial Park in Rd14. At their best this season, and this weekend’s win was an excellent result, SSE have been good enough to beat anyone and deserve to take something for their efforts more than just third place. FB Media Match Stats. Possession: 1st Half 48% - 52% / 2nd Half 54% - 46% Overall Possession: 51% - 49% Shots on target: 17 - 8 Shots off target: 6 - 5 Penalties 0 - 0 Free kicks: 11 - 19 Offside: 2 - 0 Corners: 9 - 6 Yellow Cards: 3 - 0 Red Cards: 0 - 0
Souths United 0 Grange Thistle 2 (Mayberry 47’, Dimovski 86’) Grange Thistle capped off their promotion to the Flight Centre Premier League with an upset 2-0 win over Souths United giving them a week off and guaranteeing a place in the Grand Final at AJ Kelly Field. Last time these two sides met it was a tight affair so scoring first in this game was always going to be tactically influential. When Curtis Mayberry fired a stinging shot high into the roof of the net, the stage was set for Demovski to put the game to bed with a goal four minutes before fulltime. It’s a been a remarkable turnaround for the inner-north club which was were relieved not to fall into a genuine relegation battle having been poor for most of the 2015 season. That result will sting Souths who must back up for a massive home game next weekend against Southside Eagles. It’s sure to be an incredibly game worthy of an incredible Capital League 1 race in 2016. FB Media Match Stats. Possession: 1st Half 59% - 41% / 2nd Half 54% - 46% Overall Possession: 56% - 44% Shots on target: 2 - 8 Shots off target: 3 - 5 Penalties 0 - 0 Free kicks: 15 - 7 Offside: 0 - 0 Corners: 3 - 8 Yellow Cards: 1 - 0 Red Cards: 0 - 0 Capital League 2 Annerley 2 (Bailey 50’, Miller 68’) Brisbane Force 1 Bell 51’) In horrendous form going into this game, Annerley were expected to continue their losing streak against Brisbane Force despite playing in their preferred time slot of 8:30pm on Friday night at Elder Oval. But the Stars stood up when it mattered, exchanging goals within a minute with their opponents and setting the stage for Michael Miller for to hit the winning strike with a nervous twenty-two minutes left on the clock. It was a great win but things are about to get tougher when they travel to Walton Bridge Reserve hoping to recreate their 2-1 win in Rd16. Force are out but they are a club on the up again. After the embarrassment which was 2015, it’s a good thing for the game as a whole. The Gap 0 Acacia Ridge 1 (Rodriguez 18’) Last time these two sides met, the game was decided by a single strike helped by a correct but extremely fortuitous onside call so it was no surprise that a single goal from Santiago Rodriguez put Acacia Ridge straight through to a Grand Final at the expense of Champions The Gap. The Gators have been consistently the best team all year and will undoubtedly be bitterly disappointed to have lost such an important game but there can only be positives on the horizon because they’ll be heavy favourites to take care of Annerley next weekend. The All-Stars dream run continues. After a decades long barren spell when it seemed like the former XXXX League powerhouse may cease to exist they have a shot at yet another trophy. Remarkable. Capital League 3 Virginia United 3 (Baker 77’, Pitt 95’, Murphy 111’) Toowong 3 (Brown 21, Janes 108’, Janes 113’) (Toowong win 7-8 on pens) Just when you think you’ve seen it all, another dramatic game of football reminds us why our game is the greatest in the world. Favourites Virginia United were beaten 7-8 on penalties by Toowong after a game which finished 3-3 and featured four goals in extra time. United went in front twice, during extra time but were pegged back by a double to Ben Janes. How that defeat will affect them is hard to tell but they’ll be happy to be taking on Tarragindi Tigers for a place in the Grand Final at Albert Bishop Park instead of the tiny field at Esher Street. Toowong have played nice football for two seasons and deserve their opportunity to put their hands on silverware. Tarragindi 4 (Stuart 15’, Burchell 19’, Molloy 21’, Farr 77’) Jimboomba United 0 Jimboomba United will be justifiably proud of their year after sneaking into fourth place but they were no match for Tarragindi Tigers who beat them comfortably 4-0 at Esher Street and advance to a Grand Final pre-cursor against Virginia United next weekend. Ryan Stuart was first on target with this first goal of the season in the 15th minute and six minutes later the game was effectively over after Craig Burchell and Matt Molloy out the Tigers 3-0. At that point the game was effectively over but there was still time for Hamish Farr to get his name on the scoresheet midway through the second half as a final tune-up to the big event next weekend on the other side of the river. Capital League 4 Samford Rangers 3 (Crooks 5’, Forsyth 77’, Gleeson 84’) Bethania Rams 1 (tbc) It would have been unfair had Samford Rangers not come away with their 3-0 home win over Bethania Rams. They’ve been much better than their rivals and have more than enough to scoring talent to go into, and even win, the Grand Final. Both teams will be in the mix for promotion next season if they keep their current squads intact. It’s worth noting that the Rams were the third debut team to qualify for the finals. With limited resources they have arguably been the success story of the season and with a few minor improvements can push for even higher honours starting next weekend with a chance for revenge at St George’s Park. St George Willawong 0 Caboolture 3 (Cleary 19’, Muzyka 54’, 68’) Caboolture booked a home Grand Final with an outstanding 3-0 win over St George Willawong at St George’s Park. The last match had been a ding-dong battle in which the Saints prevailed but the Snakes were worthy winners on Sunday. Steven Cleary opened the scoring with a trademark bullet header as the away side dominated the contest from kick off. Two second half strikes from Ben Muzyka, who was best on the park, wrapped up proceedings and left SGW with some soul-searching to do before their knockout game against Samford Rangers because if they play like that their season could be over.
