Season Over As Logan Slump To Heavy Defeat
Logan FC 0 Peninsula Power 5 (Feuerriegel 31'; Aoci 52', 59'; Austin 84'; Holden 90') HT 0-1
Played at Chris Green Park
Peninsula Power ran rough-shod over a lacklustre Logan FC at Chris Green Park on Saturday evening, to keep their finals chances alive with two rounds remaining.
It could have been a different story however had Michael Adarkwah's early effort not been brilliantly tipped over by Brad Burrows in the Power goal, but ultimately, the hosts lacked any real spark in the final third with a second half devoid of a clear cut attempt on goal.
André Bonnotto went close to opening the scoring for the visitors just before the quarter hour, firing his effort off the crossbar from just inside the box.
Power's Shaun Feuerriegel tees up the opening goal of the game.
But after a generally scrappy opening to the game, Power never looked back when Shaun Feuerriegel put them ahead on the half hour. Dogged determination from Kado Aoci proved too strong for the Logan defence near the goal line as he cut in to the edge of the box before laying the ball back to Feuerriegel who was unmarked ten yards out and with time to measure his shot, firing the ball past Logan keeper Nick Moore courtesy of a deflection off Will Bramwell that wrong footed the Logan custodian as the ball slipped inside his near post.
It was a deserved lead though as the sides headed to the sheds at half time, with the visitors having looked the more threatening during the half.
Any hope of a Logan revival wasn't helped when playmaker Josh Sherwood limped off for the start of the second half and it was compounded soon after when Power doubled their lead. Jared Austin delivering a precise ball in from the left where Aoci was on hand to slip the ball past Moore from close range into the bottom right corner.
Aoci then put the game beyond Logan on the hour, with another trade mark close range strike after Feuerriegel returned the earlier favour with a neat ball in to the box for the Power front man. The visitors were now in cruise control as they looked to add to their goal difference which could prove vital to their finals hopes, whilst Aoci went in search for his second hat trick of the season. He nearly got it too had it not been for a good near post block by Moore to deny him with ten minutes remaining.
Moments later, Moore could do little to prevent Power further extending their lead when substitute Charles Mendy skipped past his opponent on the halfway line, slipped the ball through to Austin who'd beaten the offside trap to be left one on one with the Logan stopper, rounding him on the edge of the box and passing the ball into an empty net. Centre back Brent Holden came on to replace Aoci and take up an unfamiliar strikers role for the final minutes of the game and will perhaps be pushing for that spot in the coming weeks as he was first unlucky to see a low shot across Moore hit the upright with the ball kindly rebounding into Moore's arms, before he put the icing on the cake for the visitors with his first goal of the 2016 campaign that finished off the best move of the game with Mendy linking up with Tom Strickland who teed up Holden for a rare goal. It was an improved display from Power who have been inconsistent throughout the year. They have a slender hope of making the top four but will need to first get all three points at home to Easts next round in two weeks time and hope other results go their way, especially when rivals Mitchelton host Rochedale that weekend. For Logan, it's another end of season slump that despite a huge win over Champions Lions FC recently, has proven there undoing again in 2016. They could well finish as low as 9th on the Flight Centre Premier League ladder, two spots lower than their 7th placing last season. The recent departure of the players that returned temporarily from the US for a handful of rounds could perhaps be to blame but hopefully the younger players breaking into the squad can provide a base to work from in 2017.
FB Media Player Of The Match: #9 Kado Aoci - Peninsula Power.
Involved in the first three goals, setting Feuerriegel for the opener before bagging a brace for himself that essentially sealed the game at that point, Aoci was at his front man best, causing problems for the hosts throughout the evening as he looked to prove a point to coach Aaron Philp after starting on the bench in recent weeks.
Team line-ups
Logan FC: Moore (gk), Adarkwah, Bedoya, Bramwell, J. Brown, M. Brown Bonomi 57'), Efstathis, Greer, Kostovski, Negrioski (Levitt 75'), Sherwood Rudken 46'). Subs: Elms (rgk), Bonomi, Levitt, Patton, Rudken.
Peninsula Power: Burrows (gk), Aoci (Holden 77'), Ahern, Austin, Bonotto, Buhmann, McEvoy, Salin, Spaindorello (Fairgrieve '), Strickland, Feuerriegel (Mendy '). Subs: McKinnon (rgk), Fairgrieve, Mendy, Holden, Sauer.
FB Media Match Stats.
Possession: 1st Half 51% - 49% / 2nd Half 42% - 58%
Overall Possession: 46% - 54%
Shots on target: 4 - 11
Shots off target: 2 - 11
Penalties 0 - 0
Free kicks: 6 - 17
Offside: 1 - 5
Corners: 4 - 6
Yellow Cards: 0 - 1
Red Cards: 0 - 0 Referee: Matt Skinner
