Virginia Destroy Under-Strength Spirit
Virginia United 13 (Nicolaidis 3’, 33’, Smith 11’, 45’, 66’, 86’, Kehoe 25’, 52’, 69’, Ismailov 30’, Geddes 80, 90’, MacDougall 89’)
Western Spirit 0 HT 6-0
Played at Albert Bishop Park.
Virginia United set their season off to a rollicking start with a 13-0 defeat of Western Spirit in Brisbane Zone Preliminary RD2 of the Westfield FFA Cup on Tuesday evening. Alex Nicolaidis got proceedings underway in only the third minute with a rasping drive from wide on the right which flew into the far top corner of the net. It was the first of many, and the best goal of the game, as United went into the halftime break with an unassailable 6-0 lead, made even more ominous by three goals which were simple tap-ins with the defence in disarray. The second stanza gave the home side plenty of shooting practice with the net bulging seven more times and at least another handful of simple chances spurned when a goal seemed inevitable Spirit were massively under-strength with only one first team player and two reserves complemented by nine youth players. When goalkeeper Levi Cathcart was forced to retire hurt early in the second half they were reduced to only ten players and eventually only nine with another injury late in the game. How do you assess a result like that? The game was never a contest although the away side gave everything they had, particularly Dan Conway who saved an even more embarrassing result with an excellent second half deputising between the sticks. Picking up from last season with a high-tempo and determined performance, Richard Hudson would probably be most pleased with the passing accuracy displayed on a pitch that was impressively flat compared to the bumpy surface at the end of 2016. In this Saturday’s opening Capital League 2 fixture, United take on Pine Rivers in the early FB Media TV game and should have no problems with recovery in what was essentially a Tuesday night training session.
Coach's Reactions:
Richard Hudson - “A job well done... we wanted to get through to the next round and we played reasonably well. The opposition were a young side which was a bit demoralising for them but we wanted it and obviously got ourselves a few goals.”
Spirit coach Graham Watson - “The boys showed up, gave the best they could and gained some experience as well. Most of the side were Under 20’s and a goalkeeper injury didn’t help our cause. Virginia played really well and we just ran out of steam.”
FB Media Player Of The Match: Brad Harbeck (Virginia United) The new captain didn’t find the back of the net but his distribution was impeccable and he will play an important role during 2017. Team line-ups
Virginia United: Couesnon, Crawford, Geddes, Harbeck, Ismailov, Kehoe, Kranjec, Medhurst, Nicolaidis, Smith, Usher. Subs: Callaghan, Carroll, Riggall, Wilson, MacDougall. Western Spirit: Cathcart, White, Moran, Conway, Poulton, Mihalcea, Faulkner, Watson, Tucker, McIntosh, Klajic. Sub: Speneer.
Referee: Dylan Lambert
