Knights Unable To Tame Mustangs
Ipswich Knights 0 Mitchelton 4 (Murray 29’, Njie 45’, Thompson 75’, Bevan 82’) HT: 0-2 Played at Eric Evans Oval
Mitchelton came away from Bundamba with all three points in a match played at a furious pace throughout. A quiet opening twenty minutes saw few opportunities from either side. The Mustangs then opened the scoring on the half hour and doubled their lead as half-time loomed. After weathering some pressure from the Knights early in the second half, they knocked in another two to seal the result. Mitchelton had the first reasonably clear chance on 23 minutes when a cross from the right just eluded the diving Antonio Murray. But six minutes later the ball came in from the right into the Knights’ area and was headed back across goal by Scott Stewart. The Knights’ defence failed to clear and the ball came to Murray who sent it into the back of the net. Just as it seemed like that would be it for the half, Stewart sent a great cross in for Ben Njie who from eight yards near the back post, steered his header back across goal giving Knights’ keeper Declan Murphy no chance. The first ten minutes of the second half mirrored the beginning of the first with neither team making any major in-roads into opposition territory. Knights’ best chance came on 59 minutes when Andrew Butler was through on goal but Mitchelton keeper Johnathon Walsh responded quickly to block Butler’s effort. This began a period of sustained pressure by Knights who created a number of opportunities but had nothing to show for it. The best of these came when Brodie Kenyon received the ball at the back post but could only fire into the side netting. Mitchelton then made their three substitutions in a six minute period and which changed the game. On 75 minutes a Mitchelton corner from the left was not dealt with by Knights and the ball fell to Brad Thompson who lashed the ball home past Murphy from twelve yards out. The best goal of the night came seven minutes later when Mitchell Bevan was on the end of a great passing move that began on the half-way line when Josh McVey back-heeled the ball to Thompson who surged towards the Knights’ area before passing it across to Murray who laid the ball off for Bevan to to finish off for the Mustang's fourth. A promising start to the season for Knights has come to an end and they won’t want to perform like that at home again. Mitchelton have moved into second spot on the ladder just a point behind Lions with three wins from four starts.
Coaches Reactions:
Graham Ross (Ipswich Knights) “They are a very good side and we found it hard to contain them. We were a little bit off the pace early, starting a bit too slowly. In the second half I thought we had some good possession for a while but we just didn’t create enough. We needed to score in that period. If we had, we might have got something out of the match.” Daniel Pennisi (Mitchelton) “It was a very good win. We had always talked about the first six weeks building towards the second round. We probably are a little bit ahead of where we planned to be. Against Ipswich, we had planned to soak up the first fifteen minutes to test things out here then go into the next phase of our play. In the second half when they changed formation and pressured us, we had to absorb the play again. The played exactly how we thought they would and that’s how we set up.”
Match Stats:
Overall Possession: 47% - 54%
Shots on target: 3 - 10
Shots off target: 3 - 4
Corners: 7 - 4
Free kicks: 13 - 10
Offsides: 0 - 1
Yellow cards: 2 - 0
Red cards: 0 - 0
Team line-ups
Ipswich Knights: Murphy (GK), Butler (61’), Frith (46’), Kakimoto, Kenyon, Liddy, Monaghan, Munn, Nishimaki, Pillay, Robinson (80’) Subs: Davis (46’), Sisco (61’), Kenyi (80’)
Mitchelton: Walsh (GK), Griffin, Holden, Lee, McVey, Murray, Njie (74’), Stewart, Stopforth (72’), Willoughby, Yannakopoulos (68’) Subs: Bevan (68’), Thompson (72’), Stubbins (74’)
Referee: Rebecca Durcau
