Vital Victory Sends Power Equal Top

Peninsula Power 3 (Strickland 14’, 41’, Briggs 60’) Holland Park Hawks 1 (Le Petit 44’) HT 2-1 Played at AJ “Jock” Kelly Field

Peninsula Power moved into equal first place on the Flight Centre Premier League ladder, just a single goal behind Rochedale Rovers on goal difference, when they scrapped their way past Holland Park Hawks in a 3-1 win at AJ “Jock” Kelly Field on Saturday evening. The under-rated Thomas Strickland opened the scoring for the home team in the 14th minute with an absolute fizzer of a strike which flew into the top corner from the edge of the box. With halftime approaching, he doubled his tally when he was in the right place to tap home after a long range effort from Dean Briggs eluded Duncan Short on the half volley. There was still time before the break however for evergreen Hawk Dean Le Petit, to burst down the left hand side, glide across the front of three players and hit an unstoppable low drive into the left hand corner from twenty yards. On the hour mark, the game was effectively put to bed by Briggs when he crashed a finish into the roof of the net leaving Power only needing to stay behind the ball for the last fifteen minutes which they did admirably. Surprisingly, the surface had an impact on the game despite looking like a carpet after taking a considerable amount of precipitation pre-game and showers coming through during the second half. It was so heavy underfoot that both teams struggled to find a genuine passing rhythm whilst giving rise to some heavy slide-tackling with both elements combining to ensure the contest often felt disjointed despite being ridiculously open and providing plenty of chances for both teams to score. With the benefit of hindsight, the away side had all their best opportunities early in the first half and struggled to get forward entries into the box for the remainder. Marek Madle was comfortably swallowed up by the Matt Boyd/Trent McEvoy combo leaving too much for Andy MacAskill to do when he found possession. But the game was won by the Power midfield, in particular Strickland and Briggs who drove forward in support of lone striker Thomas Mendy at every opportunity. For Holland Park Jack Webb would have like to have seen more ball because he was lively when he got it and Manabu Ishimoto once again oozed the class which surely will see him back on the scoresheet sooner rather than later. They slip into sixth place, three points off the top of the table, but in a league like this that means very little...they weren’t great today by their own standards but they will play much better. With David Salin returning in the reserves today after an extended lay-off, things are looking much brighter for Peninsula and today’s result shouldn’t be underestimated. Aaron Philp has done a great job of ironing out the kinks which troubled them early in the season, but they still aren’t quite the finished article. If Mendy, who causes problems whatever he does, can find some confidence in front of goal we could be looking at a title-winning club.

Coaches Reactions:

Ben Ryan (Peninsula Power): “Thought it was a tight first half and I don’t think we deserved to be two up because they pressed us really well. After conceding right on the break we needed to score the next goal and I thought we controlled the game from then on. It’s a good three points for us because they’re a good side.” Anth Smith (Hawks): “I thought it was a tight and scrappy affair. Whoever converted their opportunities was going to have a tactical advantage and control the second half. Unfortunately for us, Power scored after the break and were able to sit back.”

FBMedia Player Of The Match: Matt Boyd/Trent McEvoy (Peninsula)

The central defensive role in a modern team is effectively a duo. They can’t be split. If they continue to play like this, there is no better pairing in the Flight Centre Premier League.

Match Stats: Overall Possession: 51% - 49% Shots on target: 11 - 4 Shots off target: 6 - 4 Penalties 0 - 0 Free kicks: 9 - 20 Offside: 5 - 0 Corners: 4 - 6 Yellow Cards: 2 - 2 Red Cards: 0 - 0