Capital Leagues Weekly Preview
The Capital 1 table is still tight with teams down to 11th in with a shout of the finals. Capital 2 has the big Ipswich Derby on Friday night. There is a top four clash in Capital 3 (1st v 4th) while Capital 4 has a match between 3rd and 2nd. CAPITAL LEAGUE 1 Match of the Round – The Gap v Taringa Rovers The Gap had a comfortable 3-0 win over Mt Gravatt. With the win, the Gators stopped a poor run of two draws and two defeats in their last four matches and have risen back up to fifth. Taringa gave Wolves a touch-up (5-1) and extended their lead at the top to ten points while firming in favouritism for the Premiership. The Gap will find this a tough match to get something from and their home record does not suggest Walton Bridge is a fortress. Rovers are in form and will want to put more distance between themselves and their challengers. Taringa to win. Brisbane Knights v North Star Knights gave Acacia Ridge a shock with a 5-1 win at Rocklea to show they are contenders. North Star went down 3-1 to UQ FC. As said previously, Knights have had a good run of results against the top three (two wins and a draw) recently but will need to back that up against those below them or they will slip back into the fight for semi-final positions. North Star have now suffered two losses after a run of three wins but are still in the mix. Can’t see anything but a Knights’ win in this one. Acacia Ridge v Mt Gravatt [POSTPONED] Southside Eagles v North Pine Eagles easily accounted for bottom team Moggill to keep in touch with the teams above them. North Pine were held to a 2-2 draw by Bayside Utd. SSE have been hard to predict all season and have not won two in a row. Have to go with the Gorillas. UQ FC v Bayside Utd UQ beat North Star 3-1 after going a goal down and also kept in touch with the finals’ positions. Bayside drew 2-2 with North Pine for their second draw in a row. Both teams need to get wins to fight for the semis. I’ll tip a draw to make it three in a row for Bayside. Wolves FC v Moggill Wolves were over-run in the second half by Taringa after trailing by one at the break. Moggill suffered another loss at Mt Gravatt which makes fourteen on end. I don’t think Moggill will break that run of outs.
CAPITAL LEAGUE 2 Western Spirit v Ipswich City [POSTPONED] Virginia Utd v New Farm Virginia made hard work of beating bottom side Park Ridge, getting up 2-0. New Farm came back from Brisbane Phoenix with the three points in a close match. New Farm had lost their last two, so needed that result. Virginia are five points back from Stormers so must keep winning to pressure them. New Farm are five points from fourth, so need to keep gathering maximums. Both have a lot to play for, but I think Virginia will want it more. Oxley Utd v Toowong Oxley had a break last weekend while Toowong had a 5-1 win over Pine Hills. Both are probably out of the finals’ race so will be looking to consolidate mid-table positioning. Toowong have won their last two, Oxley have lost their last two. Feels like a draw. Park Ridge v Centenary Stormers Park Ridge made Virginia work for their win last start in a 2-0 loss. Stormers had the weekend off. If Centenary have their shooting boots on, it could get ugly unless the Panthers can channel last week’s effort. Pine Hills v Annerley Up at the Jinker Track, the Pythons went down badly to Toowong, conceding four in the last half hour. Annerley were up two early on but let Ipswich City back in to go down 4-2. Annerley will want to bounce back to maintain their run at second. Brisbane Phoenix v Pine Rivers Utd Phoenix went down at home to New Farm by the odd goal in three. Rivers did not play. Phoenix are still a chance of making the semis, so won’t want to slip up against the Predators and they shouldn’t.
CAPITAL LEAGUE 3 Match of the Round – St George v Redcliffe PCYC St George put their feet up for the weekend while Redcliffe accounted for Clairvaux up at Talobilla Park. The Saints are now only equal top with Caboolture and can’t afford to drop any points here. The Dolphins sit 4th but have played one match more than the teams around them, so they also need to keep winning. The first round meeting between these two saw St George get up 3-1. I’m thinking that there will be a similar result on Sunday evening. Slacks Creek v Westside Slacks Creek travelled to Caboolture and went down 5-2. Westside got up by the narrowest of margins (1-0) over Narangba Utd. This game is important to both teams due to finals’ considerations. The Tigers are 7th and need a win to keep in touch with the other contenders or else may be slip too far away. Westside are 6th but just two points from 3rd and also need full points to try and edge their way into the top four. The Tigers may just be more desperate and get the win. Caboolture v Clairvaux A 5-2 win for Caboolture saw them go equal top with St George Willawong. Clairvaux came away from Redcliffe with nothing to show for the trip north. Another longer trip north and I think the same result will occur – ie a home team win. AC Carina v Narangba Utd AC Carina beat Tarragindi but not as comfortably as they might have expected, getting up 2-1. Narangba have been competitive lately, losing by a single goal in their last two outings. Scoring is their problem (only 8 scored to date). Carina should win, but narrowly. Bardon Latrobe v Jimboomba Utd Bardon get back into action after having a break while Jimboomba still sit last after a loss at home to Newmarket. Bardon have won their last five (scoring 25 goals). The Jets have now lost their last eight matches. A bit hard to go past Bardon for the win. Newmarket v Tarragindi Tigers Newmarket rebounded from a big loss at Bardon to beat Jimboomba at Kurrajong Park. They make tipping difficult! Tarragindi lost by one against AC Carina. The Tigers are 10th and realistically are out of finals’ contention. Newmarket to make it two in a row.
CAPITAL LEAGUE 4 Match of the Round – Bethania Rams v Samford Rangers Neither team was in action on the weekend, so that may help with any niggling injuries. The first meeting of these two ended in a 0-0 draw at the Parklands. A win to either team will put them top or equal top as North Brisbane have the Bye this weekend. Rangers have the firepower with Dane Forsyth already notching fourteen goals to date. Samford have dropped points over the last five matches to their challengers but I think they will awaken from their slumber and take the points and top spot. Kangaroo Point Rovers v Mooroondu Rovers had a great win over Logan Metro to reinforce their credentials, coming back from a goal down at half-time. Mooroondu’s match fell victim to the inclement weather on Sunday. At home, KPR will win. Springfield Utd v The Lakes Another loss (that’s four in a row now after winning their first three) for Springfield. The Lakes were not in action. This is a really tough one to tip. Springfield need to get out of their slump while Lakes will want to get a win as they have not won in three. A draw. Logan Metro v Logan Village Metro would have been happy at the break against KPR with a one goal lead but let that slip in the second half to go down by one. Village had the weekend off after securing their first win the previous week. Metro must win to keep challenging – they will. North Brisbane - BYE
