Rochedale One Game From Title After Win At Creek

Albany Creek 1 (Hall 49')

Rochedale Rovers 3 (Shizuno 8', 59', Aoci 26') HT: 0-2 Played at Wolter Park

Rochedale Rovers put themselves within one win of claiming the title when they ran out 3-1 winners in a high energy, entertaining success over a gallant Albany Creek at Wolter Park on Saturday evening.

Seiji Shuzuno opened the scoring in the ninth minute with his first goal of the evening after Todd Norris had scythed through the home defence and put the ball on a platter for the number seven to whip the ball home at the far post.

Seventeen minutes later the visitors extended their lead when Kado Aoci ghosted in behind his defender and deftly flicked the ball past a static Ravesh Behzad in the Creek goal.

Almost immediately after the halftime break, ACE brought the game alive through Josh Hall who powered home a shot on the end of a low cross to reduce the deficit, with most of the second half still to be played.

But it was Shizuno who put the result beyond doubt with another break down the right and a strike which Jamie Vesey was unlucky not to have cleared away to safety.

It was the first half an hour which cost Creek dearly as they came out of the blocks slowly and were down by two goals before they could even find their rhythm.

With the last foray of the first half, Chom Arop broke free of the Rochedale backline and with only the keeper to beat, lobbed his shot over the crossbar... it was a crucial miss at a crucial time.

With the score still at 2-1, Royce Brownlie was also unlucky to see his header bounce back off the crossbar just when it looked as if his side were about to get back into the contest.

Rovers will point to the opportunities they created and over the full ninety minutes they were deserved winners, but it's hard to believe this was a match-up between sides in first and seventh place with the second half in particular being an enthralling contest.

Special mention should go to the grounds staff because the surface is as good as any in the league which played a large part in the high standard of play.

The season will go down to the final week for ACE and even if all the required outcomes fall their way, which is not out of the question, the eight goal difference between themselves and Mitchelton is the hurdle which will ultimately see them finishing up with another missed tilt at the top four.

Rovers were buoyant after the victory because they knew this would be a tough encounter and that's exactly how it panned out.

With Peninsula Power beating Ipswich Knights 1-0 and Lions FC hammering Grange Thistle 6-1, the Premiership will be decided on the final day as three teams remaining in the race take to the field next Saturday within half an hour of each other.

Coach Remarks:

Ben Parkin (Albany Creek): "First half we weren't at the races. Second half, can't fault the boys, great stuff and we had our chances to get back into the game. Couldn't be prouder of their effort. Congratulations to Rochedale, they are a quality side and they got what they deserved."

Scott MacNicol (Rochedale Rovers): "I thought they were good. It was a good, frenetic, end to end game with a finals feel to it already. We felt the pressure going into the game a bit but the boys were great again tonight. Seiji with two and Kado with one. We had three or four good chances and we took them but they had their opportunities as well. Happy to be top of the tree still."

FB Media Player Of The Match: Seiji Shizuno (Rochedale Roves)

2017 has been Shizuno's best year at Rovers and once again he was creative whilst managing to find space in tight areas of the pitch.

FB Media Match Stats:

Overall Possession: 52% - 48% Shots on target: 5 - 7 Shots off target: 2 - 4 Shots blocked: 1 - 2 Corners: 8 - 4 Free kicks: 11 - 12 Penalties: 0 - 0 Offsides: 2 - 0 Yellow cards: 1 - 1 Red cards: 0 - 0