KPR hold all the Aces To Reach Grand Final
North Brisbane 0 Kangaroo Point Rovers 1 (Brown, 19’) HT: 0-1 Played at Prentice Park
A slightly chilly evening at Lutwyche produced a typical finals’ football match with neither side prepared to let the other settle on the ball. Chances were few and far between and Rovers took the one that mattered to progress to the Grand Final. The first half was a dour struggle as both teams pressed each other and were not allowing the opposition to dwell on the ball. Rovers had the better of things in terms of field position as North Brisbane were slow out of the blocks. The first shot in anger came after nine minutes from North Brisbane’s Jashanpreet Singh but it was a shot that went well wide of the far post and gave KPR keeper Kane Turner little concern. For the next ten minutes the ball was going from end to end without anything substantial being created. Then on nineteen minutes, Chris Dovey received the ball on the right after it had been intercepted on the halfway line and played a perfect ball through for Linken Brown to run onto and fire past Navjit Kang to give KPR the lead. Just a minute later, KPR had a chance to double the lead as Eduardo Carvalho beat two players on the left and pulled the ball back across goal but the defence was on hand to block the shot on the 18 yard line. North Brisbane’s best chance of the half came on 27 minutes as Ranveer Atwal crossed from the left to Amardeep Ghooti who met the ball at the front post. The KPR defence though, had tracked him and half blocked his volleyed shot enabling Kane to gather the ball. The remainder of the half was mostly uneventful as again, neither side would allow the other to get any rhythm in their play going. In the first minute of added time, North Brisbane were awarded a free kick some 30 yards out which initially appeared to spell no danger. However, Ghooti fired a cracking shot that beat Kane and hit the underside of the crossbar, bouncing down in front of the line. In the ensuing scramble, the ball ended up in the net but the Assistant Referee’s flag signalling an offside.
The second half began with North Brisbane taking the game to Kangaroo Point and the first ten minutes was all the Aces as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser. However, they were unable to convert that superiority into anything meaningful. In fact, KPR had the first real chance of the half when, on 55 minutes, Brown received the ball 25 yards out and quickly turned and shot. But it was straight at Kang who saved easily. Five minutes later, North had a good opportunity from a cross by Rajwinder Brar on the right that found Andrew Prefontaine 12 yards out. But Kane was there to put him under pressure and his header went back across goal and was eventually cleared. With twenty minutes left, North sent in a free kick from the left that Kane could only punch away and his defence was on hand to clear. KPR then started to push forward and after a mazy run, Dovey was fouled 25 yards out with the resultant free kick sent just past the right hand post by Ben Austen. Ghooti had a good chance with just over ten minutes left as the ball came out to him after a scramble in the box but his volley went just wide of the right hand post. A minute later, Ghooti was again involved as he got free on the left and pulled the ball back. But unfortunately, he pulled it back too far behind Aguang Malual who was running on to it. In the end, it was not a pretty match to watch with the bumpy surface making ball control a little difficult. The most clear cut chance of the evening was converted and that proved to be the winner. KPR march on to the Grand Final, while North Brisbane lick their wounds but savour promotion.
Coach Remarks:
Navneet Sandhar (North Brisbane): “The first fifteen to twenty minutes we didn’t seem to have any energy. Towards the end of the first half I felt we were getting on top. We started well in the second half and were definitely on top. In the first half we created nothing but we did create some half chances in the second half. Our main target this year was promotion and we achieved that.” Russell Mapri (Kangaroo Point Rovers): “We’ve played North Brisbane three times now and they haven’t scored against us but they gave us a fright. All three games, straight after half-time, they just press and they keep coming. We had to work really hard for it. The free kick just before half time could have changed the game. We were lucky but we worked hard for our luck.”
Team line-ups
North Brisbane: Kang (GK), Brar, Hundal, Neyal (65’), Sanghera, O’Donohue (55’), Atwal, Prefontaine, Ghooti, Singh, Bell.
Subs: Malual (55’), Thomas (65’)
Kangaroo Point Rovers: Turner (GK), Gillespie, Dovey, Garcia-Prieto, Austen (69’), Doherty Kruss, Carvalho (83’), McQueen, Brown, Gorman, Macumi
Subs: Da Cunha (69’), Langbein (83’) Referee: Jim Bellos
