5 Things We Learned From The Weekend
NUMBER 1:
Brisbane Knights home ground cup hoodoo continues. Last season's giant killers were bundled out in the opening round of this season's FFA Cup by Viva Capital League 1 side Annerley, thus becoming victims of a giant killing act themselves. But what's more troubling is their home record in cup encounters. Each of last season's giant killing successes came on the road before falling to Peninsula Power in the FFA Cup at Brisbane Knights Sports Complex and to Rochedale Rovers, be it on penalties, in the Pig 'N' Whistle Canale Cup at the same venue. No doubt Dave McEvoy's side will be praying for an away tie when the Pig 'N' Whistle Canale Cup commences in April. NUMBER 2:
The FFA Cup continues to deliver plenty excitement with two RD2 ties needing penalty shootouts to determine the winner - Westside Grovely defeating Clairvaux and Ridge Hills United squeezing through against new side Logan Roos.
One tie required extra time and five other ties were decided by a single goal; including an absolute thriller at Dunmore Park that saw 3 goals scored in the final few minutes of the game, resulting in Caboolture making it through to RD3 with a 5-4 win over Toowong. Late comebacks from Brisbane Knights and Acacia Ridge made for nervy final minutes for their opponents before time ran out on them and both being knocked out. Brisbane Athletic made a successful return to Football Brisbane when they netted in extra time to record an inaugural FFA Cup win over Newmarket at Pinkenba Reserve. NUMBER 3:
It was a bad round for the Flight Centre Brisbane Premier League clubs. Only three of this season's Flight Centre Brisbane Premier League clubs were drawn to compete for a spot in RD3 with the other nine drawn byes in the RD2 draw. It was however a round to forget for all three - Brisbane Knights, Acacia Ridge and Taringa Rovers all dumped out of this years competition and by lower division opponents. Without doubt, the biggest shock of the round came at Samford Parklands where last season's Capital League 4 champions knocked out the Capital League 1 champions Taringa Rovers 3-2. NUMBER 4:
Saints keep marching on. The biggest scoreline from the round went to St George Willawong who notched up an emphatic 12-1 win against Springfield United on Saturday evening. The Viva Capital League 1 side sent a strong message to their fellow league opponents with a decisive display which saw Aleksa Krkeljas net 4 goals and playmaker Anthony Sarramea score a hat trick. NUMBER 5:
Defences stretched. From the 18 ties played, there were 97 goals scored, suggesting defences are still require some fine tuning leading in to the start of the league season. For the neutral there was plenty to keep them entertained, with an average of 5.38 goals per game over the weekend and 7 games that featured 7 goals or more. The season ahead isn't going to be dull that's for sure.
