Sunshine Coast FC rocketed to the top of the league table following a high-scoring opening round of PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland fixtures.
Brisbane Strikers FC 2 (Jheison MACUACE 37’, Grieg HENSLEE 90’)
Redlands United FC 2 (Graham FYFE 44’(p), Igor SAO JOSE 90+1’)
Brisbane Strikers and Redlands United shared the first points of the 2015 season, playing out a dramatic 2-2 draw at Perry Park on Saturday night.
Colombian Jheison Macuace and veteran defender Greig Henslee struck late in each half for Strikers, however were immediately answered by goals to Redlands’ player-coach Graham Fyfe and a sensational injury time equaliser to Brazilian Igor Sao Jose.
Speaking post-match Fyfe was upbeat about the performance, “To go 2-1 down, well it almost feels like a win when you get that goal back. The boys are buzzing and I’m very happy overall.”
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Western Pride FC 5 (Joe DUCKWORTH 24’, Harry SAWYER 29’, Chris SCOTT 37’, own goal 85', Gab HAWASH 90+6')
SWQ Thunder FC 2 (Chris HEWSON 5’, Mitchell TANKSY 65’)
Three off-season recruits were on the score sheet as Western Pride accounted for SWQ Thunder 5-2 at Briggs Road Complex on Saturday night.
Despite Thunder opening the scoring via Chris Hewson, Pride secured the points on the back of debut goals to Harry Sawyer, Joe Duckworth and Gab Hawash adding to a further strike from Chris Scott.
Pride coach Karl Dodd said the result was a team effort, ““Together as a group they did well. I’m not big on singling out a player because I like the mantra that it’s a team and we all work as a team.”
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FNQ FC Heat 2 (Mqondisi NKIWANE 53’, Alex SMITH 90+1’(p))
Northern Fury FC 3 (Joe THORNTON 59’(p), Michael EISENHUT 62’ 67’)
Northern Fury won their first ever Tropical Derby over FNQ Heat, with all five goals coming in the second half in a typically hard-fought contest between the two rival clubs at Barlow Park in Cairns.
Michael Eisenhut’s brace added to a goal on debut for Joe Thornton to secure Fury the points, while Heat topped and tailed the scoring with the opener to Mqondisi Nkiwane and a late consolation from Alex Smith from the penalty spot.
Fury coach Ian Ferguson praised his charges post-match, "It's a great start for us and three points on the road and we got to be delighted with that," he said.
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Sunshine Coast FC 6 (Brady CRONK 16' 45', Reyze KELLY 40', Ray SCHULTZ 67', Jacob FULLUCK 86'(p) 90+1')
Brisbane City FC 0
Sunshine Coast FC made a spectacular start to their campaign, defeating Brisbane City 6-0 at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday.
Brady Cronk and Jacob Fulluck each scored a double for Fire, while Reyze Kelly and Ray Schultz also added their names to the scoresheet in the six-goal rout.
City coach Glen Volker conceded his side’s performance was disappointing, “We didn’t play well. We were slow with the ball, we turned it over cheaply and didn’t transition as well as we would’ve liked.”
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Moreton Bay United FC 3 (Jordan FARINA 7’, Matthew ZAPPONE 8’, Royce BROWNLIE 77’)
Olympic FC 2 (Tim SMITS 33’, Mustafa JAFARI 84’)
Moreton Bay United saw off a spirited Olympic FC 3-2 in an attacking close to the opening round at Wolter Park on Sunday night.
Jets trio Jordan Farina, Matthew Zappone and Royce Brownlie did the damage for the hosts, with Olympic’s Tim Smits and Mustafa Jafari chiming in for the visitors.
Jets coach Adam Piddick expressed his delight at his first three points at the helm of his new club.
“We’ve worked all pre-season for this and it’s worked out fantastic and now we’re off to the next one.”
Click here for a full match report and post-match interviews from Football Queensland.
For more news, video highlights and updates from Football Queensland, visit www.nplqld.com.au
Image courtesy of Ray Gardner