Redlands United FC will discover their Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 destiny next week.
Football Federation have confirmed the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32 Live Draw will be conducted on Thursday, June 30 at 3pm at Fox Sports studios in Sydney.
Representatives from Queensland qualifying clubs FNQ Heat, Brisbane Strikers, Surfers Paradise Apollo and Redlands – as well as automatic Hyundai A-League qualifiers Brisbane Roar – are expected to attend the event.
22 Member Federation clubs from around the country will join the ten Hyundai A-League clubs in the Round of 32 draw, with at least one second-tier club guaranteed a place in the Semi Finals.
The draw process will see four matches featuring Member Federation clubs face Hyundai A-League opponents in the Round of 32 – with Member Federation clubs guaranteed hosting rights in these fixtures.
High profile interstate qualifiers include former National Soccer League Championship winning clubs Marconi Stallions, Melbourne Knights and Wollongong Wolves.
The preference amongst the Redlands United staff and playing group is to be drawn to play interstate, although Matt Chandler’s men will need to recapture their mid-season form if the Red Devils are to progress beyond the Round of 32.
Redlands stumbled to a shock 6-2 loss against reigning PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Queensland premiers Moreton Bay United on Saturday, which sees the side winless in their last two outings and sitting in third position only though goal difference.
Chandler knows the type of football his side are capable of producing, and will be looking for an improved performance from his side over the coming weeks.
“I think it’s a blip,” he said. “We’ve lost our last two but before that we won our last four. We need to address some things, have a look at ourselves and see how we can bounce back.”
The Round of 32 will comprise 16 matches played between Tuesday, July 26 and Wednesday, August 10. The national knock-out competition will conclude with the Westfield FFA Cup Final on November 29 at a venue to be determined.
Women’s competition
PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women’s competition, a six goal first-half blitz set-up a comfortable 7-0 victory for SWQ Thunder Women over Redlands United at Cleveland Showgrounds.
Melanie Lloyd’s first-half hat-trick – her second against Redlands this season – was complemented by a double from Abbey Lloyd and a further strike from Emma Beecham to wrap up the points prior to the half.
Lloyd added the final goal shortly after the restart to round out the result, with the subsequent substitution of the two Lloyd sisters evening the remainder of the contest.
Thunder’s second win of the season against Redlands sees them remain clear fifth in the league standings and still firmly in the hunt for a maiden Finals Series appearance.
For Redlands, the match marks an 11th straight defeat and sees the bottom of the table club without a goal to their credit in their past six matches.
Coach John Blanco was disappointed with his side’s slow start.
“I thought the first half we were all over the place, we weren’t committed enough. We had a very frank discussion at half time about what we wanted to achieve in the second half, and I thought the whole team (improved) 10-fold after that.”
