Redlands United FC notched up their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory against SWQ Thunder on Saturday evening.
Redlands coach Matt Chandler was happy with his team’s performance after their loss last week against Brisbane Olympic FC.
“What a difference a week makes,” Chandler said.
“The boys did really good, I thought the attitude was one of the most pleasing things about our performance today.”
Redlands dominated early on and caused a number of problems for the Thunder defence with their speed, passing and ball skills.
Thunder rarely had chances on goal, as the Redlands defence was strong with Adam Chandler and Jake Sherwood leading the pack.
At the other end of the field, the best chance of the half came from Alistair Davis as Matthew Gordon played a beautiful cross into the box only to have the ball blocked on the way to goal by a Thunder defender.
There were some wary moments for both sides as the game became more physical and yellows were pulled out for dangerous tackles.
The second half was much like the first as Redlands dominated possession and it did not take long to see the ball it the back of the net.
Feli Sheriff made a break down the line with the ball and what he intended to be a cross into the box, found the back of the net.
Redlands continued searching for a goal that would seal the game and it seemed as though they had it but it was called offside.
It took Thunder a while to find their rhythm in the game but when they did they were dangerous in front of goal.
They gave spectators some nail biting moments in the closing minutes as they had a number of chances on goal but great defending and goalkeeping from Redlands kept them out.
The victory to Redlands was soured with an injury to midfielder Matthew Gordon who was stretchered from the field late in the first half with a suspected arm injury.
As Redlands’ injury list continues to pile up, they will be looking to make a couple of signings in the near future.
“Kai [Halliday] is out now for six to eight weeks and Sam [Roper] is coming back from a similar knee injury,” Chandler said.
“We are going to have to look at how we add to the squad but look we’ve got a good youth system here, so hopefully we can sustain this and come out of it.”
Redlands United face Western Pride this Saturday before their next home game on Saturday March 25 against Northern Fury FC.