A resilient Brisbane City have announced themselves as genuine finals contenders with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Redlands United at Cleveland Showgrounds.
Redlands dominated the chances throughout the match but ultimately it was a stunning performance from City goalkeeper and captain Timothy Allen that proved decisive as he made a raft of crucial saves to frustrate the hosts throughout the contest.
Nathan Bird’s third goal of the campaign approaching the final quarter hour claimed the points for City after Motoki Kakehi levelled terms before half-time to cancel out new Redlands recruit Alistair Davis’ first-half opener.
The win is City’s third in a four match league unbeaten run and first ever against Redlands at Cleveland Showgrounds.
The result ends a six match unbeaten run for Redlands in all competitions but the bayside club will hold on to second place regardless of the round’s other results.
“We’re disappointed that we conceded two goals from set-pieces and that’s unlike us,” Redlands coach Matt Chandler said.
“But in open play I think we created a number of chances and probably enough to win the game. But City did well – they came and got a result.”
Brisbane City FC coach John Kosmina was happy with his side’s performance.
“Second half they threw everything they could at us and we battled. They put us under pressure and we survived. There was a lot of desperation there and sometimes you need that. It wasn’t what I’d call an ugly win but it was a battle to be won and we won it. You need to be resilient to survive at this level,” he said.
In the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's league The Gap FC Women have extended their unbeaten streak to 24 matches after trouncing Redlands United Women 9-0 at the Cleveland Showgrounds.
The Gap’s Jessica Dillon scored either side of Greta Bodey in the first half on top of Ruth Blackburn’s deflected header and an own goal to hand Gators a comfortable 5-0 lead before half time. Bodey completed a hat-trick early in the second half while substitute Holly Hitchener secured her brace to see Gators move 11 points clears on the ladder.
The result consigns Redlands to their eighth straight loss as they wait another week to make a dent on the table in their maiden PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women's campaign.
“Last week we copped a 10 and there was no way we were going to get to that again,” United coach John Blanco said.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game but especially in that second half the girls dug in deep against the Gap and actually started to get frustrated. We had patches were we would play well and then get frustrated and drop off a bit. Overall I’m proud of them because slowly they are starting to turn a corner when it comes to these tough games.”