Comets hardened by fiery encounter
Edge Hill provide perfect preparation ahead of Cairns FC challenge
A TOUGH 1-0 win over a strong Edge Hill side has steeled Southside Comets for their tilt at history against Cairns FC.
Kirito Higuchi was again the hero, this time with an 80th minute goal, one minute after the Comets went down to 10 men when Brayden Phelps was sin binned for dissent.
Southside also had a player binned in their opening game of the season, but coach Dion Readman said it was not a concern.
“We scored right after the sin bin, so the boys reacted really well,” he said.
“It was a very physical game ... and we expect it. A lot of teams play us that way. They think because we’re young we’ll fold under it, but the boys are experienced enough now.”
Edge Hill coach Paul Fitzgerald said the yellow card count of seven reflected the competitiveness of the game rather than anything too physical and felt his side showed they were close to “coming good”.
“We only started training early February so we always thought it was going to take us two or three games to get up to speed,” he said.
“It was a very close game. We’re getting stronger, we’re jelling better and we’ve got four training sessions before we play Innisfail and I’m fairly confident we’re hitting our stride.”
Fitzgerald said the Comets were a “very good side” that would no doubt be a contender to defend their Premier Men’s titles but had his doubts they could match a down-on-form Cairns FC in an FFA Cup tie tomorrow night.
Readman was thankful for the intense nature of the Tigers’ game plan as an ideal preparation for the next-level standard to come.
Mareeba 3 (J Wells 28’ 46’ Peressini 76’) d Leichhardt 1 (Holmes 77’)
Marlin Coast 4 (Nichol 36’ 53’ 89’ Tognoni 50’) d Stratford 1 (Rusch 29’)
Southside Comets 1 (K Higuchi 80’) d Edge Hill 0
“The boys are excited. We didn’t get any injuries out of the game on the weekend,” he said.
“I’d like to think we could be a chance, but we’ll see. No one has ever come close to the local NPL side in the history of the FFA Cup, so for us to give them a run for their money, who knows.
“I’m not going to do a Stuey Veall.
“I watched (Cairns) against Mackay, and it’s a faster game than we play week-in, weekout.
“It’s just a matter of whether we can go with them.”
Marlin Coast have asserted their dominance on the Premier Men’s competition with a 4-1 win over Stratford.
The Rangers did not let the disappointment of conceding their first goal of the season detract from a well-executed game plan, allowing Kyle Nichol to score a hat-trick.
Mareeba are now on the board for season 2018, finding their spark at home for a 3-1 win over Leichhardt.
editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost