Cairns FC swoops in
Cairns FC’s FFA Cup clash with Mackay Magpies Crusaders at Barlow Park was so wild stand-in skipper Crios O’Hare was still in disbelief as he entered the post-match press conference on Saturday night. The hometown heroes won, advancing to the round of 32 for the fifth consecutive time if you count their history as FNQ Heat, setting up the mouth-watering prospect of a home clash with an A-League club in the process.
CAIRNS FC’s FFA Cup clash with Mackay Magpies Crusaders at Barlow Park was so wild stand-in skipper Crios O’Hare was still in disbelief as he entered the post-match press conference on Saturday night.
The hometown heroes won, advancing to the round of 32 for the fifth consecutive time if you count their history as FNQ Heat, setting up the mouth-watering prospect of a home clash with an A-League club in the process.
How they did it still hadn’t sunk in though as the affable veteran stood in front of the club’s media placards taking deep breaths, presumably to slow down his racing heart rate.
After trailing three-nil at half-time, Cairns FC responded with five unanswered goals to break open the game and crush the Crusaders’ spirit in one fell swoop.
It was, in the words of Cairns coach Danny Graystone “a bit of a spectacular game”.
“I don’t know if there’s been a better game that I’ve been a part of with this club,” O’Hare said.
“We got into the huddle after half-time and it was positive. We all really believed.
“I think one of the things that’s always been a Cairns trait is being resilient and we showed a lot of bottle to come back.
“Harry Corica really got us going tonight on the wing. He was dangerous, took players on and created goals, (so did) Ryan Cavanah. When we got the first one we knew they were susceptible.”
The belief was apparent when Joshua Taylor kicked a miraculous roundhouse strike into the back of the net in the 59th minute, drawing gasps, then cheers from the Cairns faithful.
“The first goal was really important and at a good time for us,” O’Hare said.
The score was soon 3-2 when Mackay’s Michael Lyall inadvertently started a basketball-style fast break when he thundered the ball into the crossbar leading to a goal to Corica at the other end.
Defender Fox Slotemaker levelled the scores in the 66th minute with a strong shot from the left, getting in behind Mackay’s suddenly under-siege goalkeeper Ryan Ramsden.
Taylor struck again less than 10 minutes later before O’Hare put the final nail in the Crusaders’ coffin, slipping Cairns’ fifth past Ramsden.
While elated with his players’ second half, Graystone still struggled to reconcile how his team could put in such a Jekylland-Hyde-like performance.
“We had a heated discussion about the way things were going,” Graystone said of his halftime address. “It’s frustrating for me as a coach because I witnessed such fantastic football from these guys … some of the best football I’ve seen in the NPL.
“I also witnessed the first half and we’ve got both those types of performances in us.
“I think a couple of players just didn’t turn up, to be quite honest with you.
“I just felt their performances in the first half didn’t warrant a club trying to qualify for the national round of 32 in the FFA Cup. But it’s not an easy feat to turn around a three-nil deficit.”
O’Hare said the chance to potentially host an FFA Cup match against an A-League side had him buzzing.
“It’d be a dream to play an ALeague club up here,” he said. “It’d be brilliant for the city.”