Comets streak past Innisfail in chase to finals
THE race to the FNQ Premier League finals has been blown right open after Southside’s crushing 4-0 win against a 10man Innisfail United.
Zeca Soares scored a double while Jack Carr and Casey Agnew grabbed one each to allow the Comets to maintain pace with the top four, and vastly improve their all-important goal differential.
Scarily, it could have been more if Comets had drilled home every opportunity.
Southside coach Chris Collins said his side had already discussed what they had to do to seal a post-season spot, making for three more mustwin games on the run home.
“We’ve talked about the points we need to make the finals,” Collins said.
“We can catch them, but we need to make sure we win all of our remaining games.”
The Comets entered clash in sixth spot.
In Innisfail, who is third on the ladder and all but guaranteed a spot in the finals, the the
Comets faced a side building momentum ahead of what they plan to be a drought-busting post-season run.
The game hung in the balance throughout the first half until a Cutters defender was shown red, and while the Comets looked good before the dismissal, they grabbed and ran with the opportunity the overlap allowed.
Carr’s first-half goal was joined by Soares’ first effort, and when Agnew pounced midway through the second stanza the three points were all but locked up. But then Soares chimed in again, nailing an absolute pearler to seal the emphatic 4-0 victory.
While they celebrated on Saturday, Southside will quickly get their minds back onto the task at hand.
Southside’s hopes are partly dependent on the outcome of Stratford’s Sunday evening trip to Mareeba United, but with a clash against the Dolphins coming up in just six days’ time, the Comets won’t look too far into the future.
Southside then hit the road for their last two games, as they face second-placed Leichhardt and cellar-dwellers Marlin Coast to finish the regular season.
Sunday evening’s clash with Stratford may determine their finals hopes, but Collins said if the team wanted to play finals it had to win against all three opponents.
“Stratty has a few back from injury and they’ve got Kyle Nichol, who is a danger,” Collins said. “If we can’t win the next three we don’t deserve to play finals.”