KNIGHTS OFF MARK:
UNWAVERING self-belief helped kickstart the Gold Coast Knights’ season on Saturday night as the NPL witnessed the birth of a new title threat.
Disappointed with a 1-1 draw against Mackay and Whitsundays in their NPL debut a week earlier, the Knights again looked headed for a share of the points against Western Pride before an injury-time goal from Jarrod Kyle secured a 3-2 win.
Making the road trip to Ipswich for the first time, the visitors trailed 1-0 in the 26th minute after defender Oskar Dillon turned the ball into his own net.
But two goals from striker Sam Smith in a 20-minute period midway through the second half turned the game on its head, only for a stunning Alex Parsons freekick to level the scores again at 2-2 with seven minutes to play.
Kyle then emerged as the hero with a stoppage time header to sink the Pride, who finished third last season after winning the 2017 grand final.
Now preparing for Sunday’s home fixture against SWQ Thunder, Smith hailed the Knights’ never-say-die attitude under coach Grae Piddick and assistant Sean Lane.
“We scored two goals in 10-15 minutes and knew we had a goal in us late, it was just a case of when. A sign of a good team is knowing we had another goal in us and carried on doing the right things and getting the winner in the end,” the 28-year-old Englishman said.
“We made hard work of it, started a little slower than we should have done and can’t keep doing that. It may have been a few nerves early looking for our first win but that will massively help us confidence wise as a team.
“No doubt Grae and Sean will be doing their homework in preparation for SWQ Thunder on what their threats are and how we can get the better of them. Now that we got that winner I am sure the boys will come to training on Tuesday full of confidence and ready to go.”
The Knights’ under-13, 14, 15 and 16 sides all enjoyed wins over Redlands on Saturday, while the under-20s thrashed the Pride 6-2 and the under-18s fell 1-0 in Ipswich.