UNITED ON THE MARCH
IN-FORM midfielder Conor Smith says Gold Coast United have proved they are more than a match for their highly fancied local rivals after holding their own in Saturday night’s 1-1 draw with Gold Coast Knights.
Playing for The Coast Cup for the first time, the city’s NPL outfits shared the spoils at Carrara after Smith’s 31st-minute strike from the edge of the box was cancelled out by a scrambled Max Brown goal 13 minutes after the break.
In front of a packed Croatian Sports Centre, the secondplaced Knights unveiled new recruits Mitch Nichols and Shannon Brady as they fought to bounce back from a 2-1 loss to Peninsula Power.
United entered Round 7 on the back of a four-game winning streak that had catapulted them into a share of third spot, and were forced to overcome the late send-off of defender Tyler Wagstaffe.
But having pushed a Knights outfit tipped by many to challenge for this season’s crown, Smith said there was no doubt the Surfsiders had the talent to be beside them.
“We’ve gone under the radar so far and been underdogs just about every game. Now people are starting to realise Gold Coast United are going to be up there and if we carry on we’ll be challenging for the top four,” the 22-yearold Englishman said.
“The Knights have got some quality players. Big Sam (Smith) up front, he’s a handful. (Nichols and I) had a few tackles, he’s obviously got quality and it’s always good to test yourselves against ex-Socceroos and players from the ALeague.
“I thought it was a very tough game, both sides played well. I thought we were the better team in the first half and they made some good substitutions in the second half and came back into it.”
One of the few remaining players from the United squad that finished 10th last season, Smith now has four goals in his past four games and said new coach Kristian Rees was getting the best out of his troops.
“We had a really good preseason. Kris has got a certain style that suits us younger boys,” he said.
“We’ve got freedom in the final third and the experience to keep it tight. We’ll give anyone a game.
“We’ve started better than last year but we need to keep going and keep rising.”
The Knights travel to Moreton Bay at 6pm on Saturday, while United host Olympic at 4pm on Sunday.