Colts charging on in cup

Macdonald hails Coomera’s never-say-die spirit

COOMERA coach Steve Macdonald has hailed his players’ never-say-die spirit as they set their sights on FFA Cup revenge for the Gold Coast against Logan Lightning next month.

Entering Tuesday night’s Round 6 cup encounter on the back of a miraculous comefrom-behind win against NPL outfit Redlands United earlier this month, the Colts again prevailed against the odds to down the QPL’s Holland Park Hawks 3-2.

The visitors trailed 1-0 early before goals from Michael Townsend and Charlie Smith either side of halftime put them on track for another cup upset.

The Hawks hit back with another goal to level things at 2-2, with Yuto Okada then emerging as the hero with a third Coomera goal inside the final 15 minutes.

The result has set up a Round 7 showdown against Logan Lightning, who eliminated the Colts’ Gold Coast Premier League comrades Burleigh Heads with a 3-2 win on Saturday night.

“We definitely deserved (the win),” Macdonald said.

“I thought we dominated the game, especially the first half. We then went 2-1 up and they hit back immediately but we showed great character to go again.

“We had 60-plus Coomera fans there, which I thought was unbelievable for a Tuesday night in Brisbane. The boys keep defying the odds round after round and deserve all the plaudits that come their way.

“It’s a big ask against Logan but we’ll see how we go.”

Coomera are joined in Round 7 by fellow Coast sides Surfers Paradise and Gold Coast Knights, while Burleigh and Palm Beach also made it through to Round 6.

Macdonald said the entire city had cause for celebration.

“I think the Coast can be extremely proud of our teams, not just ourselves and Surfers but also Palmy and Burleigh,” he said.

“Burleigh I thought were extremely unlucky to lose, I was down watching and they dominated the second half of their game.”

Coomera’s battle with Logan will kick off at 7pm on June 8 at Viney Park, while Surfers will tackle Olympic at Lex Bell Oval at 4pm.

The Knights will host Brisbane Strikers at 7.30pm on June 7.

In the NPL, Gold Coast United hosted Easts in a rare midweek fixture last night.