From winless to winners

Two sorry seasons forgotten as Robina City claim Coast title

BUOYANT Robina City coach Nathan Mulhearn has outlined the remarkable rise of his club from Gold Coast football minnows to the latest Premier League side.

The Rabbits claimed their first Coast League 1 championship since 2000 by drawing their title-deciding clash with Southport on Saturday night.

It took until the final seconds of the clash at Robina Common Field to decide who would win an automatic promotion to the Premier League.

The draw gave the Rabbits the solitary point needed to finish on top of the table, capping a remarkable rise for a club who hadn’t won a game in two and a half years before this season.

“Considering where Robina have been the past few years, to see the transformation is something amazing for our young kids to aspire to,” Mulhearn said. “It’s fantastic for the club and this group of players to have achieved that and now winning in finals will be the icing on the cake.”

In a twist of fate, Premier League side Mudgeeraba on Sunday forfeited their spot in the top-tier competition.

This essentially means Southport will also automatically qualify for the Premier League, with Mudgeeraba and last-placed Tweed United falling into the Coast League 1.

Neither Robina nor Southport could have seen those events coming on Saturday.

After Robina conceded a penalty early in the game, one ultimately saved by gloveman Winnie Tukariri, neither side could break the scoring drought in the first half, prompting a simple message from Mulhearn at the break.

“I just said to them to keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “I also said to them to not concede in the first 10 minutes but then we conceded in the first two minutes.”

Despite straying from the plan, Mitch Calley managed to score an equaliser with about 15 minutes remaining.

“I didn’t get much of a chance to say too much after the game because I ended up with ice all over my back but I’m so proud of the boys,” said Mulhearn.

City look likely to remain a Gold Coast force with five team members – Max Lines, Harry Jones, Danny Shapiro, Jasper McDonald and Carlin Tebbutt – aged 19 or younger.

Coast League finals start on August 31.