LEG-WEARY KNIGHTS OVERCOME SETBACKS
THERE was no shortage of feeling off the pitch and no shortage of goals on it as the Gold Coast Knights overcame a tough fortnight to run out 3-1 winners in the 2019 NPL Queensland grand final rematch.
Heavy rain has meant the Knights have been unable to train or play in the past two weeks but neither fact mattered as the reigning champions claimed their first points of the season against Olympic at the Croatian Sports Centre on Saturday.
After Olympic went 1-0 on the back of a Jez Lofthouse goal, Max Brown equalised before Jheison Macuace scored on debut to give the home side a 2-1 buffer just before halftime.
Captain Mitch Nichols secured the result with the Knights’ third, pleasing coaching Grae Piddick who was thrilled to retain bragging rights over Olympic.
“They probably would have thought they could get one over us considering we hadn’t played yet and them going 1-0 up as well,” he said.
“There was a bit of feeling on the sidelines as well but that’s normal when two good sides go head to head.
“The second half, we were always going to be a bit heavy on the legs but (we) stuck to what we needed to do.
“Full credit to the boys because we didn’t get out on to the pitch for two weeks so we spent a lot of time in the gym and running at the park and anything we could do to maintain match fitness.”
On the back of the lastminute departures of star defenders Matt Smith and Oskar Dillon, Piddick said it was pleasing to see his side gel so early into their 2020 campaign.
“Last-minute changes as a coach make it difficult and the nature of them can cause problems but with us, the togetherness of the team and the willingness of the boys to put their hands up and play in different positions and say ‘I will do this job to the best of my ability’ has been great,” Piddick said.
“The culture we’ve developed has been great and the boys have really bought into that.
“Some of the boys are getting involved with coaching some of our other teams as well so we’re working on building a culture of togetherness.”
In other NPL results, Gold Coast United claimed their first points of the season with a 2-1 win on the road against Eastern Suburbs.
Junya Yabe kicked the winner after Brandon Reeves opened the scoring.
United’s women team could only muster a 2-2 draw against Easts in Brisbane in their first match of the NPLW season
Japanese midfielder Rie Kitano and Paige Taylor scored for United in the first half.
United travel to Moreton Bay United on Sunday.