Coomera now the hunted

COOMERA has announced itself as a genuine Gold Coast Premier League threat after defeating 2019 double winner Burleigh 4-3 – and coach Steve Macdonald knows it.

The Colts skipped out to a 4-1 lead on Saturday night at Pizzey Park in Round 2 Premier League catch-up action before the champions rallied late to bring the deficit to one goal.

But Coomera held firm, prompting Macdonald to issue a warning to his players.

“We need to start understanding that we have a target on our back now which Coomera hasn’t had in a few years,” he said.

“We need to understand that we can’t fly under the radar anymore. A lot of people were talking about us and the boys need to wear that.”

And despite withholding a late Burleigh surge, Macdonald said he didn’t care how his side won, as long as it kept banking three points.

“We feel at the minute, it’s three points at all costs,” he said. “We analyse performances but with everything that has happened, I don’t think anyone is going to get a perfect performance.”

Burleigh coach Colin Phelan didn’t blame the loss of five players from his 2019 starting line-up for the narrow loss.

“They can all play,” Phelan said of his recruits. “We lacked a bit of concentration.

“Every time we’ve made a mistake, we’ve been punished.”

BROADBEACH United coach Sarah Evans believes her side has the right ingredients to mix it with the best in the Brisbane Women’s Premier League, despite a 5-0 loss to the University of Queensland on Saturday night.

The Dolphins finally got the chance to make amends for their 5-1 Round 1 loss to the Lakes back in March but were largely outclassed by Uni.

Despite her side failing to score, Evans believes the final result isn’t a true reflection of Broadbeach’s effort.

“The scoreline looks like we were not in the game but the fact is we had patches where we were the better footballing side,” she said.

Meanwhile, Robina City and Coomera failed to take to pitch due to wet weather.