GCPL GIANT AWAKENS
THE Southport School’s First XI measures its strikers on goals so when Lochie Johnston told his coach Joe Dolan earlier in the week he was going to score a hattrick, it proved the ultimate case of foreshadowing.
On Saturday playing away against Toowoomba Grammar School, TSS succeeded at one of the GPS football’s most challenging missions when they walked away with a 5-3 victory.
And while it wasn’t all smooth sailing – the host team found the back of the net twice late in the game to make one last charge – Johnston’s stellar individual performance was enough to secure TSS its fourth straight win.
“I was speaking to Lochie earlier in the week and told him you’re going to get another chance because strikers have different personalities to defenders in that they need goals and need to be willing to take their chances and be selfish at times,” Dolan said.
“Lochie is more of a provider but I told him we needed numbers on the board so he told me this week he was going to score a hat-trick and he actually had forgotten he had said it when I mentioned it to him after the game.
“We knew Toowoomba was going to be a tough ask and we knew they had lost a few players and the rain was hammering down and we were freezing but to their credit, they didn’t go away.
“It was a great win. “We won there two years ago and didn’t deserve to but (this time), we were the better team so it was pleasing to win when we deserved it.”
TSS will next take on Brisbane Grammar School at home but will have to monitor the fitness of a few players who picked up slight injuries throughout the match.