United on attack in ‘ our grand final’
NORTH Queensland United attacker Darren Walker says a more combative mindset in defence gives them a chance to take a huge step toward avoiding relegation against Redlands tonight at Brolga Park.
And it could be a few seconds of heartache North Queensland United could look back on as the moment that has turned their season around.
Down 2- 1 against Moreton Bay six weeks ago, NQU looked to have salvaged a draw via a 90th minute equaliser, only to concede seconds later.
Ever since NQU has vowed to take the game to teams, which has given them a chance to avoid the drop in their inaugural National Premier League season.
With the bottom two relegated, second- last NQU are just one point behind Redlands and a win tonight would be a big step toward top flight survival.
They enter the game in good form, having held Brisbane Roar Youth to a goalless draw last week and ending Cairns’s long unbeaten run two weeks earlier.
“It’s our grand final and everyone knows what’s at stake,” Walker said.
“The boys are excited and have probably come off the best period of our season with four points from three games.
“We’re up for it, we’ve got to get a result. At least one point, if not three.
“We’ve been building for this for three weeks, now it’s time to get the result.”
NQU’s defence leaked a huge number of goals early in the year, but defending as a complete unit has reaped dividends.
“At that point ( Moreton Bay game) we decided to take it to teams, rather than sit back and try and defend what we had,” Walker said.
“We wanted to press teams up the park and try and force the result. We’ve seen the last couple of weeks ( that it’s worked), at Cairns and against the Roar we did that from the front to the back.
“Paul Kohler at the back adds stability, but pressing from the front and defending higher up the park has taken some pressure off the back four.
“We’ve been building for the last five weeks, it’s good to see we’ve got some results for the changes we made.”
NQU will welcome back Kyren Walters and Masimango Benjamin after they missed last week’s game through national schools titles duty. NPL ROUND 23 Tonight: North Queensland United v Redlands at Brolga Park, 7pm NQ Football Premier League. Today: Saints v Brothers, Brolga Park 4.30pm; Ingham v Burdekin, Augie Pane Field ( Ingham) 7pm; Warriors v MA Olympic, Melrose Park 7pm; Wulguru v Rebels, Wulguru Park 7pm.