United return to drop zone
NORTH Queensland United’s quest to avoid National Premier League Queensland relegation has taken a big hit after they were hammered 4- 0 by Brisbane City yesterday.
NQU was forced to send a depleted team south, with several key players unavailable due to the wedding of skipper Corey Waples on Saturday night. United have fallen back into the bottom- two relegation zone after Redlands accounted for Mackay 3- 2 on Saturday to leapfrog NQU by a point.
It’s a bitter pill for NQU to swallow after they overtook Redlands just last week with a dominant 5- 1 home victory.
Competing in their first NPL season, NQU face a tough final fortnight against fifth- placed Brisbane Strikers at home on Saturday, before finishing with a road trip to third- placed Olympic FC.
The good news is Redlands’ draw is even tougher, with clashes against top two teams Western Pride and Lions FC.
The big loss also reduced NQU’s goal difference to - 31, behind Redlands’ - 26.
Brisbane City took just 10 minutes to open their account when Preston Hugo’s left- foot strike found the back of the net. Twin strikes from Sam Sibatuara in the 35th and 36th minutes effectively killed off the contest.
NQU competed hard in the second half, but conceded again in the 76th minute when Kai Fiechtner joined the goalscorers’ list.
NQU coach Michael Brooks remains confident they can still squeeze out enough points to ensure survival.
“We’re still confident we can get a draw or a win out of Strikers and Olympic,” Brooks said.
“The fact is we can’t turn up how we turned up in the first half tonight, because that type of opposition will put us to bed before we’ve even woken up.
“We’re not making excuses, but it was obviously going to be a tough ask with a few of our regular players out that start, and a big day travelling.
“We weren’t getting in for the challenges initially, but the second half we started to win some of them and were getting in their face.
“But we weren’t up for it in the first half. They were playing the better football and got the deserved three goals.”
Brooks was impressed with Harrison Linning’s performance and said he had put himself in a good position to retain his spot when the cavalry returns. NPL ROUND 24 BRISBANE CITY 4 ( Sam Sibatuara 35’, 36’; Preston Hugo 10’, Kai Fiechtner 76’) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND UNITED 0