COMETS CLAIM SHIELD
SOUTHSIDE staked their claim to be the number one soccer team in North Queensland after beating Townsville Warriors 3-0 in Saturday night’s Crad Evans Shield match.
It was a golden day for Far North clubs, winning three out of the five contests.
Southside might have won easily on the scoreboard, but the three-goal margin didn’t reflect the contest, Comets coach Dion Readman said.
“Their captain summed it up best after the game when he said that we took our chances and they didn’t take theirs,” Readman said yesterday.
“Our goalkeeper Antony (Hall) was probably the difference. He made four or five critical saves.
“There was an instance in the first half when the scores were still deadlocked and they had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and somehow Antony managed to grab it.
“Five minutes later, we scored.”
Southside opened their account with a penalty.
“Will Monan was taken down in the box as he was about to shoot,” Readman said.
“He is our penalty taker anyway, so he stood up and put it through.”
The Comets then doubled the margin with a brilliant goal through Kirito Higuchi after he was set up by his brother Hiroto.
Readman said the Warriors put plenty of pressure on his side before and after half-time, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
“The ball movement in the game was outstanding and had a lot to do with the quality of the pitch,” he said of the surface at Brolga Park.
“The ball was flying around across the deck and it was a good game to watch, I thought.
“They really came at us after half-time and were right in the contest, but Antony did a great job in goals.”
Icing was put on the cake when Futa Kubo scored from a corner kick.
After losing last year’s Crad Evans match 2-1 at home, the Comets were thrilled to win their first Shield.
“The Crad Evans has been going since the 1960s and our club hasn’t won it before,” Readman said.
“We set a goal at the start of the year to win it and it would have been a hollow way to finish our season if we lost.”