CITY HAS STRIKE FORCE FOR CUP
KYLE’S FOUR GOALS HELP ELITE DREAMS
FOUR goals from dominant striker Jarrod Kyle have helped Gold Coast City set up another crack at the Westfield FFA Cup and a place in the record books for coach Grae Piddick.
City downed Sunshine Coast Premier League side Caloundra FC 5-1 in a Queensland regional qualifier at Duncan McKenna Field on Saturday night to book a place in the round of 32 for the third time in four seasons under Piddick.
Piddick becomes the first coach to take the same Queensland club to three Cup rounds of 32 but the story of the night was the unstoppable form of Kyle, who had three successful strikes by halftime when City led 4-1.
Kyle clearly took out his frustrations on Caloundra as he shed a personal bogy from his back.
“I always knew he was going to be up for a big game because he was so desperate to play in one of these Cup ties,” Piddick said.
Kyle and the Cup had not been happy bedfellows for three previous campaigns.
In 2014, when City’s forerunners Palm Beach made it to the quarter-finals in the inaugural competition, Kyle could not don the Sharks jumper because he had played a preliminary round match with Brisbane City before moving to the Gold Coast.
Kyle missed most of 2015 with injuries then last year, after playing for City in preliminary Cup rounds, he left and joined Surfers Paradise in the local Premier League.
It is now history that Surfers made it to the Cup round of 32 but without Kyle who, because of the rules, was ineligible to play for them because of his game time with City.
“Four years I’ve been waiting for this, then I score four in the same game,” Kyle said after becoming just the third Palm Beach/City player to score four goals in a game.
Only Chris Lucas in 2014 and Ben Litfin last year have managed the feat.
“Now it’s a matter of staying fit and healthy, so I’ll be keeping the fingers crossed.”
There was quality in each of the Kyle goals but the third one, in particular, was the standout when he struck a sizzler from the edge of the box into the top corner.
The only downer for City was the late send-off of defender Matt Schmidt who was marched after his second yellow card.
The FFA Cup round of 32 draw will be done live on Fox Sports on Thursday, June 29.