City’s painful lesson
A YEAR that promised so much has amounted to all but nothing for the men from Gold Coast City.
City’s 2017 season came to a disastrous end on Wednesday night when they were whipped 6-0 by South Melbourne in a one-sided FFA Cup quarter-final at Cbus Super Stadium.
Much to City coach Grae Piddick’s frustration, his side failed to lift when it mattered. It was a similar case in City’s NPL Queensland campaign.
Having led the competition for a large part of the season, they fell short at the pointy end, finishing second on the ladder and then failing to reach the grand final.
“It’s disappointing because we’ve had a great year and (then) we’ve lost four of our last five games,” he said.
“It feels bad because we’ve just fallen away right when it really matters.
“Overall we’ve had a good year, it’s just in the big games we’ve fallen a bit short.
“We expected to play really well (against South Melbourne). We know we’re playing a good side, but we probably expected the performance to be a lot better.”
Piddick was confident the younger members of his squad would ultimately benefit from Wednesday night’s humiliation.
“Young players now will learn from that and know where they need to build up,” he said.
Former Brisbane Roar youth team captain Jesse Daley, who was among South Melbourne’s goalscorers, hinted his side’s win was further evidence that the NPL Victoria competition was superior to the NPLQ.
“I would say the Victorian league is stronger,” he said.
“It’s probably tougher on a week-to-week basis. You’re coming up against teams that are going to battle, they’re going to fight, they’re physical … I think it’s definitely a tougher league to play in.”
Daley moved to South Melbourne this year when the realisation hit that he was not going to be offered an ALeague deal by the Roar.
“When I left the Roar I needed something fresh to try to test myself and still try to make it professionally, and I think this was the best option for me,” he said.
“I was extremely disappointed (to have to leave the Roar).”