Hilton gets treble as Burleigh thrash Tweed
BURLEIGH HEADS Bulldogs senior men’s coach Colin Phelan stamping their authority early was the key to their 6-1 win over Tweed United in Round 10 of the Gold Coast premier league.
Burleigh Heads netted three goals in a 15 minute period in the first half on Saturday to set up a win with man of the match Matt Hilton scoring a hat-trick of his own at Pizzey Park.
“To be honest all credit to Tweed,” Phelan said.
“At halftime (Tweed United coach Jason Buchanan) had a chat and their reaction was good.
“They came out and got one back and it gave them a bit of a lift. Obviously we went and scored the fifth and I think it was game over. We had that little spell where we pressed and worked hard and scored three goals in 15 minutes.
“They were going to battle from there but it was about keeping good habits and I think we did that to a fair degree. We probably played 70 minutes out of the 90 which I can live with.”
“We said (before the game) we had to go out and set the tempo. It was important we stamped our authority early.”
Buchanan conceded he made the wrong decisions at the selection table and it cost the side.
“If you’re going to start games like that we are not going to give ourselves a chance and Burleigh capitalised on our mistakes,” Buchanan said.
“To be fair I take this one on the chin. As a coach I got the starting 11 incorrect. I was wondering right up until an hour before kick-off who to play and I think I got that one wrong.
“We can create chances and score goals but it’s just getting started. We seem sluggish in every game at the start. It’s going to be a long next nine games if we don’t start putting it together.”
Burleigh Heads hold second on the ladder while Broadbeach remain one win behind in third after beating Mudgeeraba 8-1 on Saturday.