Eagles happy with heavyweight draw
NERANG coach Dave Benigno says he walked away from Saturday’s trip to Broadbeach United a satisfied man, despite his belief that the Eagles dominated the Gold Coast Premier League heavyweights.
Having fallen to Surfers Paradise in Round 1 before a washout against Mudgeeraba last weekend, the Eagles travelled to Nikiforides Family Park chasing their first points of the season.
While they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and territorial advantage in the first half, a Josh Riis goal against the run of play left them trailing 1-0 at halftime.
But their efforts were rewarded after the break as strikes from Alistair Davis and Koki Miyasaka put them on track to hand Broadbeach their first loss of the season.
The Dolphins’ fighting qualities came to the fore however, with Tomoki Asakawa levelling to set up a tense finish.
Nerang then had one final chance to snatch three points at the death but Davis sent his penalty attempt sailing over the crossbar.
While disappointed not to secure victory, Beningo said it was far from a disaster to take a point off the Dolphins at home.
“I thought we dominated (with) 70 to 80 per cent of possession for the first half. They score a goal off a set piece and we continued to try and press and keep the ball but possession doesn’t win you a game of football,” Benigno said.
“I told the boys at halftime: ‘You’re going to come out, you’re going to get your goal.’ I knew we were going to score.
“I’m not disappointed walking away from Broady with one point, it’s better than walking away with a loss, which is what I was staring at 1-0 down.
“I’m really happy with my lads, happy with what we did, happy especially with Kazuma (Kobayashi) coming back from injury and now knowing that he can get back on the ball. We’re going to strengthen and improve.”
Coming off a 2-2 draw against Tweed United in the season opener, Broadbeach were forced to tread a thin line in the second half after six players were handed yellow cards in the opening 45 minutes.
The Dolphins will now chase their first win when they travel to Mudgeeraba at 4pm next Saturday, while Nerang host Coomera at 6pm.
I TOLD THE BOYS AT HALFTIME: ‘YOU’RE GOING TO COME OUT, YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOUR GOAL.’ I KNEW WE WERE GOING TO SCORE