BRAVE BULLDOGS MAINTAIN UNBEATEN SEASON
AN HONEST Colin Phelan has hailed the fighting qualities of his Burleigh Heads squad but admits they were lucky to take all three points from Saturday’s Premier League encounter with Nerang.
Entering the Round 5 fixture at Pizzey Park looking to extend their perfect run to four games, the ladder-leading Bulldogs defied the general run of play and late send-off of striker David Mutch for swearing to emerge with a 2-1 victory. Scores were locked at 1-1 at halftime after Mutch cancelled out Alistair Davis’ opener, before Yuto Hayamizu struck at the death to keep the hosts’ title charge on track.
While pleased his men were able to prevail when not at their best, coach Phelan said they would need to lift when they host Albany Creek in Round 4 of the FFA Cup next Saturday.
“We went out there and we were flat in the first half and it wasn’t good enough,” Phelan said.
“(Nerang) probably deserved something out of that game. Second half we were a bit better. Mutchy gets sent off and we’ve sort of lifted. We’ve defended in numbers and we’ve worked hard. The resilience in this group is superb.”
The result sent the Bulldogs back to the top of the table after Surfers Paradise temporarily took the lead by beating Mudgeeraba on Friday night.
Phelan said Hayamizu’s top-drawer finish underlined his importance to the side.
“I said to Yuto at halftime: ‘I need you to go and win this game … we need more out of you, so you have got to go and win this game for us,’ ” Phelan said. “He never done a great deal in the first half but he’s capable of doing that (winning games). We were only going to get one chance and he smashed it in the top corner.”
At Tweed United on Saturday, Palm Beach continued the Marlins’ underwhelming run with a 2-0 win, while Broadbeach United snatched a 1-0 victory away to Coomera yesterday thanks to Tomoki Asakawa.