Palmy’s precious victory

Premier League upset keeps Sharks in the hunt

PALM Beach coach Brett Budwee says the importance of Tuesday night’s upset of Gold Coast Premier League leaders Burleigh Heads cannot be overstated as the Sharks continue the fight for a top-four berth.

Sitting two points outside the finals placings heading into the make-up fixture at Duncan McKenna Field, Budwee’s troops have jumped to fourth – at least temporarily – after emerging with a 4-3 win.

Second-half substitute Fraser Eller was the hero for the hosts, finding a late winner after the sides went blow for blow for much of the game.

Off-season recruit Dan Smith was also instrumental with a double, while Taku Ichihara’s strike helped cancel out goals from Burleigh’s Matt Hilton (two) and Yuto Hayamizu.

Coming off a 5-1 defeat of Mudgeeraba at the weekend, Budwee said the result could prove to be crucial in this year’s finals race.

“It was a great game. Coming off the back of a couple of strong performances I was quietly confident of getting a result against Burleigh at home,” Budwee said.

“It took us a while to get into what was an end-to-end game but I thought we thoroughly deserved the three points. Dan Smith was excellent for us, scoring the first two goals and working tirelessly up front but I think our depth of squad was a major factor as I was able to bring a fresh Fraser Eller off the bench to score the winner.

“All in all, it was a very important win for us as it puts us back in the race for a top four spot and will give us confidence going into our upcoming FFA Cup game against Brisbane Olympic.”

Coomera will have the chance to reclaim fourth place when they travel to Mudgeeraba at 8.30pm tonight. Palm Beach (away to Olympic on Monday), Burleigh (home to Logan Lightning on Saturday) and Coomera (away to Holland Park on Tuesday) also have looming Round 6 FFA Cup fixtures.

At 7.45pm on Friday, fellow Premier League outfit Surfers Paradise hosts Moreton Bay, while the Gold Coast Knights meet NPL title rivals Peninsula Power at Carrara’s Croatian Sports Centre.