FIRST WIN IN TOP FLIGHT IN A DECADE
MUSGRAVE Mustangs have earned their first win in the Gold Coast Premier League since 2012 with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Runaway Bay Bayhawks in the Broadwater Derby.
Having faced each other multiple times in the Coast League for the past eight seasons, the Mustangs rallied with 10 men for the whole second half and portions of the first half to take bragging rights in the first meeting between the sides in the Premier League.
The visitors jumped out to a two-goal advantage in the first half, courtesy of goals to Fikret Mehic and Ben Pluples before being reduced to 10 men after Harrison Pascoe saw a red through a second yellow card.
The Bayhawks clawed one goal back through young striker Ethan Leighton but they couldn’t build up enough momentum to get the all-important equaliser.
Adding more insult to injury to the Bayhawks was the red card issued to Leighton for his involvement in a scuffle towards the back end of the second half which could see the striker sidelined for some weeks.
Mustangs head coach Jason Shultz said it was a fantastic spirited effort from his side to get all three points, with 10 years separating Premier League victories for the Mustangs.
“It was a typical derby game between two sides that always play hard and emotional when we face off,” Shultz said.
“I thought we had good control of the game in the first half until the final exchanges but it was great to get all three points.
“We had opportunities to kill the game off but it wasn’t be to be, however to hold on after not playing a game in four weeks and not training properly for three and a half weeks was a might effort from the playing group.”
After the Bayhawks earned their first win of the season against Broadbeach last round, head coach Nathan Jones said his side couldn’t get out of second gear.
“We were stuck in second
gear for the large portion of the match and it cost us in the end,” Jones said.
“The team who wanted it more won on the night so credit where credit due.”
Musgrave will now look to
make it two straight wins when it hosts Burleigh on Friday night, with the Bayhawks travelling south of the border to take on Kingscliff.
In the other Premier League games, Palm Beach
defeated Robina 2-0, Broadbeach beat Burleigh 2-1 and Kingscliff downed Nerang 3-2.
Southport and Surfers Paradise had a scoreless draw at Ashmore on Sunday.