Marlins eyeing big fish

IF there’s any time you’d want to play Gold Coast Premier League leaders Burleigh Heads, it would be on the back of three straight losses.

That’s exactly the equation that Tweed United face at Arkinstall Park this afternoon.

But despite the Premier League powerhouse being on the ropes, Tweed captain Michael Kolovos rejected claims Burleigh were ripe for the picking.

“Burleigh are Burleigh, they’ll bounce back,” Kolovos said of the Bulldogs, who opened the season with eight straight league wins.

“They had three tough games so it was going to be hard for them to win them all but we’ve just been focusing on ourselves and what we can do.”

After conceding a 10-1 score line against the Bulldogs in Round 4, Kolovos said his lastplaced side would take a different approach this afternoon as they prepare for the rematch.

“Last time we played them we had a couple of key players out like myself and our centre back but we learnt that we just can’t give them too much time with the ball because they kill teams that way,” he said.

“We’ve been working on our fitness and how we can get in their faces whenever they get the ball and put pressure on them.

“We’ve been in every game, aside from the odd patch where the other team has piled on a few goals and taken us out of it but from the better teams you learn that professionalism and how they go about it.”

As Tweed prepares to start two teenagers off the bench in the last versus first showdown, Kolovos said that success wouldn’t come overnight as

the Marlins continue to search for their first win.

“In some players I’ve seen improvement but we’re still a young team and we’re still trying to learn how Dean (Milosevic, coach) wants us to play,” he said.

“When you have such a young team and haven’t won in a while, your confidence drops a bit. We all back Deano and we’re trying to get that win to take the pressure off him and ourselves.

“We’ve got to learn and we’ve got to do it the hard way.”

Another loss for Burleigh would allow second-placed Surfers Paradise to grab the competition lead, provided they can overcome Palm Beach at Lex Bell Oval tomorrow.

In the NPL, third-placed Gold Coast Knights will play their first league game in two weeks at home to Redlands United at 6.30pm tonight.

Coming off a 3-2 midweek win over Easts, Gold Coast United travel to Brisbane City at 4pm tomorrow.

United’s women face Brisbane Roar at Logan in the NPLW at 6pm tonight.