Brisbane Strikers head coach David Large believes his team can upset hosts Olympic FC in their semi-final showdown this Sunday, saying the NPL Queensland premiers remain vulnerable defensively.

Despite twice being humbled by their semi-final hosts in the regular season, and only sneaking into the top four with a win in their final match of the regular season, Large insisted his side possess the quality to exploit Olympic’s less than stellar defensive record in the knock-out phase of the competition.

“I think it’s fairly obvious when you look at the stats that Olympic’s strike power is very strong,” explained a circumspect Large, “But for a team that’s top of the table they’ve also leaked a lot of goals.”

“All finals football is a tough challenge no matter what. But they are vulnerable at the back, so there’s a lot of positives in that for us,” Large continued.

Olympic’s 39 goals conceded is the most of any of the four NPL Queensand finalists. However, the premiers still boast the best for and against record in the competition – netting 51 more goals than their opponents this season.

Large however pointed to both side’s recent form following his side’s 2-0 win over Brisbane City last weekend and Olympic’s 5-4 defeat to Western Pride in their last hit-out two weeks ago.

“Form is a big thing and, if I’m being honest, even though we’ve been depleted within our squad, I think our form is quite good,” said Large.

“It’s been fairly obvious to everybody over the past few weeks that Richter has been a key player in terms of his input and contribution to games. But, then again, that’s been there all year.”

“Now I think we’re at a point where no one particular player in our squad is going to be somebody that will turn a game for us.”

“We had (Matt) Thurtell and (Josh) McVey who could do that, but we don’t have that anymore,” said Large referring to the season-ending knee injuries suffered by his strike duo earlier in the year.

Injury doubts still surround the Strikers squad for the semi-final, but Large said he was confident he would have most of his players at his disposal.

“We had six people that had to go to triage on Monday night and of the boys that started Saturday we only had six of them training Tuesday night.”

“But I’m sure the medical people will get them all ready in time. I think we’ll have a football team to put on the park, no doubt about that.”

Sunday’s semi-final will be precursored by semi finals in the NPL Queensland youth divisions.

Sunshine Coast Fire will line up against Brisbane City in the Under 18s, before South West Queensland Thunder roll down the mountain to test themselves against premiers Strikers in the Under 20s.

The winners of the semi-finals qualify for their respective NPL Queensland Grand Finals to be held Sunday September 8 at a venue yet to be determined.

Match Details:

NPL Queensland Semi Final
Olympic FC v Brisbane Strikers
Sunday, 1 September 2013 – Goodwin Park, Yeronga
Kick Off – 6:00pm

NPL Queensland Under 20 Semi Final
Brisbane Strikers v SWQ Thunder
Sunday, 1 September 2013 – Goodwin Park, Yeronga
Kick Off – 3:00pm

NPL Queensland Under 18 Semi Final
Sunshine Coast Fire v Brisbane City
Sunday, 1 September 2013 – Goodwin Park, Yeronga
Kick Off – 1:00pm

 

Words & Image: Michael Flynn (Football Queensland)