Redlands Get Opening Round Revenge
Redlands United extracted revenge for last year’s NPL Queensland opening round loss, this time overcoming Brisbane Strikers 2-0 at Cleveland Showground on Sunday afternoon.
Elliot Ronto opened accounts for the Red Devils in the 18th minute before Rhys Meredith sealed the result for the hosts four minutes from full time.
Despite Redlands seeing the better of the chances throughout the contest, the Strikers fashioned the first attempt on goal in only the third minute when Jonti Richter’s deflected strike was tipped over by Redlands goalkeeper Andrew Ralph.
The Red Devils benefitted from a piece of good fortune for the opener when Ronto gained possession following a deflection, before his marker lost his footing to allowing the young defender space for a well-hit finish from 10 yards.
The momentum continued to swing the host’s way following the restart, with Michael Lees forcing a save from Strikers goalkeeper David Chambers before James Donnelly headed just wide of the target.
After the half hour, Lees demonstrated his skills at the other end of the pitch with a well-timed tackle to close down new Strikers recruit Keenan Duimpies on a dangerous breakaway.
Following the restart, Strikers showed renewed vigour, with former Redlands player Jheison Macauce catching a sight of goal on the burst, however his shot was skewed wide of the target.
On 57 minutes, Redlands’ Scott Barlow saw his thundering volley cruelly denied by the upright and a minute later Graham Fyfe’s curling effort was also denied by the woodwork.
As the half continued to see-saw, Strikers Alex Schiavo fashioned two clear chances in the space of five minutes, however both fail to trouble Ralph.
The final ten minutes saw Redlands ride home on the back of their boisterous and parochial home crowd, with Ronto heading wide from a trademark Fyfe freekick.
Chambers kept Strikers in the game shortly after with a full-stretched diving save to deny Nico Bechar, who had used his renowned pace to break free of the visitor’s defences.
Meredith capitalised on some classy build-up play from Fyfe to seal the two goal margin in the 86th minute, before Barlow saw another stinging strike denied in the final minutes by the crossbar.
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.