Words: Terry Parle, Redlands United
Image: Keith Eigeland, Football Queensland

A dramatic injury time goal from Michael Lee guided Redlands United to a 3-2 win over Harimau Muda ‘A’ at Cleveland Showgrounds on Friday night, lifting the Red Devils to sixth on the table.

The Red Devils pulled out to a two goal lead courtesy of Cameron Draper and Jamie Saul, before Satish Krishan and Gary Steven Robbat pulled Harimau Muda level.

Both sides offered cut and thrust football in the early exchanges but failed to test the goalkeepers.

The first shot of merit came from Redlands in the 13th minute when Graham Fyfe found space on the right hand side of the Harimau penalty area only to fire his shot over the bar.

Three minutes later, Harimau had the first shot on target when Saiful Ridzuwan Selamat’s attempt was thwarted by Andy Ralph in the Redlands goal.

Lee threatened from the ensuing clearance, dancing past a pair of Harimau Muda defenders only to see his shot pushed over the bar by goalkeeper Mohd Farhan Abu Bakar.

Despite further chances for the home side, Redlands couldn’t find the finish and the teams remained deadlocked at the half-time break.

Redlands found the breakthrough two minutes after the restart when Harimau Muda failed to clear a corner, allowed Fyfe to cross to the far post for Draper, who tapped home.

The hosts continued to apply attacking pressure and doubled the advantage on 55 minutes when Fyfe and Lee combined down the right flank – Lee’s cross finding Saul unmarked near the penalty spot for a sharp finish past a diving Abu Bakar.

Harimau pressed to get back into the game and a free kick on 61 minutes saw Ralph save from Nurridzuan Abu Hassan’s free kick, before Fyfe narrowly avoided conceding an own goal when he mistimed a header across the face of goal from a corner.

Soon after Harimau Muda pulled a goal back in controversial circumstances after a member of the visitor’s coaching staff interfered with the ball in play.

A drop ball ensued, and Krishnan took advantage of the confusion within the Redlands’ ranks to slot past Ralph to the chagrin of the home supporters.

With Redlands still not settled, Selamat found Robbat in space at the top of the Redlands penalty area and his strike across the diving Ralph nestled into the corner of the net with 18 minutes remaining.

However, the hosts dug deep in injury time to secure a full share of the points when Fyfe’s free-kick was headed in at the far post by Lee – his 5th goal of the campaign following last week’s hat-trick against Western Pride.

The result marks a second successive win for Redlands and a return to form ahead of next week’s mid-table clash against Brisbane Roar NYL.

Harimau Muda remain mired in the bottom half of the table and will travel to Townsville for a mid-week fixture against Northern Fury.

Redlands United 3 (Cameron DRAPER 47’, Jamie SAUL 54’, Michael LEE 90+1’)
Harimau Muda ‘A’ 2 (Satish Krishnan 66’, Gary Steven ROBBAT 72’)