Words: Michael Flynn

Brisbane Strikers defender Greig Henslee says his side’s tough qualifying path will be worth it if they can advance to the Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32.

Strikers face their third straight PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland opponent in this year’s Westfield FFA Cup on Tuesday night when they line-up against Redlands United.

The random nature of cup draws always offers plenty of room for comparison between competing clubs, but Henslee explained the difficulty of Strikers’ path in particular hadn’t escaped the notice of the club and its supporters this year.

“I think to be honest I would be lying if I said I was happy when we drew Moreton Bay at home,” he said of Strikers last cup outing.

“At the end of the day everyone wants an easy cup run but it’s also all about the pride of getting there.”

“You can look at Redlands’ cup run and they beat Ipswich easy enough but they also disposed of Olympic two rounds ago. So they are there on merit and if they beat us tomorrow night then they can safely say they’ve disposed of Strikers and Olympic and that’s no easy feat.”

“On the other side of the coin if we beat Redlands away then we can also say that we deserve to be there after beating Brisbane City and Moreton Bay, who are the top team in Queensland at the moment.”

Redlands have the wood on Strikers so far in 2015, taking four points from the two meetings between the teams thus far in PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland competition.

However, Henslee said despite that form he was confident Strikers displayed more than enough in those matches to be confident heading into the do-or-die cup clash.

“I think we can comfortably say over the two games we were the better side on both nights,” he explained.

“At the end of the day, when the final whistle blows at the end of ninety minutes, it’s not about possession and chances created though - it’s about putting the ball in the back of the net.”

Henslee added that the biggest lesson learned from their previous meeting was for the team to keep a cool head if they should go behind again.

“Once we missed the first three or four and we found ourselves one-nil down, I think panic set in a little bit and we got a little bit edgy and desperate.”

“Certainly last game I think there were five or six different players that should’ve scored, myself included because I had a real good chance ten yards out.”

He added, “It’s important in the cup, where if you lose and then you are out, to just keep our composure and if we miss two or three chances to just keep our heads high.”

If Strikers do advance to the Round of 32 it will mark the first time on the national stage for Henslee, who played last season with third-tier Trophy Superstore Premier League club Peninsula Power.

“Obviously I got close last year with Peninsula Power and we came a little bit short (in the FFA Cup) against Olympic and that did hurt for a while.”

“The FFA Cup is the pinnacle in terms of state league and to be given the opportunity to be in that and possibly draw an A-league team is something special.”

“As good as it is for the players it is also a high profile game for the club and I know how much Brisbane Strikers want to be back on that national stage,” he concluded.

Fixture details:

Westfield FFA Cup Brisbane Zone Qualifying Round 7
Redlands United FC v Brisbane Strikers FC
Tuesday, 9 June
Kick-off - 7:15PM