Words: Michael Flynn

BRISBANE | Brisbane Strikers are the final PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues club standing in the BLK Silver Boot after Gold Coast City were eliminated by tournament hosts Lions FC in Thursday night’s Semi-Finals at Lions Stadium.

Hat-trick Heroes Hit Hawks For Six

Fraser Hills and Alistair Davis both delivered hat-tricks as Brisbane Strikers affirmed their status of BLK Silver Boot title favourites with a comprehensive 6-1 defeat of Holland Park Hawks in the first Semi-Final.

Hills collected his haul in a dominant first half display for Strikers, before substitute Davis matched his return in the final half-hour.

Fellow attacker Shelford Dais also proved prominent with a key role in four goals against the newly promoted Brisbane Premier League club.

Strikers fashioned early chances before Hills opened accounts inside the quarter hour – eventually poking the ball home from a Rhys Meredith cutback after twice being denied on the line by a stubborn Hawks defence.

Hills quickly doubled the advantage with a composed first-time finish after being played in by Dais, who then turned provider again

Dais turned provider again before the end of the half – pouncing on a parried save to draw scrambling Hawks goalkeeper Matt Carr before quickly teeing up Hills again to finish into an empty net.

Hawks put Strikers under pressure after the restart and found reward before the hour when Marek Madel volleyed in from close range to pull a goal back.

Strikers wrested back much of the momentum before restore their three-goal advantage from a corner – Greig Henslee’s squared ball tucked away by Davis.

The substitute attacker rounded out the result with two goals in quick time in the final ten minutes – the tireless Dais twice winning possession before setting up Davis to round out his hat-trick.

Strikers are now one win away from winning the pre-season tournament for the first time since 2013, when they prevailed over cross-town PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues rivals Olympic FC.

Brisbane Strikers FC  6 (Fraser HILLS 11’ 17’ 38’, Alistair DAVIS 67’ 81’ 85’)
Holland Park Hawks FC  1 (Marek MADEL 51’)

Own Goal Heartbreak Ends Gold Coast Charge

Gold Coast City twice fought from behind before conceding an own goal to succumb 3-2 to Lions FC in a see-sawing second Semi-Final.

Roman Hofmann and Daniel Dragicevic scored a goal in each half for City, however it was an unfortunate own goal from defender Eoghan Murphy that ultimately sealed City’s fate in the fast-paced contest.

Lions opened accounts early when Alex Schiavo delivered a clever volleyed finish to a pin-point cross inside ten minutes.

City threatened in reply but had to wait til after the half-hour to draw level when Rhys Saunders was felled in the area by Matija Simic – penalty specialist Hofmann making no mistake with the ensuing spot-kick.

The sides continued to exchange chances, however Lions regained the ascendency shortly after the restart when Marco Jankovic pounced on a rebound from close range.

The hosts were again reeled in as substitute Dragicevic, on his return from injury, tapped in at the back post from a pass from Morgan Saunders with twenty minutes to play.

However, City’s toil went without reward though as Eoghan Murphy headed into his own net with an attempted clearance that left goalkeeper Shane Viitakangas stranded.

The result sees City advance to the pre-season tournament’s Third Place Play-off on Sunday, a day after they also contest the third place play-off in the Macron Cup in Moreton Bay.

Lions will look to win the pre-season tournament for the first time since 2014.

Lions FC  3 (Alex SCHIAVO 10’, Marko JANKOVIC 54’, own goal 75’)
Gold Coast City FC  2 (Roman HOFMANN 33’p, Daniel DRAGICEVIC 70’)