Words: James Latta
Additional Reporting: Laurie Passante
Images: David Lobwein
Moreton Bay United kept their Finals hopes alive with a tense 2-1 victory over SWQ Thunder at Gatton Football Club Field on Saturday night.
Moreton Bay's win keeps them level on points with fourth-placed Western Pride, but Pride have a 20-goal lead in goal difference.
Slow to burn, both sides failed to open their accounts until the second half, when Riley Campbell made it 1-0 to the visitors just before the hour mark.
Sparked into effect, the home side immediately hit back through Majok Piok, whose neat finish tied things up two minutes after Campbell's strike.
But the Jets turned the game once again as Matthew Byrne finished a neatly worked set piece, sending the game into a tense final twenty minutes.
The win sets up a tantalising final fixture for the Jets, who face second-placed Gold Coast City in a must-win game at Wolter Park next week.
The clash is made even more interesting with both sides having to balance efforts ahead of their Westfield FFA Cup Round of 16 encounter just four days later.
Key Moments:
11' JETS CHANCE - Ball is cut back to Donggyu Lee, whose shot is palmed over the bar by Luke Macdonald.
43' JETS CHANCE - Lee puts a through ball to Kyusub Bang, who runs onto the pass from the left, shoots but the shot goes across the Thunder goal.
59' JETS GOAL - Long ball into Riley Campbell sees him run at goal and shoots from just inside the box, Macdonald saves the first attempt but not the second.
62' THUNDER GOAL - Kimba Kibombo runs up the right and cuts into Majok Piok, who takes it on the left and shoots across goal into the right netting.
66' JETS CHANCE - A free kick from 35 yards out meets the head of Alex Janovsky at the back post, but it's tipped over by Macdonald.
70' JETS GOAL - A corner is taken by Moreton Bay that goes to back post, it's knocked away but comes back to Matthew Byrne, who ghosts into right post for a tap in.
75' THUNDER CHANCE - Jacob Bigby finds Piok at the back post with a free kick but he fails to connect properly.
86' THUNDER CHANCE - Blair Ferguson shoots from the edge of the 18, fires at top left but Jordan Thurtell gets his fingertips to it.
Match Details:
Playstation 4 National Premier Leagues Queensland 2017 - Round 21
Saturday, August 12
Gatton Football Club Field
South West Queensland Thunder FC 1 (Majok PIOK 62')
Moreton Bay United 2 (Riley CAMPBELL 59', Matthew BYRNE 70')
Referee - Lara Lee
Assitant Referee - Ben Cook
Assistant Referee - Alex Hohn
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