The National Premier Leagues action continues this weekend with Round 6 featuring another set of exciting match-ups across the length of the Sunshine State. Stay up to date with the weekly preview.

Redlands United FC (2nd) v Queensland Academy of Sport (11th)
Friday, 19th April 2013 - Cleveland Showgrounds, 6:30pm

Round 6 of the National Premier Leagues kicks off with a Friday night match-up between two teams who have made vastly different starts to life in the NPL in Redlands United and Queensland Academy of Sport.

Matt Chandler’s Redlands side are sitting comfortably in second place on the table after recording four consecutive wins following a tight opening round loss away to Brisbane Strikers.

The Devils multi-pronged attack continues to pose problems for opposition defences, with consistent contributions from Ramone Close, Graham Fyfe, Jheison Macuace and Ruben Way seeing the club now boast the second best attacking record in the competition with 21 goals to its credit.

In second last place on the table, Queensland Academy of Sport’s stable of youngster is struggling to convert their fleet-footedness and silky technical skills into goals and competition points.

Following his side’s 6-1 defeat at the hands of Northern Fury last round, Academy head coach Josh McCloughan lamented his squad’s reluctance to learn from mistakes and will expect a tighter defensive display from his charges against one of the NPL’s form teams.

One bright spot for McCloughan though was Sam Cronin’s well-worked goal last week – only Academy’s third score for the season and their first since a gutsy opening round draw against Western Pride.

Northern Fury FC (6th) v Palm Beach Sharks FC (10th)
Saturday, 20th April 2013 – Townsville Sports Reserve, 6:00pm

Northern Fury will attempt to make it three home wins on the trot on Saturday evening when they face the Gold Coast’s Palm Beach Sharks at Townsville Sports Reserve.

The Fury have discovered some impressive form at home since the Easter break after starting the season with three mixed performances, defeating QAS 6-1 on the back of a hat-trick from Alex Read and a two-goal cameo from player-coach Gareth Edds.

The home side’s cause is further assisted by the proudly parochial support of their fans, with Fury officials anticipating yet another impressive turnout to spur the mostly local selected side to another three points.

Palm Beach will envy Fury’s momentum after their Round 5 fixture against Sunshine Coast was postponed due to wet weather; Sharks coach Oscar Langone however insists his side are well prepared for a challenging week of football ahead.

The long trip to Townsville is the first air journey for Palm Beach this season, and Langone sees it as a chance for his squad to further bond as a unit off the pitch, identifying comraderie and team spirit as a vital to his team stringing some results together.

Brisbane Strikers FC (3rd) v Moreton Bay United Jets FC (5th)
Saturday, 20th April 2013 – Perry Park, 7:00pm

Brisbane Strikers welcome Moreton Bay United to Perry Park on Saturday evening in what promises to be a grittily contested match between two of the NPL’s form teams.

Strikers have won four from five so far this season, however coach David Large remains concerned by his side’s fragile defence, which has failed to maintain a clean sheet since preseason.

In Strikers favour, however, is the potent attacking combination of striker Matt Thurtell and left winger Greg King – Thurtell returning to the form that saw him runaway with last year’s QSL Golden Boot by scoring his first hat-trick of the season against CQFC last week.

While respectful of the threat posed by the Strikers front line, especially out on the flanks, Jets coach Terry Kirkham is also well aware of his opponent’s recent defensive frailties, and insists his side will take the game to the hosts from the outset.

Kirkham also admitted the club’s postponed game against Brisbane City last round may yet prove to be a blessing in disguise, allowing his players to recharge mentality and physically after some bruising encounters in the opening rounds.

Kirkham singled out striker Royce Brownlie as an injury concern that has benefitted from the unexpected lay off, the veteran sustaining a badly bruised back in the hard fought loss to Redlands in Round 4.

FNQ FC Heat (9th) v CQFC Energy (12th)
Saturday, 20th April 2013 – Barlow Park, 7:30pm

Fresh from an impressive performance against top of the table Olympic FC last round, FNQ FC Heat face a markedly different challenge on Saturday night when they welcome bottom of the table CQFC Energy to their Cairns home ground.

Despite his opponent’s lacklustre start to the season, stand-in FNQ FC coach and technical director Chris Collins is adamant his side won’t be taking their Rockhampton-based opponents lightly on the basis of their previous results.

Collins concedes it’s time to build on the team’s promising early season performances, making special mention of the effort against Olympic, where the hosts lead the NPL’s benchmark side before conceding a penalty in the final ten minutes to split the points.

Meanwhile, CQFC’s campaign is showing signs it may just be turning the corner after a series of heavy defeats in the opening rounds.

Playing their first match at their home ground Rugby Park last week, Energy nearly upset a highly-fancied Strikers outfit, scoring first and almost overrunning their opposition with an inspired final twenty minutes fight back after falling three goals behind in the second half.

Of encouragement to Energy are the consistent performances of Chris Geddes, the Scotsman netting six goals to remarkably sit joint fourth amongst NPL goal-scorers this season.

Brisbane City FC (7th) v Western Pride FC (8th)
Sunday, 21st April 2013 – Goodwin Park, 4:00pm

The city of Ipswich renews its long-standing rivalry with the state capital on Sunday afternoon, when Western Pride face-off against Brisbane City in the opening game of Sunday’s double-header at Goodwin Park.

The match marks Pride’s first competitive fixture against a Brisbane-based club in their history, and may provide the impetus to turn around a worrisome form slide for Kasey Wehrman’s locally-selected side.

After starting the season promisingly, Pride have lost by a margin of three goals in each of their past three fixtures – last week’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of Redlands of particular concern after the club started brightly, opening accounts through Russell Woodruffe, before fading in the second stanza.

Despite winning their past two games, City head coach Glen Volker remains concerned his side is yet to find their groove, with the Easter break and last week’s postponed match against Moreton Bay United disrupting his side’s momentum.

Still, the Newmarket-based club’s recent record cannot be ignored, with City scoring an impressive 15 goals in their past two fixtures off the back of solid contributions from the attack-minded Antonio Murray, Matt Biggins and Eric Frazier.

However, Volker is keen to avoid complacency in his squad and is now seeking greater consistency both at home and on the road after the mixed start to the campaign.

Olympic FC (1st) v Sunshine Coast FC Fire (4th)
Sunday, 21st April 2013 – Goodwin Park, 6:00pm

The final game of the round pits the National Premier Leagues best attack against the competition’s most miserly defence when top of the table Olympic FC host Sunshine Coast Fire in the feature match-up of Sunday’s double-header at Goodwin Park.

Olympic head coach Jim Bellas isn’t unduly concerned his team were unable to put away their chances against FNQ FC in Cairns last week, believing his side were better for the experience, bonding well on their first long-distance away trip despite the result.

The Olympic tactician expects another tough hit out against the Fire, suggesting the game will be won in defence and stressing the importance of not conceding first against last season’s QSL champions.

Fire head coach Kevin Aherne-Evans, agrees that defence will play a crucial role in the fixture - the match the first in a critical run of games for Sunshine Coast against south-east Queensland opponents that the Welsh-Australian concedes will prove a stern test of his squad’s title credentials.

Aherne-Evans stressed that he wasn’t getting ahead of himself, identifying the need to close down the combination between Olympic captain Danny Byrne and league-leading goalscorer Tim Smits as crucial to claiming the three points.

 

Words: Michael Flynn (Football Queensland)