Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Keith Eigeland/Football Queensland

Palm Beach Sharks coach Grae Piddick says the pressure is on the challengers and not the league leaders in the race for the NPL Queensland Premiership.

Sharks are currently eight points clear of second-placed Olympic FC and have the chance to further extend their advantage on Wednesday night at home against Brisbane Strikers, who currently sit in fourth place.

Piddick said while the title wasn’t sewn up yet, he was confident his side can maintain their form in the final weeks of the home-and-away season.

“The pressure isn’t really on us as far as I’m concerned,” Piddick said, “We weren’t thought of has one of the glamour sides like some of the others who are trying to chase us down, so really the pressure is on them.”

“It wasn’t a goal at the start of the year, nobody would’ve expected us to be in this position, but we are now and we’ve earned that right, so now we’ve just got to go on and finish the job.”

With five of the six remaining matches against teams in the top half of the table, Piddick said he had made clear to his players what needed to be done to bring Sharks their first state-wide league title.

“We’ve still got work to do. We know how many points we need to get to make sure we can win the competition,” he said.

Palm Beach have dominated NPL Queensland this year, losing just once and boasting the best defensive record in the league with just 18 goals conceded.

However, Piddick admitted that recent results, including back to back 4-3 wins over lower table sides Harimau Muda ‘A’ and Western Pride, were proving a concern defensively.

“It’s a bit disappointing how we have conceded goals of late. Generally they have been from our mistakes, so from our point of view that is fixable,” he said.

“There is a little bit of complacency setting in when we are two-nil up and conceding cheap goals, so it’s definitely something to work on in coming weeks.”

While conceding the defensive lapses were a concern two weeks out from their Westfield FFA Cup tie agaisnt Sydney City Hakoah, Piddick also said he was cautious his side didn't get ahead of themselves.

“To be honest, I’m not really thinking about the cup just yet. We play three more games before we play in the cup and at this stage they are more important.”

“When we get to the cup we will start thinking more about it, but at the same time you don’t want to be conceding goals,” he concluded.

Wednesday’s kick-off between Palm Beach and Brisbane Strikers is scheduled for 8pm at Mallawa Complex.