DOG & PARROT FA CUP QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW

PALM Beach, Broadbeach Utd, Gold Coast Knights and first division side Kingscliff, all secured their passage into the Dog & Parrot FA Cup Semi-Finals at the weekend.

Either one of these four teams could take out the competition with Kingscliff making a mockery of their Division One status by accounting for their second straight Premier League scalp in the shape of out-of-form Surfers Paradise.

Former NSL striker Luke Morley bagged both goals for Kingscliff and his potent goalscoring instinct will be the key to further progress in the competition.

Broadbeach United’s win over the previously unbeaten Musgrave heralded a welcome return to form for the Simon Kalaba-coached side with striker Shunya Yanai’s double paving the way to the semi-finals.

Musgrave’s Maxi Reca netted a brace for the home side, but it was not enough to put a dent in United’s determination to see off their rivals.

“I think it was a fair result in terms of goalscoring opportunities and I thought their ‘keeper kept them in it during the first half. The boys showed some grit when defending our goal in the second half,” said Broadbeach Coach Kalaba.

“We wanted to make sure that everyone was responsible in their one-versus-one situations and we made that one of our goals for the game. It certainly played a big part in the result in the end,” he added.

Kalaba’s counterpart at Musgrave, Oscar Langone, was pragmatic about his team’s cup exit, saying a first defeat of the season had to come eventually.

Langone said: “It’s nice to be undefeated but we know it [a loss] can happen at any time and we talked about it all week.

“They hit us hard in the first half but we fought our way back into the match and created a few good chances. In other games we’ve taken them, but on Saturday we didn’t.

“This is football though and it’s a good wake-up call for us. We’ll be focussing on the league now.”

Another side focussing on Premier League points from now on are Mudgeeraba who were smashed 5-0 by the Gold Coast Knights. The form of John Stewart’s Knights outfit is ominous having found the net ten times in their last two outings and few would write off the possibility of a Premier League and FA Cup double as they gear up for a stellar campaign.

Sean Robinson’s late goal for Palm Beach against Nerang had Sharks fans breathing a sigh of relief as they too stayed on course in both competitions. Adem Poric’s troops will be hoping the victory acts as a turning point from a fortnight of indifferent results and propels them into the kind of winning form many local fans were expecting this season. 

DOG & PARROT FA CUP QUARTER FINAL RESULTS

Palm Beach 1 (Robinson) v Nerang 0  

Kingscliff 2 (Morley 2) v Surfers Paradise 0

Musgrave 2 (Reca 2) v Broadbeach Utd 3 (Yanai 2, Broadfoot) 

Gold Coast Knights 5 (Sleight, Stewart, Mutch, Skopljak, McBean) v Mudgeeraba 0