KNIGHTS PUT NERANG TO THE SWORD

Nerang 2 (Jeffrey, Hayward)

Gold Coast Knights 5 (Sleight 3, Skopljak, Pilic)

HT 1:4

LUKE Sleight netted a treble for the in-form Gold Coast Knights as they cruised to a 5-2 win over out-of-form Nerang and kept the pressure on both Burleigh Heads and Magic United at the top of the Buffalo Sports Premier League.

The Knights had the game in the bag inside the half hour as they streaked to an unassailable 4-0 lead.

Deni Skopljak benefited from a Luke Sleight pass to open the scoring from close range, then Sleight fired the first goal of his hat-trick when he was in the right place at the right time to knock home Craig Stewart’s cross that had cannoned back off the crossbar.

David Pilic’s near post header made it 3-0 before Sleight turned his marker and finished well to grab his second of the game and the Knights’ fourth.

Nick Jeffrey capitalised on a defensive slip to claw one back before the break for Nerang then Adam Hayward’s screamer gave them more hope at 4-2.

Pilic missed a chance to ease any fears of a Nerang fight-back when he fluffed a penalty for the Knights, but it was game over for the home side when Sleight completed his treble with 20 minutes left.

After their confidence-boosting win over Burleigh Heads last week, Knights Coach John Stewart was pleased that his side had kept their feet on the ground.

Stewart said: “The worry after the win against Burleigh last week was how we were going to react this week, but in the first 25 minutes we were very good and the game was virtually over by then as we led 4-0.

“We took our foot off the pedal a little bit then but it was a good win for us. I think we can definitely consider ourselves top four material and if we can win our game in hand against Palm Beach then we’ll be in the top two,” he added.