VITAL POINT FOR SURFERS

Palm Beach 1 (Poric)

Surfers Paradise 1 (Davis)

HT 1:1

INJURIES forced Palm Beach Coach Adem Poric to lace up the boots once again and the former Sheffield Wednesday man showed the way to his younger charges by scoring the equaliser for his side.

Poric’s men went into the game without a win in their last two Premier League outings and having only gained a point in this surprise draw now find themselves outside the top four.

It could have been worse for Palm Beach though with Surfers Paradise winless and desperate in their fight to avoid relegation. They had proved previously that they were no pushovers, even against the top sides, and again they defied the odds to record a creditable draw.

The goal lifted Surfers but ten minutes later good build up play from Sean Robinson and Josh Fiebig set up the irrepressible Poric for the equaliser and he made no mistake with a first-time finish.

It was Poric’s last action as he substituted himself soon after and he would have expected his team to go on and take all three points. Surfers had other ideas though and worked hard to maintain the stalemate and take some reward for their efforts.

The arm-wrestle continued through the second period but Surfers held on to take a morale-boosting point from one of the league’s big hitters.

Poric admitted it was two points dropped for his team and lamented the injury crisis that has left him short of in-form players to call upon.

“We were never really in any danger but at the same time we have too many players who are out of form. Once they get back to their best it will probably change our season around,” Poric said.

“There were at least three players out there that were really struggling [with injury] at the end of the game.

“We have so many injuries now we are down to below the bare eleven; even our bench has injured players on it!” he laughed.

For Surfers’ boss Keith Garland it was another vital point in their quest to survive the drop.

“We worked so hard for our point and I am really pleased with the effort. I thought we definitely deserved what we got,” he said.

“It was end to end and played in a good spirit. Nobody gave us a chance of getting anything there because they are a good side with quality players.

“We didn’t go there to defend and play for a draw; if you do that against Palm Beach then you will get beaten. We tried to get about them and do our best and that’s all I can ask of the players,” he added. 

A crucial point for Surfers but Garland knows wins are what his team needs and he is looking to add to his playing roster as soon as possible.

“We are lacking a bit of quality and we know that. We are improving though and this year is all about survival for us. I’ve been open about the fact that I could do with at least three more players to make us more competitive and I’m certainly looking,” he said.