March 16, 2015
by Martin Stern
With many players unavailable due to work commitments or injuries, Kingaroy sent a capable but under-strength squad to their Round 1 FFA Cup Match against Warwick Wolves in Toowoomba on Saturday, and paid the price for it.
The combination of Wests and Gunners players certainly didn’t go down without a fight, but they did lack combination and looked like a team that only had a few training sessions together.
Warwick scored early through Dan King, who was unmarked on the left flank; he pounced on a through ball from Matt Carey to give the Wolves the lead in the ninth minute.
Seven minutes later, it was King again who put his side up 2-0 through a similar move.
In the 23rd minute, Josh Jackson scored Warwick’s third and a minute later, Skip Litzow left the field with an injury and was replaced by Ryan Jacobs, which meant a defensive shuffle.
In the 36th minute Kingaroy goalkeeper Alex Firman made an uncharacteristic error trying to play the ball out to his defence that were under pressure from the opposition.
Warwick striker Matt Carey found the ball at his feet and gave Warwick their fourth.
Three minutes later, Carey scored his second from some soft defending in front of goal.
Kingaroy left the field at half time 5-0 down, and it was feared by many that they could run up a cricket score.
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In the second half, though, spectators saw a much improved Kingaroy side and they only conceded one goal, coming from Dan King who completed his hat trick in the 68th minute.
The Kingaroy side seemed more relaxed and made better choices with their passing and possession and were unlucky not to score through a couple of long range shots from Jayden Mollenhauer.
In summary, Warwick were a well-drilled unit that knew each other’s play and had been together many years.
The Kingaroy defence was a little shaky out wide in the first half and – to be honest – they did not have a quality striker.
They also lacked cohesion because they had not played as a unit before. Despite a couple of good combinations, they fell well short of the mark.
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It would be great to see Kingaroy make the FFA Cup a permanent fixture on their calendar. If nothing more, it is a great pre-season hit out.
Best on the park for Kingaroy was Ryan Jacobs who came on late in the first half. This is Ryan’s first year in Senior Football and he will be one to watch this season.
Others that played well for Kingaroy were Jayden Mollenhauer, Jaimen Tunstall and – despite one small error – goalkeeper Alex Firman, who is also debuting in seniors this year.
Congratulations to the Kingaroy Club in having a go and all the players who put in that extra effort in training to play in this match.
Ironically, FFA team mates will be up against each other when the local competition kicks off this weekend with the derby game between Gunners and Wests.
Round 1 FFA Cup Matches SWQ Zone:
- Match 1: Willowburn 6 Gatton 1
- Match 2: Warwick 6 Kingaroy 0
- Match 3: Wanderers 3 Souths Hawks 1 (after extra time)
- Match 4: USQ v St Albans
[Photos: Martin Stern]
Martin: well written and thanks for keeping us informed.