Sunday afternoon Redlands United made the long trip to Buderim on the Sunshine Coast for the Round 15 NPL Men’s clash with the Sunshine Coast Wanderers and once again the game did not disappoint in excitement value.
Straight from the opening whistle both sides came out fast and pressing their opponents attempting to force a turn-over of possession.
Redlands Keeper Will Smith, was called into action after only 35 seconds as some slick passing from Wanderers found a way through Redlands defense but Smith was up to the task with a fine save.
Redlands though, were 1st on the scoreboard when, following a quick throw in, Reece Bath took the ball to the goal line and crossed back to the penalty spot where Peter Klaassen placed the ball around defenders and eluding the diving keeper to give the Red Devils the early lead.
Klaassen was again in the thick of the action right on the cusp of half time, when Ryo Emoto, wide on the halfway line, sent the ball upfield to Cruz Lizasoain who held off 2 defenders and slid the ball to Klaassen, who held off a defender, and slid the ball past the despairing keeper, to give the Red Devils a 2 goal advantage going into the break.
When play resumed in the 2nd half, Klaassen could have added 2 more to his tally early on if not for the Wanderers keeper, tipping his shots around the post.
it was however Wanderers who scored next, when on 66 minutes, they pounced on a goal mouth mishap to tap in to bring the deficit back to just one.
Redlands, down to 10 men, were intent on holding onto their lead and defended strongly. Disaster struck for the Red Devils when with 18 minutes to go Captain Sam Langley was forced off through injury and the Red Devils dug deep.
Wanderers did manage a goal in the 93rd minute to deny Redlands a win and secure their equaliser. As the final whistle blew Wanderers had fought back to secure a 2-2 draw.
After the game Redlands United New Head Coach, Garrett McDuling commented “Tough day for the boys. They worked hard for the whole game leading 2-0 but conceded an equaliser in the 93rd minute to draw 2-2. A very similar outcome was seen last time we met however we had some circumstances that contributed heavily tonight. We were really hurt by a couple of key injuries during the game and a red card in what was an incredibly physical match that boiled over at one point.
We’ll continue to work hard this week and be ready for City at home next Saturday night, especially as we still have life in our season. The team will focus on continuing to pick up vital points and built on the recent win and now draw. It’s a massive game this weekend with 3 really important points on offer so we hope to see all the Redlands United Support base down to help push the lads through.”
Next weekend the Red Devils are home at Compass Grounds Saturday, to take on Brisbane City in Round 16 of the NPL Men’s competition. Kick Off is at 6pm Saturday with the Under 23’s starting off proceedings at 3.45pm. So far this season we have played City twice with a narrow 1 goal loss on each occasion. Round 5 of the NPL saw an away 0-1 loss and the Kappa Qld Cup Rd 5 clash saw an exciting 4-5 loss. This will be exciting, so C’mon Redlands get your Red on, and lets get the Den rocking as we cheer on our Red Devils.
Redlands United:
20. Will Smith, 2. Reece Bath, 3. Max Ellenger, 4. James Piercy, 6. Sam Langley, 9. Peter Klaassen,
10. Ryo Emoto, 11. Josh Tufino, 12. Noah Hitchcock, 19. Michael Bradley, 21. Benji Cameron,
Reserves: 1. Joel D’Cruz, 5. Kenny Wilkinson, 15. Dylan Leggett, 16. Eamonn Ross, 17. Chase Silich, 18. Cruz Lizasaoin,
