Brisbane Roar have held on to the Dolphins Community Shield with a one-goal win in an entertaining contest against FQPL Champions Peninsula Power.
The Power scored first and last at a packed A.J. Kelly Park, but a first-half brace from new Roar number nine Adam Taggart, as well as an own goal, proved decisive as the Roar took out a 3-2 win.
While pleased to see his side finish on the right side of the ledger, a wasteful Roar side needs to be more clinical in front of goal according to Head Coach John Aloisi.
“When you get into so many goal scoring positions, we have to score six or seven goals,” Aloisi said.
“Full credit to Peninsula Power, they’ve had a terrific season and played well tonight, but we have to punish teams when we get in those areas and we didn’t do that tonight.
“It was good to see Adam [Taggart] score, and Henrique was dangerous all night. We know that we’re a good side and we’re going to create opportunities.”
Aloisi was disappointed in the manner in which his side conceded, in particularly a late strike that pulled the margin back to a single goal from Tom Strickland.
“We’re disappointed in the way we conceded the two goals too. We’re playing for fitness, and to keep to our standards, and we dropped off at the end there,” Aloisi continued.
Spurred on by strong local support, the hosts took an early lead on 16 minutes when Luke Plummer rose highest in a sea of players to head home from close range.
It didn’t take long for the Roar to restore parity with a lightning quick counter attack started inside their own half.
New recruit Stefan Mark weighted a pass beautifully for a well-timed run from Eric Bautheac who unselfishly squared the ball to the penalty spot where Taggart tapped home into an almost unguarded net.
The Roar were desperately unlucky to not have taken the lead just five minutes later with both Bautheac and Aaron Reardon denied by goal-line clearances in quick succession.
Taggart then had his brace sorted before the half-hour mark with a goalkeeper error leading to the simplest of goals for the seven-time Socceroo.
More risky play at the back from the Power almost provided a golden opportunity for Stefan Mauk in the shadows of half-time but the sides headed to the break with the Roar just the single goal to the good.
It wasn’t long after the restart before the Roar did earn a two-goal advantage as electric play down the flanks and a sharp cross from Henrique brought about an own goal in the 47th minute.
The undefeated FQPL Champions, who will compete in the NPL QLD in 2019, continued to take the fight to their Hyundai A-League opponents, testing Brisbane’s back four but struggling to hit the target.
The Roar’s ability to break quickly in transition began to have an influence on the encounter with Henrique regularly finding time and space to cross from the left.
The Slippery Fish continued to create problems for the Power defence, almost adding his name to the scorer’s list before coming close to providing Taggart with his third goal of the encounter.
Chances began to flow for the visitors as Adam Taggart was denied from the penalty spot by a strong save from Jake Reesby before Thomas Kristensen managed to get the better of the keeper, but not the crossbar.
Against the run of play, Tom Strickland set up a grandstand finish with a cracking finish from the right with a tick over five minutes to play.
Dean Briggs then came within inches of finding the bottom corner minutes later, but that was as close as the hosts came to finding a leveller.
The Roar now look ahead to two pre-season games at the Club’s training facility against a Brisbane Premier League Select outfit (September 29) & the Young Socceroos (October 4).
The Hyundai A-League campaign gets underway at Suncorp Stadium on October 21 (4pm KO) against the Central Coast Mariners.
MATCH DETAILS
Dolphins Community Cup: Peninsula Power FC v Brisbane Roar FC
A.J. Kelly Park, Kippa-Ring
Saturday, 15 September
Pensinula Power 2 (Plummer 16’, Strickland 85′)
Brisbane Roar FC 3 (Taggart 20’, 29’, Own Goal 47’)
Half-time: 1-2
