Miners Next On ‘Must Win’ List

Five games to go.  A gap of ten points to bridge.

Michael Angus - back in the mix

That is the simply expressed, but difficult to achieve, assignment ahead of the Brisbane Strikers as they embark on what they will hope is their last flight north out of Brisbane this Hyundai QSL season to take on the Whitsunday Miners.

Retaining second position in the table will be enough to ensure that they will not have to fly north to play any of the teams below them in the finals series.  But it is the faint hope of finishing at the top of the table that is still exercising the minds of all at Perry Park.  After results last weekend the Strikers remain ten points behind league leaders Sunshine Coast Fire, with both teams having played sixteen of their twenty-one fixtures.  This means that if the Strikers are to overhaul the Fire and successfully defend their title, they must not only beat them at Perry Park next weekend but must also see the Fire drop at least seven more points while the Strikers win all of their remaining fixtures.

While that might appear an unlikely scenario, Strikers captain Chay Hews says the team remains determined to pursue it for as long as possible, which makes Sunday’s assignment against the Miners another “must win”.

“There’s been no change in our focus”, Hews said on Thursday night.  “We said tonight at training that we’d made a promise to ourselves to win all of our last six games, and this is just the next one on the list.  If the Sunshine Coast keep winning games like they have all season then good luck to them, but we can only control the games we play”.

In the Strikers’ favour, perhaps, is one startling statistic – which is that, in six previous outings against the Miners, the Strikers have not dropped so much as a single point.  A second indicator towards a positive outcome is the form that each team brings into the game.  While the Strikers have gone five games unbeaten, including a win over the North Queensland Razorbacks last week in a high-pressure game, the Miners have not won since Round 9 in late May and are coming off a 0-5 drubbing by the Capricorn Cougars in last weekend’s Central Queensland derby – a performance that coach Troy Mundy was reported to have rated “the worst game we’ve played this year”.

So, on the face of things, the Strikers should be confident.  Is there a chance of over-confidence?

“There is always a chance of that, given that we’ve never lost to these guys”, Hews conceded.  “But from my point of view I know Troy Mundy well.  I used to play soccer with him when we were kids and I’m not over-confident.  I think he will have them fired up for this game and I know they don’t like losing to us.  And our last game up there was a real battle”.

 Hews also said that, if the Strikers needed any extra motivation to beat the Miners, they needed to think about how vital the game is as a precursor to the following week’s game against the Sunshine Coast. 

“I think it’s a huge thing to get a good tune-up”, Hews said. “If we win it takes pressure off us before the Sunshine Coast game.  We won’t want to have lost, and have the Razorbacks breathing down our necks again, when we play the Sunshine Coast. 

The Strikers will travel to Mackay without the versatile Jordan Farina, who has played strongly in the last couple of games following a spell in which he had to bide his time for a starting role after recovering from a groin injury.  Farinas’ luck turned bad again when he rolled his ankle in training, ruling him out of the Miners fixture. 

The news is better for the Strikers where Michael Angus is concerned.  Angus, who has been in inspirational form recently, had to miss last weekend’s game due to a viral illness but was able to take part in a full training session on Thursday.  He will come back into contention for a starting spot in a midfield contingent that is now sporting an embarrassment of riches – with Matt Christensen, Jordan Mason and Angus all vying for central midfield positions alongside Hews.

The Strikers’ other injury concern, defender Matija Simic, who suffered an ankle injury early in the win over the Razorbacks, has also sufficiently convinced the club’s medical and coaching staff of his fitness to book his seat on the plane.