By PhilMcCarthy
Invercargill The mighty Queens Park second grade team played Enwood off O’Rorke Park on Saturday with an outstanding, comprehensive and composed 4-0 victory.
From the kick-off QP’s combinations began to press forward with surging attacks down the flanks. The team was mssing some of its regular stars but was bolstered by newcomers Ian, Nick and Chris. The first goal came mid-way through the first spell when Chris lashed the ball into the net after good lead-up play down the right wing from one of the day’s best performers, Blaikie.
Enwood rarely threatened (to score that is) and were kept at bay by a well organised defence with Ian and Nick directing matters well from the centre of defence. The “Rock” Chris Chilton was again on form at right back.
Further up the pitch, midfielders Pete, Shane, Blaikie and the impressive Justin were cutting the Enwood defence up. From a throw-in shortly before half-time Hazard made a stong run into the box and was brought down from behind. The referee immediately awarded a penalty and Chris calmly slotted it to make it 2-0 at the break.
Enwood pressed forward more in the first 20 minutes of the second half but could not construct many meaningful attacks despite some promising moves. Jamie made an outstanding save the one time he was tested, while Ian’s head was on the spot to deflect another goal bound shot.
The third goal was gifted to QP when Hazzard was pushed over as the ball was crossed into the box. Chris’s shot was blocked by the keeper, but the penalty taker was quick to react and banged it in from the rebound.
Blaikie and Shane were by this stage running the Enwood defence ragged. Chris slotted the fourth with about 20 minutes to go to cap a dominant performance up front. To calm matters down, QP captain Rat subbed on to bring some much needed cool thinking into the equation.
The game began to get testy in the final stages and the referee decided to call fulltime a couple of minutes early. This came about as Rat was embraced by one of the Enwood players for his diplomatic approach.
QP bounced back well from last week’s disappointing loss to Knox, solidified its mid table spot – and is primed to jump into the top four if it puts together a few more solid performances.
Thanks must go to the Enwood player who helped collect the corner flags for us.
Player of the day: Chris
Queens Park 4 (Chris 4 incl 2 pens) Enwood 0
For photos from this game go to: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29124609720
