These statistics were written and researched for the OzSoccer archive by Tony Moran and Greg Stock.
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[Report by Tony Moran]
The Strikers blooded some youngsters in their ill-tempered trial match
against the Ipswich Knights last night. Between 2 - 3,000 turned up to
watch this spectacle, and what an interesting evening it turned out to be.
It took the Strikers 38 minutes to break down the stubborn resistence of
the determined Knights, when Glenn Gwynne came forward, and fired in goal
number one. Two minutes later rookie Royce Brownlie hit the second, and it
seemed like the floodgates were open. When half-time came I think that both
teams were ready for the respite.
But it was the harsh and often cynical challenges by some of the Knights players that were the talking point of the first twenty minutes, as they set about putting their more skilful opponents off their game. It boiled over in the 20th minute when Troy Cranney lunged into a tackle, when he had been harrassed off the ball - he thought illegally - receiving a yellow card, after a bout of pointing, pushing and shoving by half a dozen players on the near touchline. Apparently captain, Nick Meredith complained to the referee about some of the challenges going in on the Strikers, and at one point threatened to take his charges off if it didn't abate. When things did eventually calm down both teams played some good football. Wayne Knipe was always very active up front, and the QAS boys (Invincible, Borownlie and Shroj) didn't do their long term careers any harm at all. Borownlie, in particular always looked dangerous, and for a big lad, is very mobile, with a great touch. At half time, changes were made, and Meredith increased the Strikers lead after 58 minutes with a long range shot that should have been easily collected by goalkeeper Ferguson. The Knight spulled one back midway through the second half, but the STrikers killed off any further action, happy to have done their public-relations exercise in Ipswich, and given some of their younger prospects a chance. | ||||
| Played : February 7 1998 | Venue : Ipswich | |||
| Ipswich Knights Daly, Adams, Hinks, O'Sullivan, Boyle, Scott, King, Clark, McKendrick, Spence, Guest; Subs : Ferguson, Wilkinson, Caldwell, Davani - all used for Daly, Adams, O'Sullivan, McKendrick Goal : Unknown 69' |
1 | - | 3 | Brisbane Stikers Graham Ross (Clint Bolton 46'), Clayton Bell (Chay Hews 46'), Glenn Gwynne, Steve Laybutt, Invincible, Kasey Wehrmann (Blackford 46'), Nick Meredith, Troy Cranney, Sean Cranney (Packer 46'), Wayne Knipe, Brownlie (Shroj 46') (Interchanged used in the second half saw some subbed players return) Goals : Gwynne 38' Brownlie 40' Meredith 58' |
| Referee : Richard Coutts Linesmen : Volkan Dogan, Brett Griffiths Attendance : approx 3,000 | ||||