Easts Comfortably Dispose Of Capalaba 23.03.2014 Capalaba 2 (Roper, Ferguson) Eastern Suburbs 6 (Kai 3, Ukuno 2, Abbey) Capalaba: Burrowes, Warden, Roper, Crilley, Bowater, Jake Sherwood, Josh Sherwood, Barbarouses, O’Brien, Homer, Ueda, Ferguson, Theodore, Leslie, Peacock, Shojaei. Easts: Carroll, Ryan, Edwards, Shorter, Stenhouse, Messer, Abbey, Barnett, Goudge, Kai, Ukuno, Okada, Andrews, Gondim, Harrigan, McEwan. Eastern Suburbs put aside the disappointment of last week’s loss and comfortably returned to the winners list when they beat Capalaba 6-2 at John Fredricks Park on Saturday afternoon. Daniel Abbey opened the scoring with a smart flick at the near post when there seemed to be no real threat and it set the tone for the contest as Capalaba leaked badly in defence and could easily have lost by more. David Kai scored himself a hat-trick as he proved once again that he is more than capable of competing at the top level and with former club Mitchelton losing their crunch game against Bayside they will be wishing he hadn’t moved on. Apai Ukuno made his entrance from the bench and scored two goals of his own, emphasising the striking depth available this year taking into account that Brendan Lewandowski was unavailable. Sam Roper and Connor Ferguson picked up consolation second half goals for the Bulldogs but the game was well and truly lost before they found the target. It was fitting that Roper opened his account for the year because after the break he found an extra gear, in stiflingly hot conditions, and was best for his side. As an all round performance, the difference was not as great as the scoreline suggests but the Tigers forwards ruled their opponents defensive line at times cutting through them at will. Nearly all the goals came from similar positions with an extra yard of pace providing a real cutting edge. The transition from midfield to attack will trouble every team they play this year. The disappointment was there to see for the losing side and while it would be easy to point to the overwhelmingly summery conditions, both sides were forced to extend themselves fitness wise. Capalaba have played much better than this in earlier rounds. One positive for the Bulldogs is the arrival of Steven Leslie who has plenty of experience at a high level having turned out for Shrewsbury Town more than a hundred times. He showed some classy touches but having only stepped off the plane literally a few days earlier wilted quickly in the Queensland sunshine. He’ll be worth keeping an eye on when the temperature is a little cooler. Only the most hardened Easts supporters would be expecting them to win the title this year but at the moment they should be favourites to take a semi-final position, particularly with many other clubs being so competitive against each other. Steve Glockner has his squad heading in the right direction, none more so than Kai who looks to be the buy of the season. There’s something about him that suggest he could be this year’s Shoheel Khan, not least of all being blistering pace over the first ten metres. It’s also worth noting that Matt Heath was out of the squad today. Next Saturday, Easts take on Albany Creek at Heath Park and will go into the game confident of picking up another three points. On the evidence from this match there should be plenty of goal-scoring opportunities on offer. Capalaba will need to pick themselves up and find some of their previous form when they travel to Lions on Sunday night for a daunting assignment. Unless they find themselves to steel in the backline the game could be gone before they know it. Total Shots: Capalaba 8 Easts 14 On Target: Capalaba 4 Easts 12 Corners: Capalaba 6 Easts 1 Goal Kicks: Capalaba 1 Easts 14 Offsides: Capalaba 4 Easts 4 Free Kicks Awarded: Capalaba 9 Easts 9 Saves: Capalaba 6 Easts 2 Yellow Cards: Capalaba 3 Easts 0 Red Cards: Capalaba 0 Easts 0 by Phil Davis with Karl Probst.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 01:34:44 +0000
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