Familiar Foes Await Strikers in Semi-Final

Tuesday 9th Feb, 2010

Pre-season preparations continue for the Brisbane Strikers this Wednesday night when they travel to Luxury Paints Stadium, Richlands for a Brisbane Roar Silver Boot semi-final against a familiar adversary – Olympic FC.

The identity of the Strikers’ semi-final opponents will not have surprised anyone within the club. Having returned this year to the Brisbane Premier League after finishing runners-up in a tight QSL championship to the Strikers, Olympic have duly swept all before them in their group phase of the Silver Boot, winning all three games.

Looking at it the other way, however, perhaps Olympic are surprised to be facing the Strikers – given that Olympic coach Bobby Hamilton was quoted around the time the tournament started saying that if Olympic got through Group A they would probably face, as Group B winners, the Rochedale Rovers. When speculation gave way to reality, however, the Rovers finished winless in the group while the Strikers won all three of their matches to finish top.

To be fair to Hamilton, his opinion was probably influenced by the knowledge that the Strikers have had to rebuild their squad over the off-season after many of their players returned to the Brisbane Premier League or, in the case of Matt Smith, Jerrad Tyson and others, moved up to the A-League in either senior or youth squads.

Hamilton’s opinion might also have been influenced by the fact that the conveyor belt that has ferried numerous players from Perry Park to Goodwin Park in recent seasons has continued to operate. John Costello had already jumped on that conveyor belt in the 2009/10 off-season, joining other former Brisbane Strikers such as Alex Panic, Shane Robinson and Matt Heath, and he has been joined this week by another who will be a prize recruit. Fullback-cum-winger Michael Butters, having returned from trials in the United Kingdom, has also thrown his lot in with Olympic in a move that is bound to disappoint Strikers fans.

Faced with this continuing situation, Strikers coach Stuart McLaren can do little other than to cop it on the chin, re-set his jaw and continue doing what he has been doing – recomposing his squad and working with his new players to turn them into a combination that can play attractive and effective football.

On the evidence to date things are looking promising in that regard, although there is little doubt that McLaren’s new squad will face its sternest pre-season test yet when the Strikers take the park against Olympic’s powerful and more experienced squad.

The Strikers have, however, been boosted this week by the news that former Brisbane Roar defender Ben Griffin, who agreed terms with the club a few months ago, has resolved some issues that were threatening to keep him out of football this season and has resumed training this week.

McLaren will also be hoping for an early return on his nominations of Sean Burke and Gareth Musson to attend a special one-off training session organised by the Brisbane Roar with Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert on Monday night. While both players have been in sparkling form in the Silver Boot up to now, they can have taken nothing but improvement out of an opportunity to take a few tips from Kluivert.

In other news concerning the Brisbane Strikers, the club’s proposed involvement in an international club tournament in India this month organised by Malabar United will not go ahead. While the club remains interested in participating in the tournament in future, its attendance this year (and any year) was contingent upon getting the green light from Football Federation Australia which had been liaising with the relevant Indian football authorities and the tournament organisers with a view to having certain assurances and authorities put in place.

When these discussions led to a delay in the staging of the tournament the Strikers elected not to compete in it this year.

Brisbane Roar Silver Boot Semi-Finals for Wednesday 10 February at Luxury Paints Stadium, Richlands:

Brisbane Strikers v Olympic FC – 6.30 pm

Souths United v Peninsula Power – 8.30 pm