Brisbane Roar’s NPL side went down 3-1 to Lions FC on Friday night at Luxury Paints Stadium after their early 1-0 lead was overcome by three goals from the hosts in the second half.
Despite the result, the Roar came out strong in the first half and showed many positives up until losing Cher Deng just past half-time due to injury.
After a goal opportunity in the opening minutes went wide of the left post, the Roar locked in the first goal of the night in the 14th minute when a cross from Thomas Waddingham met Fernando Nash for a stellar finish.
Lions FC struck back early in the second half to equalise, and went on to seal the victory with two more goals to take away the three points.
Brisbane Roar NPL Head Coach Owen Baker was pleased with how his squad performed in the first half but believes a greater resilience is needed in unexpected circumstances.
“I thought we had an excellent first half performance against Lions going in at half time 1-0 up. There were so many positives in our performance. Unfortunately, we lost Cher just past half time and had a crazy 10 minutes, conceding two goals against a good Lions side,” Baker said.
“We need to try and show a greater resilience to these unknowns in the future – this is the journey our players are on as they continue their development to senior football,” he added.
The Roar are still in seventh place after Friday and will look to pick up points against 11th placed Olympic FC in their next match, after the bye round this week as a result of the Kappa Pro Series semifinals.
“We have the opportunity to have two good weeks on the training park ahead of a big game against Olympic next week. It’s an exciting game to play but our boys must be ready,” Baker said.
“We’ll keep working on our strengths and work on being mentally ready to put in a great performance for that game and our upcoming games.”
Roar take on Olympic FC at AJ Kelly Park on Saturday 8 July. KO 7:30PM.
Be there to support our boys in orange! Entry is free.
