Young Roar suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Moreton City Excelsior in NPL Queensland Round 13 action at Nudgee Recreation Reserve on Sunday evening.
Goals from Ben Holliday, Declan Smith and Zac Kierpal secured the points for Moreton City after James Durrington put Young Roar in front early on.
Durrington opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he caught out Excelsior goalkeeper, Nathan Foster with a smart free kick at the near post.
Eight minutes later the visitors levelled the scores when Holliday made space for himself inside the area before finding the bottom corner with a low driven effort.
Excelsior took the lead in the 27th minute when Smith rose highest to head home from a Chris Maher corner.
Six minutes later Cameron Millar’s side had their third through Kierpal, who beat his marker before poking an effort beyond George Plusnin and into the back of the net.
Roar came close to halving the deficit in the dying stages of the half when Lucas Herrington met Durrington’s corner and forced Foster into a fingertip save with his looping header.
Moments later it was Plusnin coming up big at the other end, reacting quickly to deny Marquez Walters one-on-one.
Neither side was able to add to the scoring in the second half with the best chance falling to Walters, who won a penalty in the 90th minute only to have his effort saved strongly by Plusnin.
Sunday’s defeat leaves Andre Bennett’s side in tenth position on the NPL Queensland ladder with nine rounds left to play in the 2024 season.
Roar’s U23 side suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Moreton City in the afternoon’s earlier kick off.
Next up for Young Roar is a clash against Redlands United in NPL Round 14 action on Sunday, June 9.
MATCH DETAILS
NPL Queensland 2024 – Round 13: Brisbane Roar v Moreton City Excelsior
Nudgee Recreation Reserve
Sunday, 2 June
Brisbane Roar – 1 (James DURRINGTON 5’)
Moreton City Excelsior – 3 (Ben HOLLIDAY 13’, Declan SMITH 27’, Zac KIERPAL 33’)
