Young Roar are up against Moreton City Excelsior in NPL Queensland Round 13 action at Nudgee Recreation Reserve on Sunday evening.
Andre Bennett’s side, who start the weekend in ninth position on the league table suffered a last ditch 3-2 defeat at the hands of Brisbane City in their last outing.
Goals from Ivan Ozzi and Taras Gomulka weren’t enough as City claimed all three points thanks to a second half stoppage time winner from Masashi Yokoyama.
Ozzi’s fifth goal of the season sees the 20-year-old edge ahead of Rylan Brownlie as the sides top scorer in the NPL this season.
Moreton City, who drew 1-1 with Olympic last weekend sit third with 21 points to their name from eleven matches.
Excelsior, who reached the 2023 NPL Queensland Grand Final are coached by Cameron Millar and contain a number of former Roar Academy players including last season’s NPL Golden Boot winner, Marquez Walters, Nathan Foster, Ben Holliday and Lachlan Sayers.
The sides have already met once this season with Excelsior fighting back from a 2-0 deficit to run out 3-2 winners after a Rylan Brownlie brace had Roar in front.
The U23 match that kicks off beforehand at 2:45pm will pit first placed Roar against third placed Moreton City.
Roar’s U23’s come into Sunday’s match with a five-point lead and game in hand on Excelsior, who are the only side to have beaten them this season.
Roar’s U23 side returned to the top of the table last weekend with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Brisbane City thanks to a Zac Fowler brace along with goals from Declan Forbes, Dominic Amaya and Forbes Porter.
Fowler’s double sees him move further clear at the top of the competition’s leading goal scorers charts with 17 to his name after 10 rounds of action.
Sunday’s games at Nudgee Recreation Reserve kick off at 5pm (NPL Men) & 2:45pm (NPL U23) with the NPL Men’s match being live stream on FQTV and the Football Queensland YouTube channel.
MATCH DETAILS
NPL Queensland 2024 – Round 13: Brisbane Roar v Moreton City Excelsior
Nudgee Recreation Reserve
Sunday, 2 June
NPL Men: 5pm
NPL U23: 2:45pm
