Young Roar return to NPL Queensland action with a Round 3 match up against Moreton City Excelsior at Meakin Park on Saturday afternoon.
After ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred forced the league into a two-week hiatus, Karl Dodd’s resume league action against a City side who have reached each of the last two NPL Grand Finals.
Roar look to pick up their first points of the season on Saturday after suffering back-to-back away defeats against perennial heavyweights Peninsula Power and Lions in the opening two rounds of the 2025 campaign.
Prior to the league campaign kicking off Young Roar put in a strong showing in the Kappa Pro Series with Karl Dodd’s side sitting level at the top of Group D on seven points after four rounds of action, taking two wins, a draw and a defeat from their opening four matches.
Roar welcome back midfield duo Noah Maieroni and Luke Nieuwenhof from suspension but will be without Jackson O’Reilly for Saturday’s match after the defender was dismissed in the closing stages of Roar’s clash against Lions.
During the hiatus from NPL action there was an A-League debut for 18-year-old Young Roar midfielder, James Durrington who came off the bench as a second half substitute in Roar’s Isuzu UTE A-League round 22 clash against Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium.
Moreton City, who are coached by Cameron Millar are one of four sides to have taken maximum points from the opening two rounds of the new campaign, notching up a pair of away wins over Brisbane City and Olympic FC.
Excelsior forward, Zac Kierpal is currently to competition’s equal leading scorer equal with three goals after netting a hat-trick in his sides opening day victory over City.
Amongst the Moreton City squad are former Young Roar duo James Murphy and Dylan Meinicke who made the switch to Wolter Park in the summer while the likes of Nathan Foster and Lachlan Sayers have also previously spent time in the Roar youth set up.
Saturday’s match at Meakin Park kicks off at 3pm and will be broadcast live on FQTV and the Football Queensland YouTube channel.
MATCH DETAILS
NPL Queensland Men 2024 – Round 4: Young Roar v Moreton City Excelsior
Meakin Park, Slacks Creek
Saturday, 22 March (3:00pm KO)
