Edge Hill United cements place as NQ’s best football club
Edge Hill United has claimed the title of undisputed best club in north Queensland football by claiming two trebles in the same year. Here’s how they did it.
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EDGE Hill United deserves more credit for the way the club has been able to bring together, maintain, and develop its all-conquering FNQ Premier League team, player-coach Crios O’Hare says.
The Tigers made history when they beat MA Olympic 3-1 in one of the most dramatic, tense and exciting Crad Evans Shield games in recent times.
REPLAYS: RELIVE FOUR CRAD EVANS GAMES HERE
The clash between the top Premier Men’s teams in Cairns and Townsville went into extra time, and they threw everything at the contest.
Edge Hill Utd came out on top to become the first club to win three straight Premier Men’s trebles since the Crad Evans Shield began in 1963.
And now, O’Hare says, the team’s squad deserves recognition and the respect of their regional peers.
“The fact our goals came from guys that haven’t been our top goalscorers, it wasn’t me and (Josh Taylor), it was other guys covering us because me and JT were poor in front of goal,” he said.
“It took the whole squad to win it, and that’s something we don’t get credit for: being a great squad, not just a team full of a couple of good players with NPL experience.
“You hear it all the time and I don’t think that’s fair.
“We’re a squad of 16 or 17 players who, through a season, do a job, and that’s why we win things. Not just because we have a couple of older players with experience; we’re a great squad and that’s why we win things.”
Post-season specialist Jesse Casson, who has become the region’s leading big-game player, Davit Davitadze and Ryan Murray scored the Tigers’ goals, as they won the annual contest between the best clubs in Cairns and Townsville on home turf.
As for the title of being the “undisputed best team in North Queensland”?
“Absolutely,” O’Hare said. “The results speak for themselves. It’s not a coincidence, it’s not a fluke that we might be down or we get challenged and we just get over the line.
“That’s through three years of hard work, belief and desire in the squad. This is a special squad, we’ve built it up over three years. We were really challenged and we came up good again.
“We said it at halftime, we said it at the end of 90 minutes, we said at halftime in extra time, that we believe we can go on and win the game. We can keep creating chances going forward because we’re a good attacking team.”
While the silverware is nice, O’Hare said that on-field success was not the be-all and end-all for a club building a culture that goes beyond the scoreboard or trophy cabinet.
“For me, it’s not just about success on the field, it’s about building success in the club,” O’Hare said.
“Singing the song after the game, we had kids from five to the ladies Premiers who were outstanding with their result, packed (in the changeroom) singing the song.
“It was incredible. That sums up what we’re trying to build: a successful club with a really good culture. “
HOW NQ COULD RETURN TO ELITE LEVEL
NORTH Queensland has the talent to compete at the highest level, but planning must start now to a create a sustainable way for a presence in elite competition, a leading football official says.
REPLAYS: RELIVE FOUR CRAD EVANS GAMES HERE
Michael Edwards is Football Queensland’s senior manager technical – northern club development, talent and coaching, a position in which he sees first-hand – and is responsible for – building and developing the region’s most talented young footballers.
Edwards is also an accomplished coach educator, who has previously worked with the Matildas, and was the technical director at Football Tasmania before moving to NQ.
In commentary for the Crad Evans Shield at Tiger Park, in which Edge Hill United made history by becoming the first club to win three consecutive trebles, he spoke about how the region could one day return to elite competition.
“The talent ... I see it every week, the possibility, but it has to be sustainable,” he said.
“It can’t be for one or two years if there’s a good group of players, it has to be long-term.”
Since Cairns FC and North Queensland United folded, the region has not had a presence in state football competitions.
There were challenges to overcome, with talent and financial aspects the key hurdles to clear, but Edwards said it was something he believed could happen, and could keep the best young talents at home.
“One of the things a lot of people say is it’s a shame the best players leave this part of the country, when there’s great facilities, great clubs, great opportunity, but we just can’t seem to get that next level,” Edwards said.
“The strength still lies in club football, and we have to make sure that’s strong so that level continues to produce players for NPL or a higher level.
“If that breaks down again and people just think it is the responsibility of the A-League club or NPL club, then it all falls apart. Everyone has a part to play. It will be a key moving forward. The number of good players we see here today, and the female space as well.
“It’s a challenge, it’s not insurmountable, we just need to get enough people together who believe in the same objective, and the plan needs to be put in place. It won’t be next year or the year after, but if we don’t start thinking about it then no one ever does.”
Edwards stressed that any push for a higher presence – whether that was a combined entity or based in either city – had to cater for male and female football players.
“To put any team of that level in place, it’s a combination of not just the talent base or the money base, it’s both together plus a whole heap of other things that need to be there,” he said.
“We have to have the supporters, we have to have the support of the clubs underneath, there has to be a pathway – where do the players come from and what are the rules around signings – but it has to be male and female.”
O’HARE HAPPY AFTER DAVITADZE SEALS TROPHY
DAVIT Davitadze may be among the most maligned players in the FNQ Premier League, but he’s found a home at Edge Hill United.
Davitadze has bounced between a few clubs in recent years, and spent much of last season in reserve grade at Stratford.
But a move to Tiger Park has helped the attacking midfielder or winger find a new lease on his football life – and player-coach Crios O’Hare could not be happier he arrived at Edge Hill United, despite what others in the football community had to say of the man.
It’s not just what he does on the field which has impressed, but it’s his impact on the entire playing group away from the pitch.
And for that reason, O’Hare could not be happier Davitadze was the man to break the deadlock in extra time of their history-making Crad Evans Shield triumph.
“He’s a guy I’d liked for a few years,” O’Hare said.
“He came to the club and I was getting warnings from everybody – players, members of the club, saying ‘be careful of this guy’. But since coming in, he’s been unbelievable.
“Not just the way he plays, but as a squad member. He’s the most positive, happy guy you could have around the team, and he was such a great addition.
“I’m buzzing that he got his goal because quite often he’s the scapegoat because of the way he plays. He loves to dribble, and he loses the ball, and sometimes he can lose it a little bit, but I’ve loved working with him this season and I’m buzzing he scored such a big goal for us. I’m so glad he came to the club.”
Edge Hill cements place as NQ’s best club
THEY were forced to play a full 120 minutes but Edge Hill United cemented itself as the best performing senior football club in north Queensland with a dramatic 3-1 victory over MA Olympic to win a historic third consecutive treble.
REPLAYS: RELIVE FOUR CRAD EVANS GAMES HERE
“I think we’ve just broken a couple of records there,” said captain Josh De Nittis.
“I’m stoked, so stoked about that. I’m so proud of the boys.
“This game was bigger for me than the Gold Coast game (FFA Cup round of 32). This had more riding on it for me.
“We’ve conquered the north three times – three times in a row. I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it.”
It was a tough, bruising and physical encounter at Tiger Park, and with both sides giving everything they had on the pitch, whoever came out on top would have truly earned it.
Edge Hill United dominated the Crad Evans Shield game, but found the back of the net just once in regulation time, this time via post-season specialist Jesse Casson.
It looked as if the Tigers might repeat the 1-0 result from the same fixture in 2019, but a Kai Mittereger goal just a minute before full-time sent the clash to an extra 30 minutes. Both sides suffered in the extra period as the feeling overflowed at times, but the Tigers were able to find a way home – and to history – after extra time goals to Davit Davitadze and Ryan Murray.
In doing so, Edge Hill United became the first club to win three straight trebles in the Premier Men’s competition.
“We knew the importance of the game heading into it, on the history side it’s never been done before,” said player-coach Crios O’Hare.
“There was pressure to perform and we know they would give us trouble and it wouldn’t be easy. It’s a great example of how we can dig deep and find a bit extra when we need it.”
The physicality was at another level, as players showed how much the Crad Evans Shield meant to the clubs as they both sought the treble.
While the Tigers struggled to convert their opportunities, De Nittis never lost faith.
“We know Townsville always gives us a good, physical challenge,” De Nittis said.
“We knew what we would be up against, we knew what we had to do and we executed it well. They were lucky it went to extra time, but that gave us time to get a few more goals. We probably should have had a few more in normal time. We just couldn’t get the goals. We couldn’t land them.
“We started that game so strong, we kept at that same pace the whole game. I said to Oscar it would be one of the nights we can’t score and then we got three. Three usually wins you games, it did tonight, and we’re here lifting another trophy.”
GREAT EIGHT EARN WOMEN SECOND TREBLE
WE all knew how good this Edge Hill United team was, but nobody – not even the Tigers’ coaching staff – had any idea of the eight-goal blitz which occurred on their biggest day of the year as they farewelled a pioneer and beloved club legend.
The Tigers were chasing their second treble in Premier Women’s history, their first since 2015, as well as the completion of an undefeated 2021 Premier League campaign.
And a perfect farewell for outgoing coach Jo Ward, an integral member of not only Edge Hill United’s women’s team but the club, and the wider football community, as she and her family prepare for a move to Ipswich.
While the yellow and black had the home-field advantage, they came up against the might of Brothers Townsville, a club which has dominated the NQ Premier League for years, and has set a high standard for just how successful a women’s program can be in regional Queensland.
Back-to-back Crad Evans winners in 2018-19, Brothers were the team Edge Hill United beat in the corresponding fixture last year, in Townsville, and this was a chance for the Brethren to gain some measure of revenge.
Brothers did travel without several key players due to injury and unavailability – that combination of reasons contributed to their grand final loss to MA Olympic a fortnight ago – but this Tigers team has been switched on since the first whistle in March, let alone Saturday.
So when the Tigers banged in eight outstanding goals – four via Siobhan Macken and two each for Shelley Macauley and young midfielder Louise Fowler – nobody quite knew how to react, though nothing could wipe the smile from Ward’s face as she presented every member with their winner’s medal, then received the silverware.
The game, which crowns the best club in North Queensland every year, was over as a contest by halftime when Edge Hill United led 4-0, thanks to three headed goals to Macken, plus a smart shot by Macauley.
“Incredible. The girls were amazing again, like they have been all year,” Ward said. “An incredible way to end the season. They really deserve it.
“You never expect that sort of scoreline and we didn’t know what to expect from Brothers.
“We know that they would come here and be physical and put it to us, and they did.
“The scoreline … we know we have plenty of goals in us, but they pushed us, they made us work for it, but the girls were up for it.”
Jen Devine scored Brothers’ sole goal from a long free kick in the 72nd minute.
Brothers coach Steve McNaughton refused interview requests after fulltime.
Macken was phenomenal up front. She finished with four goals, and while she could have had more she chose to give her teammates their own chances.
Jo Whately was unlucky not to score, while Taryn Knight, who performed so well for the club’s reserves this year and was a late inclusion, had a handful of chances to bag her own.
But you simply can’t go past Macken’s quartet.
“She was amazing but the delivery from Lou from the corners, the delivery from the wingers, put it in the perfect spot and she rose to the challenge,” Ward said.
“Her headers are incredible, they always have been, but she made them count.
“She put them into the back of the net.”
For Ward, who is now the first woman to captain and coach Edge Hill United to the treble, it was the perfect farewell from the club which has been her second family and home for so long.
But even Ward, as she watched her team leave the field bound for the dressing room for the last time, could not believe what her team accomplished, and the manner in which the players did it.
“I’ll let it sink in over the next few days,” Ward said.
“I knew the girls had it in them, but I didn’t know they could put together a performance like this – like they have every week.
“It’s amazing the concentration they have, the consistency they have. I’ve never seen a team be so consistent in the bigger games. That’s just incredible. I feel amazing.
“I’m proud. I feel really privileged just to be part of it, and to finish on such a high as a coach … it’s a privilege.”
CONTROVERSY REIGNS IN CRAD EVANS SHIELD
ONE of the most dramatic and tense games of the football season was controversial, with two veteran leaders sent to the sin bin, two players shown red cards and question marks around the goal which forced extra time.
A non-call for a foul in the box on Edge Hill United striker Crios O’Hare would’ve handed the player-coach a chance to put his team ahead with a penalty.
Instead, it was play on, and after considerable back-and-forth, O’Hare was eventually sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes at the 57-minute mark.
His troops held on to their 1-0 advantage, and even threatened to extend their lead, while O’Hare was off the field.
With five minutes left, Kev Ward was called for handling the ball outside the box - which he refutes - gifting MA Olympic an indirect free kick on the edge of the box.
They failed to convert, but it gave them the chance they needed.
MA Olympic’s Kai Mittereger landed an 89th minute header to lock up the score and force extra time, but there was an argument from Edge Hill Utd’s players that goalkeeper Kev Ward was fouled in the lead-up.
“A bit of bias here, but I thought it was a foul on big Kevvie, but that’s football and you have to deal with what’s thrown at us,” captain Josh De Nittis said. “We dealt with it.”
The challenge of the No.7s was one to behold, with Edge Hill United’s Ryan Murray and MA Olympic’s Cade Colquhoun engaged in a thrilling battle throughout the night.
It came to a head in extra time when Colquhoun lashed out, taking the Englishman’s legs out from behind and copping a straight red card to leave his team short in extra time.
“I got a bit of a mouthful from a few of the fans, but that spurs me on,” Murray said. “If people want to say stuff, it spurs me on.
“I had a great battle with him, he’s a great player, but he’s lashed out. It wasn’t that bad, but he didn’t need to do it. It’s unfortunate the decision, I was enjoying my battle with him.”
MA Olympic was not helped when veteran Robin Edwards was sin binned for dissent at the same time, leaving his side two players short in the extra period and with no way back.
When Edwards returned, it was 3-1 and his team had run out of gas.
Edge Hill Utd midfielder Oscar Rodriguez Zeballos also saw red in the extra period.
THIS PARTY IS JUST STARTING
EDGE Hill United’s dominance of football in north Queensland was cemented when the club became the first to collect both Premier Men’s and Women’s trebles in the same year, but the club is just getting started.
For Premier Men’s captain Josh De Nittis, the team’s third straight Crad Evans Shield triumph was even bigger than their outstanding run to the Round of 32 in the FFA Cup.
“So good man, so good. The FFA Cup run, losing only one game, drawing one, scoring as many goals as we did. It’s a brilliant season,” De Nittis said. “I’m so proud of each and every one of us, and the whole club.
“It’s a good club to be part of, it’s a family, and look how much this means to everyone.”
Edge Hill United president Michael Falchetti was rapt at the results, but flagged work had already started on extending their stay at the top of football in the Far North.
“I’m very proud. You can’t do much more than that,” Falchetti said.
“The fact the women are there too is, for me, incredible. Men and the women at the top of their game, a great bunch of people. We’re proud of them as a club, and (me) as president of the club, and a coach involved with all of these great people, I’m very proud.
“We’ll meet next week, our senior and junior coaches, and we’ll have a debrief about 2021 and start looking to 2022. I’m sure we’ll find many things – we already have – to put in place to make it bigger and better to be at Edge Hill United, and we take our culture through to next season when we go again.”
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
Originally published as Edge Hill United cements place as NQ’s best football club
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