Kingscliff and Musgrave reveal how they will tackle their Gold Coast Premier League promotion

We dissect the Coast League final between Kingscliff and Musgrave from every angle as both sides prepare to make the leap to the Gold Coast Premier League.

KINGSCLIFF Coast league coach Ross Fenech knows how rare his side’s season has been.

At the start of the year, the Wolves had three boxes to tick.

One, win the league, two, win the grand final, three, get promoted to the Gold Coast Premier League.

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But so much so was Kingscliff’s form midway through the season, they decided to add ‘go undefeated’ to their list of things to do – and ticked that box as well.

On Sunday, Kingscliff defeated the Musgrave Mustangs 5-2 in extra time after a thrilling game of two halves ended with an overtime flurry of goals.

And they achieved everything despite not playing a single home game all season due to clubhouse renovations.

Kingscliff took out the 2020 Coast League grand final. Pic: Supplied.

“It adds to the fairy-tale,” Fenech said.

“To win the grand final was incredible but we also went undefeated all season.

“It’s unprecedented, the year we’ve had.

“Home games are so important in any sport and to have no home games at all, and even play our grand final which we earned the right to host at Palm Beach, it’s huge.

“The border community has been through so much this year and it was almost a week to week proposition about whether we’d be able to get to Queensland and play on the weekend but the boys turned up and kept working.

“It’s taken us seven years to get promoted and we’ll now be playing in the Premier League for the first time in 20 years as a club.”

Kingscliff now face a short turnaround before they commence their 2021 Gold Coast Premier League campaign.

Fenech said development was higher on the agenda than recruitment with the core of his squad still approaching their prime.

“I’m confident in the team we have,” he said.

“Knowing we’re so young, our average age is about 21 and our oldest guy is 25 so we might not be super successful next year and pushing for the top four and things like that but our focus in to keep going and keep improving each year.

“We’ve got a good core bunch of players but we’re not naive and we know we have to bring in one or two experienced lads.

“Our hard work starts now, it’s one thing getting there but we can’t think it’s all going to be hunky dory and we’ll keep winning.”

Fenech also believes his side will mature from their grand final performance which saw them two goals down at half time only to level in the second half and blitz the Musgrave Mustangs in overtime.

“Some of them had never played in a grand final so they’re going to be nervous but we managed to settle things down and work our way into the game,” he said.

MUSGRAVE READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP

MUSGRAVE Coast league coach Jason Shultz has confirmed his desire to recruit some established and emerging Gold Coast Premier League talent as the club prepares for promotion.

Musgrave lost only one game during the 2020 Coast league season, finishing second on the ladder and guaranteeing a Premier League promotion.

It comes after the club stepped out a five-year plan to crack the Coast’s biggest stage which has finally come to fruition.

“We’ve had a few near misses but realistically, we gave ourselves five years to get into the Premier League and then we lost a playoff to Mudgeeraba which we thought was our chance and wasn’t to be,” Shultz said.

“It’s very exciting for the club and we’ve been striving for promotion for quite a few years now and it’s been at the top of our list since the start of the season.

“We have a good base of players but we need to bring some in as every team does for Premier League.

“We’ve got a brand new clubhouse being built at the moment so we’ve got great facilities and a really good culture.

“It’s been a long journey but you can’t create culture.”

Musgrave huddle before a match. Pic: East End Digital

Musgrave were two goals up at half time of the 2020 grand final on Sunday before conceding two goals to Kingscliff in the second half and being overrun in extra time to lose 5-2.

But Shultz is upbeat his side can compete at the top level as several key players were under injury clouds including star midfielder Raphael Chiezzi who tore his hamstring and only ran again in the warm-up.

“We did really well in the first half but had to drag a few players off the field that couldn’t get through the match,” Shultz said.

“We did the best with what we had but you’ve got to give it to Kingscliff, they’re a quality side and we fought all the way to the end. That takes something.”