GPS First XI football: Who were the top performers from round 5?
GPS First XI football: Lightning strikes twice as two-time hattrick hero helps TSS warm its engines for big game bout against IGS on Saturday. See the Rd 5 Team of the Week here.
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For the second successive week a The Southport School player has inflicted hattrick havoc on his opponents.
Elite right foot striker Luca Nakagawa-Morrison has pulled the rare football jewel from the cliff face following The Southport School’s 7-2 away victory over Brisbane State High School on Saturday.
Just seven days earlier The Gold Coast United junior had sunk Brisbane Boys College with another three goal effort.
Nakagawa-Morrison made his First XI debut earlier this season as a Year 11 student and despite threatening, went without a goal in his team’s first three outings.
But he has made up for lost time since.
“It’s a testament to his patience and perseverance … He was working hard (in the first three games) but he did miss some chances … we just told him to keep putting himself in the area and it will come,” said TSS coach Owen Baker of the “natural finisher”.
Last year the side finished eighth, but have their sights set on a top four finish this season.
“There’s more of a togetherness,” said Baker.
“We had a good preseason where we knew we had to change our focus and determination from last year. Treat each game like a cup final.
“We got a lot of confidence out of the preseason knowing that we’d worked extremely hard and had some good games and some good off field team building sessions to build some resilience in the team.”
Baker said the moment he realised Nakagawa-Morrison’s thirst for goal was in round four against BBC when he bagged his first goal for the TSS First XI.
“The first goal where he hadn’t scored yet but he had probably been waiting for chances to come to him before that but in this one in particular this chance he just sort of, well it wasn’t a chance he made the goal himself,” said Baker.
“He grabbed the ball and he ran past two or three players … he made the goal. Nobody was stopping him from scoring that goal so that was the moment you went ‘oh we’ve been waiting for that moment’ he’s had to work hard for that. It was a nice bit of determination.”
Nakagawa-Morrison’s brilliance however came on the back of the great work Angus Corcoran (goalkeeper), Max Peereboom, Cole Fenton (both defenders), James Greenup (right back) and Achille Monet (left back) had been doing in defence.
So who joins Nakagawa-Morrison and Peereboom, who boomed in two goals despite being a defender, in the round five Team of the Week? See below.
GPS FIRST XI FOOTBALL’S SUPER 15 FROM ROUND FIVE
Tdonson Hammond and Jackson Peter (Toowoomba Grammar)
In a 2-all slugfest between two evenly matched sides, the Toowoomba pair each landed a goal to ensure their side came away with a point.
Peter equalised the scores at 1-all on the cusp of oranges, before a last minute finish from Hammond rescued Toowoomba.
Zye Cory (Nudgee)
Talk about improvement. This kid has come on in leaps and bounds in season 2024, leading from the front as the vice-captain.
A staple of consistency, Cory continued to positively impact games for Nudgee as a threat down the left sideline and a high octane worker who came to life in the final third of the match.
Rhys Williams (Nudgee)
One of the form players of the competition, Williams was calm and calculated in possession and a Trojan worker in what was his first GPS game against Terrace The Brave.
Williams came away with a perfectly weighted goal assist, but the quality of his performance would not show up on a scoresheet.
Lachie Cook (Nudgee)
Cook proved a menace against the Terrace defenders right from the get-go on Saturday.
He relished a bench role in round four against Brisbane Grammar and looked like a man on a mission last Saturday.
Cook opened the scoring with a superb run and classy finish, and his all around movement and pressing spearheaded Nudgee’s top notch home ground showing.
Rylan Brownlie (Nudgee)
The work ethic of emerging A-League rookie Brownlie was really paying dividends.
Football fans know Brownlie can find the back of the net, but what gets him a run here playing against blokes his own age was his tenacity and willingness to work even harder in defence in Saturday’s Ross oval spectacle.
However his attacking game was also on song, with a goal, a near miss before half time and a steal and subsequent assist for Lachie Cook emphasising a quality game on both sides of the ball.
George Plusnin (Gregory Terrace)
The gun Terrace goalkeeper showed his leadership and grit to deny Nudgee’s attackers on more than one occasion.
Without him between the sticks, the score may have ballooned out but you know what you’re going to get from the Brisbane Roar NPL youngster and that is a couple brilliant saves.
Zane North (Churchie)
Wow! This Churchie student has some class.
On Saturday, North assisted in Churchie’s first goal scored by Quinn MacNicol and also scored his team’s second with a clinical left footed finish.
But he didn’t just get points on the board, with his clever passing, mazy dribblings and tenacious tackling also helping ensure Churchie remained undefeated, aided by Arden Hogan landing the dagger with a fantastic top corner finish.
Josh Tanner (Churchie)
The Churchie goalkeeper kept a clean sheet, which was especially impressive given the quality of the first 20 minutes of battle last Saturday.
He made some crucial interventions and saves when Churchie had a 1-0 advantage and was Impressive with a capital I.
Federico Travers (BBC)
The Year 12 student was very good for the third week in a row.
Battling the Churchie strike weapons, the young veteran won the physical battle and should hold his head high knowing he did a dob in the midfield.
Evan Msonga (BBC)
Yet again the tireless BBC leader gets his name in the Team of the Week.
The athletic centre back was dominant in the air, near impossible to evade and was pinpoint with his passes.
Lucas Herrington (Churchie)
The Year 11 young gun continued to enhance his reputation with another dominant showing in a winning side.
Young Herrington won almost everything in the air, was a boss at the back, a leader who was calm on the ball.
His buddy Oliver Reid was also a rock at centre back.
Hugo Spencer (Brisbane Grammar)
After missing training during the week to sickness, Spencer hit the ground running in Saturday’s clash with Toowoomba Grammar to land two telling goals.
He was Brisbane Grammar’s most potent weapon, despite not being at 100 per cent.
Originally published as GPS First XI football: Who were the top performers from round 5?
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