Brave Knights out of the FFA Cup

GOLD Coast Knights president Adrian Puljich says the eliminated FFA Cup hopefuls have “already won”, despite crashing out of the competition with a 1-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets.

GOLD Coast Knights president Adrian Puljich says the eliminated FFA Cup hopefuls have “already won”, despite crashing out of the competition with a 1-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets.

In front of 2222 fans at Cbus Stadium, the newly-crowned Gold Coast Premier League champions gave the A-League runners-up a hell of a scare but ultimately fell after a 12th-minute goal from Nikolai Topor-Stanley.

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Taking on a Newcastle side featuring seven of the starting XI that lost to Melbourne Victory in May’s A-League grand final, the Knights dominated the scoring chances but rued a lack of polish in front of goal.

Justyn McKay of the Knights (left) competes with Dimitri Petratos of the Jets. Picture: GETTY IMAGES

However, having reached the Round of 32 for the first time and with the 2019 NPL Queensland on the horizon, Puljich said the result was only the beginning, and not the end, of the club’s journey.

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“We’ve already won. We do now consider ourselves one of the best 32 teams in the country,” he said.

“I’m very excited about the Gold Coast Knights journey – as a city we have a lot to offer and as individual clubs. It is exciting times for football on the Coast and we’ve got a big plan in mind but it’s very much something we’re ready for.”

Max Brown of the Knights heads the ball during the FFA Cup round of 32 match between Gold Coast Knights and Newcastle Jets at Cbus Stadium.

With coach Grae Piddick making his fourth appearance in the main draw of the cup, the Knights had a golden opportunity to take a shock lead in the fifth minute when Morgan Saunders was one-on-one with Jets goalkeeper Glen Moss, but his shot was blocked by the former Gold Coast United star.

Roman Hofmann of the Knights (left) competes with Dimitri Petratos.

Former Australian under-17 striker Nick Panetta forced another save from Moss four minutes later, but the underdogs’ early supremacy would come to an end soon afterwards.

While the crossbar came to the Knights’ aid after goalkeeper Josh Langdon was beaten by a shot from the Jets’ Jason Hoffman, the ensuing corner was poked home by Topor-Stanley.

Knights captain Andy Barisic, a former teammate of Moss’ at United, had a chance to equalise with a free header from six yards in the 22nd minute, but missed the target.

The Jets hit the woodwork for the second time two minutes later, while Langdon was forced into another save from a Dimitri Petratos free kick shortly before halftime.

The Knights’ best chances of the second half came early, with a spectacular volley from Justyn McKay unable to beat Moss, before Panetta blazed over an open goal from a tight angle in the 53rd minute. Showing their class, Newcastle then shut the game down.