Burleigh coach Colin Phelan demands more from players despite 3-1 win over Palm Beach

HIS side holds a 10-point lead atop the Gold Coast Premier League but Burleigh Heads coach Colin Phelan has demanded his players lift after getting out of jail against Palm Beach.

HIS side holds a 10-point lead atop the Gold Coast Premier League but Burleigh Heads coach Colin Phelan has demanded his players lift after getting out of jail against Palm Beach on Saturday.

Despite tasting defeat just twice amid 12 wins this season, the Bulldogs were arguably outplayed in their 3-1 triumph at Pizzey Park as Palm Beach were left to rue a missed Joe Knox penalty that proved pivotal.

The hosts opened the scoring through David Mutch before the Sharks levelled through Shota Iinuma to make it a 1-1 halftime scoreline.

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Knox then had the chance to put Palm Beach ahead after the break, but his shot was saved by Burleigh goalkeeper Rafael Castro.

The Bulldogs wasted no time in capitalising on their fortune as a Matt Cawley own goal restored their one-goal advantage, before Nikki Felizatto put the result beyond doubt as the Sharks pushed for an equaliser.

However, picking up a fifth-straight win did little to please Phelan.

Burleigh Heads striker David Mutch. Picture: Richard Gosling

“We’ve got to get better,” he said.

“I thought we were poor in the first half. We were a bit lackadaisical, we never really moved it, we never won our 50-50s.

“I had a chat at halftime and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t happy. I think the players realise we were a bit ordinary.

“There’s 20 of us there in the first team squad and we can’t carry three or four players. If we want to win this league, we’ve got to improve.

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“We’ve got to be a bit more tenacious, we’ve got to win a few more 50-50s. We weren’t great but that (penalty) was a turning point for us.

“It give us a lift and I thought there was only going to be one winner after that.”

Phelan conceded Palm Beach were unlucky, but it came as little consolation to Sharks coach Brett Budwee.

“It’s another tough one to take. I don’t think we can play much better, to tell you the truth,” Budwee said.

“If we score that penalty and maybe take another opportunity there late at the end, it’s a different result. The penalty would’ve put us 2-1 in front and to be honest with you, I couldn’t see how Burleigh were going to score.

“So there’s still positives to take out of the game. I think we proved today, and over the last few weeks, if we can make the top four we can cause some trouble up there and we can win the grand final. That’s the goal.”

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Elsewhere on Saturday, a Tomoki Asakawa hat-trick helped Broadbeach United to a 5-1 win at home to Tweed United, while Coomera’s battle with Mudgeeraba at Viney Park has been rescheduled for 8.30pm on Tuesday.

Second-placed Surfers Paradise can reduce the gap to Burleigh to seven points with victory at home to Nerang at 3pm today.