Coach Grae Piddick says Gold Coast Knights must lift for final, despite prelim win over Surfers

THE Gold Coast Knights’ hopes of bidding farewell to the Premier League with a title double remain alive but coach Grae Piddick concedes they will need to lift in the grand final.

THE Gold Coast Knights’ hopes of bidding farewell to the Premier League with a title double remain alive but coach Grae Piddick concedes they will need to lift to outgun Broadbeach in Saturday night’s grand final.

With an NPL foray on the horizon in 2019, the Knights booked their spot in the biggest game of the season with a dramatic 5-4 penalty shootout win over Surfers Paradise in Sunday’s preliminary final at Carrara.

Scores were locked at 1-1 at the end of normal time, with Yuji Kin’s first-half goal for Surfers cancelled out by a Max Brown goalmouth scramble in the wake of a saved Roman Hofmann penalty midway through the second half.

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Surfers Paradise’s Julian Matthews and Gold Coast Knights' Nicholas Panetta do battle in the Gold Coast Premier League preliminary final at Carrara. Picture: Jerad Williams

The Knights then appeared to have one foot in the grand final when a Matt Harris own goal broke the deadlock in the first half of extra time, before a Hayden Sumner tap in the 119th minute ensured the fixture would be decided by spot kicks.

The two-time champions will now have a chance to snatch a maiden Premier League grand final win against a Broadbeach side that beat them in last year’s decider and the major semi final last weekend.

However, Piddick knows only a return to their top form will be enough.

“We know we got dusted last week by Broadbeach and we’re going to have to be a lot better next weekend,” he said.

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Surfers Paradise's Yuji Kin takes on the Knights defence. Picture: Jerad Williams

“We had a lot of possession (against Surfers) and we controlled large chunks of it, now we’ve just got to make sure we add that ruthlessness in front of goal. Despite us having a lot of possession, we didn’t create too much except from set pieces so that was a little bit disappointing.

“We certainly learned from last week and we know we’ve got to be better again. Broadbeach have been a good side all year and every time we’ve played they’ve called us a lot of troubles.

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“It gives us a chance to avenge that loss and now we’re in a grand final and that’s all that matters.”

Having changed playing style and allowed the Knights to control possession, Surfers coach Alex Morrison said he believed the visitors were unlucky not to progress to the final day of the season.

“I’m so proud of my boys, I can’t knock them. Overall I thought we were better and then extra time I thought we were the better team,” Morrison said.