Coomera put FFA Cup emotional toll behind them to seal Premier League finals berth vs Burleigh

AS the enormity of his side’s FFA Cup heroics hit home last month, Coomera coach Steve Macdonald wondered if the Colts’ Gold Coast Premier League finals hopes had been put at risk.

AS the enormity of his side’s FFA Cup heroics hit home last month, Coomera coach Steve Macdonald wondered if the Colts’ Gold Coast Premier League finals hopes had been put at risk.

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Last night, his concerns evaporated as the league’s quiet achievers sealed their top-four spot and with it, an end to their 10-year playoff exile.

With Palm Beach falling 2-1 to Nerang earlier on Saturday, the Colts’ 0-0 draw at home to newly-crowned champions Burleigh Heads was enough to put the finals race to bed ahead of next weekend’s final round.

UNITED’S HORROR RUN CONTINUES

Macdonald’s men became the toast of Gold Coast football in reaching this season’s FFA Cup Round of 32, with their run ended by a 2-1 loss to Mackay and Whitsundays late last month.

The five league fixtures to follow have produced three wins, one draw and a loss, and Macdonald admitted his troops’ ability to bounce back from the emotional toll of the cup had surprised even him.

Coomera coach Steve MacDonald.

“The boys have been unbelievable,” he said.

“It would have been easy for us to just waste the rest of the season away after what we’d done in the FFA Cup because it was good for the club and it was good for the whole Gold Coast as well. But what they’ve done since Mackay, I don’t know how they’ve pulled it out but I’m just so proud of them.

“We had a real good chat after Mackay and there was (talk about) very fine margins that this was either going to be an unbelievable season or a disappointing season for us.

INJURY ADVERSITY THE MAKING OF YOUNG SHARK

“Even with what we’d done in the FFA Cup, if we hadn’t finished in the four it would have been disappointing for us.

“I didn’t say too much before the game (against Burleigh) about all we needed – we wanted three points – but towards the end of the game we made the game a little bit scrappy. I didn’t want to go chasing a goal and then concede one right at the end because that would have just killed us.

Surfers Paradise’s Teddy Watson (centre) fights to scramble the ball home against Broadbeach United yesterday. Picture: Richard Gosling

“And we didn’t want to leave it until next week either, we wanted to try and cement the spot.”

The fight to join Burleigh in the top two will go down to the final round after Broadbeach United (third) downed Surfers Paradise (second) 2-1 at Nikiforides Family Park yesterday.

KNIGHTS STILL ALIVE IN NPL TITLE RACE

With Apollo holding a far superior goal difference, the Dolphins must now pick up at least a point away to Palm Beach next weekend and hope Coomera do them a favour against Surfers at Lex Bell Oval.

Last-placed Tweed United host Mudgeeraba in a bottom-of-the-table battle at 3pm today.