Gold Coast Knights coach slams detractors after second-straight Gold Coast Premier League title

GOLD Coast Knights coach Grae Piddick has taken aim at the club’s detractors after sealing a second-straight Gold Coast Premier League championship on Tuesday night.

GOLD Coast Knights coach Grae Piddick has taken aim at the club’s detractors after sealing a second-straight Gold Coast Premier League championship on Tuesday night.

With three rounds still to play, the Knights last night put the title race to bed with a 2-0 win at home to Palm Beach, stretching their advantage over Burleigh Heads to 10 points after the Bulldogs drew 2-2 with Surfers Paradise.

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Second-half goals from strike pair Andrew Barisic and Morgan Saunders proved the difference for the Knights, who stretched their unbeaten run in the league this season to 16 games (14 wins and two draws).

It is the first time a team has gone back-to-back since Burleigh in 2006-07, and the first undefeated championship win since Murwillumbah in 2013.

With a squad brimming with talent, the Knights were heavy favourites for the title in pre-season, prompting continued jibes from rival players and coaches, as well as spectators.

Piddick said he was proud of his troops for overcoming those hurdles.

Andrew Barisic scored in the Knights’ 2-0 win over Palm Beach on Tuesday night.

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“It’s always good to win, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“We set out to win the competition this year, we’ve got everyone chirping on the sidelines, we’ve got opposition chirping and to be quite honest I’m a bit sick of it at times and it’s unwarranted. Yes, we have the best side but you’ve still got to go out and do it and with some of the crap that these boys have had to deal with it at times, they’ve come through the other side.

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“They’ve been baited all year and been the ones that have held strong and done the job. Everyone expected us to win so when we do win it’s ‘oh yeah, you should win’ but there’s a bit of pressure there to do that but they’ve held firm and they’ll learn a lot from it this year.

“There’s no doubt (a big squad) helps and going into the NPL next year we’re going to need a bigger squad to play a lot more games. The fact the boys can come in and everyone does their job … they’ve dealt with it really well.”

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Elsewhere last night, Broadbeach United pulled level with second-placed Burleigh with a 9-2 thumping of Murwillumbah at Nikiforides Park, with Shaun Robinson scoring five goals and Luke Marsh three.

Nerang beat Tweed United 2-0, while Coomera edged out Mudgeeraba 2-1.

PREMIER LEAGUE LADDER

Rank Team Played Points

1. Gold Coast Knights 16 44

2. Burleigh 15 34

3. Broadbeach 15 34

4. Surfers Paradise 15 25

5. Nerang 16 20

6. Coomera 15 20

7. Palm Beach 15 16

8. Murwillumbah 15 13

9. Tweed United 15 8

10. Mudgeeraba 15 4