Preston Lions climb into State League 1 North-West title mix after signing Queensland trio
IT IS the Queensland connection firing Preston Lions towards the top of the State League 1 North-West ladder.
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IT IS the Queensland connection firing Preston Lions towards the top of the State League 1 North-West ladder.
Strikers Rhys Saunders (Gold Coast City) and Jacob Fulluck (Beerwah Glasshouse FC) and midfielder Lochlan Reus (Gold Coast United) have played pivotal roles in Preston’s resurgence since arriving at B.T Connor Reserve.
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Saunders, the last of the trio to join the club in Round 9, has been a revelation since arriving in Victoria.
The left-sided attacker has netted eight goals in his first five matches, helping Preston pick up 11 of a possible 15 points between rounds nine and 13.
“Lochie and Rhys, they know each other well from home, back in Queensland,” Lions coach Lou Acevski said.
“When Lochie arrived I said to him, ‘we’re looking for a couple of attackers’.
“We had Jacob Fulluck on board then and he said, ‘look, I’ve got a really good friend of mine that is in America at the moment, he’s playing college football there.
“(Saunders) was coming back to Australia, I got in contact with him and we pretty much did a deal within 24 hours.”
Fulluck has offered a threat in attack and provided a target man for Keita Minomura and Reus to feed off.
Nelson Salvatore (Ballarat City) has been another recent addition to Preston’s side and Acevski is confident he has almost found the right mix.
The Lions remain unbeaten on their home pitch this year, a factor which has pushed them to within striking distance of league leader Geelong with about two months left in the campaign.
“The teams above us have got to come visit us and I believe we play a good brand of football on our ground and we are tough to beat,” he said.
“No game is easy, even the teams in relegation will be battling for every point they can get. (But) there’s still a lot of football to be played.”
Preston drew 2-2 with Altona City on Saturday, with Saunders and Dane Milovanovic its goal scorers.
The Lions are third, nine points from top spot.
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