Another key weekend of NPL Queensland Men’s action awaits as we surpass the one-third mark of the season with the weekend’s Round 8 matches.
Peninsula Power host Gold Coast Knights in a re-match of last season’s Semi Final at AJ Kelly Park in opening match of the round on Saturday evening.
The pair have experienced contrasting fortunes following Knights 3-1 win in the 2022 Finals Series with Knights sitting three points shy of top spot in fourth position following back-to-back wins over Young Roar and Brisbane City while Power climbed off the foot of the ladder with their first league win of the new campaign against Rochedale last weekend.
In Saturday’s second match at AJ Kelly Park Young Roar go up against Eastern Suburbs in a clash that pits seventh against ninth.
Both sides will look to bounce back from losses last week as they aim to make up ground on the sides above them with Roar and Easts sitting seven and eight points outside the top four respectively.
Former Lions stars Marek Madle and Andy Thompson will go up against their former club when Rochedale Rovers travel to face the defending Premiers at Luxury Paints Stadium on Saturday night.
One former Lion who won’t be involved for Rochedale is Ross Davidson who stepped down as the club’s Head Coach for personal reasons during the week.
Davidson who was Darren Simes assistant at Lions before taking the Rovers job ahed of the 2022 season, leading Rochedale to promotion to the NPL for the first time.
Rochedale, who are yet to publically announce a new Head Coach have struggled to adapt to life in the top flight currently languishing in last place with just a solitary win to their name after seven rounds.
League leaders Gold Coast United go head-to-head with Olympic at Meakin Park for the second time in the space of five days on Sunday evening.
The pair will have learned plenty about one another after playing out a 1-1 draw in the Kappa Pro Series on Wednesday night where they traded first half goals through Jarrod Kyle and Daniel Leck.
Chris Grossman will look to pick up his first win in charge of Olympic against a United side who start the weekend at the top of the league in no small part thanks to their rock solid defence that has conceded just one goal so far this season.
Second placed Moreton Bay United travel to face Brisbane City at Imperial Corp Stadium on Sunday evening.
City who have scored a league high 19 goals so far this season sit fifth, just three points behind the Jets.
Sunday’s match at Imperial Corp Stadium also pits the league’s two top scorers against one another Marquez Walters looking to add to his league best six goals against his former club while City frontman Matt Thurtell is hot on heels with five goals to his name so far.
Sunshine Coast Wanderers and Redlands United go head-to-head at Ballinger Park on Sunday evening with both sides will seek a turn in fortune after suffering back-to-back defeats ahead of Sunday’s Round 9 clash.
You can catch every match of the weekend’s NPL Queensland Men’s action live and free on FQTV or the Football Queensland YouTube channel.