FQPL GF: Lions’ big loss before facing the Bulls

The Bulls are into their first decider since 2020 as they chase their first championship win since 2016, but must overcome the defending champions Leichhardt if they are to lift the trophy.

Kane Alderton’s squad has arguably been the in-form team of the FQPL competition over the past month, jagging wins against premiers Edge Hill United and Leichhardt on their way to the grand final.

But Alderton and captain Adrian Madrid insist the past is the past, with a focus on only the two hours which follow the 7.30pm kick-off.

And they’re confident they can get the job done.

“The week at training has been good, we just have to make sure we’re focused,” Alderton said.

“I am confident that we can, I’ve been confident all year. Football is a funny game, whoever turns up on the day is going to come out on top.

“I spoke to the boys this week about not being complacent and making sure the last month of football for us doesn’t go to waste by heading in to the game complacent.”

Centre back Madrid said the side remained confident after their 4-2 qualifying final win against Edge Hill Utd a fortnight ago, which booked their spot in the decider.

“It’s not too bad at all, there’s always that bit of nervousness in the body but we just try to enjoy it,” he said.

“Prep well at training and get ready for the big dance.

“(The qualifying final win) was pretty ecstatic from the boys, we sure did feel it. It was a game we knew we could win but had to push hard. Everybody had given it their all.”

Mareeba Utd overcame a tough run with injury and player availability through the middle of the campaign, but that adversity opened the door to the return of some club legends who have given the Bulls a sharper edge.

The turning point came after a loss to Leichhardt in Mareeba, which opened the door for some familiar faces to return to the top squad.

Men like Victor Madrid and Alex Plowman were back in black and orange, and when coupled with the experience of Wayne Srhoj, Darcy McCormack and Dylan Cummings, made for a lethal unit.

While Victor hasn’t been named for the grand final, the likes of Robert Pendenza and Steven Cater will bring even more experience.

Alderton said he nor the players chased recruits, as the stars aligned for the uber-experienced men to return in the Bulls’ hour of need.

“We weren’t chasing anyone to be honest,” he said.

“We were a bit short on numbers then had a bad run of injuries which seen us go through a fair few players.

“It was only by chance they came back and started playing, filling in a spot because of the injuries and such.

“You can’t take it away from the older guys coming back.

“That said, the young blokes who stepped up and made the position their own, you’re not going to tap them on the shoulder, they’ve been doing the job week in, week out.

“You have to reward consistency, which we’ve been doing all season.

“It is tough, the blokes like Victor and Alex, they’re the type of fellas who are happy to sit aside for the younger ones coming through. But as a coach, you want to reward that consistency and playing well.

“You’re not going to tap them on the shoulder for that, I’ll tap someone on the shoulder for not showing up or not putting in the performance.

“The turning point was we had a few key injuries when we played Leichhardt up here, we brought some older heads in and they gelled together well.

“We’re fortunate that a few of them are back for the final.

“You just can’t change a winning formula.”

Winning would be everything for Mareeba, who have endured a trophy drought and are keen to replace the memories of their last grand final appearance - a 7-0 flogging at the hands of Edge Hill United in 2020 - with one of glory.

“It’s seven or eight years I think, so it’ll mean a lot for us up here,” Alderton said.

“We had some major sponsors come in on Tuesday, they’ve been around the club a long time and what it means to them just to get there- their support has been immense.

“Fingers crossed we can come away with a win.”

Madrid made it clear how much this trophy meant.

“It would mean everything,” he said. “We’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

LEICHHARDT’S LOSS BEFORE DECIDER

Leichhardt have a chance to win back to back premierships for the first time in decades on Saturday, but they will have to do it without their coach in the grand final.

Karl Bennett's barely missed a beat over the past few years of his tenure, but as his side chases a second straight grand final win, he will be 1500km away as part of a wedding party.

It’s an unfortunate clash of dates which means the best Bennett can possibly do for one of the most important games of his time in charge is jump onto Facetime before or after (but definitely not during) the key speeches and offer his pearls of wisdom via text.

“I’ve had a bit of a speak to them after training on Thursday, I sent a long message through to the group chat, but we trust in who we have there,” Bennett said.

The Lions will take a committee approach to the grand final, with assistant coaches Lachlan Hill and veteran midfielder Alex Russell chiming in, as injured striker Dylan Gawronski offers insight from the bench, as he has done for the past couple of weeks.

“We got them prepared as much as we can,” Bennett said.

“Everyone should be on the same page now anyway, there shouldn’t be any surprises now and hopefully my absence doesn’t impact too much.”

Captain Josh Mulla said the players would miss their coach, but were primed to complete the job and win the trophy.

“We will (miss him), he’s been there all year - team talks, training, being there on game day, helping us through games with his instructions,” Mulla said. “It will be different, but we just have to go out there and listen to whoever gives us instructions on the day.”

Mulla, who plays either in defence or midfield, depending on the squad composition, had the honour of lifting the trophy and celebrating a breakthrough title last year and is keen to repeat that feeling.

They ended Edge Hill United’s epic run atop the mountain last year with a 2-1 win in the decider, then last week repeated that scoreline, albeit in the last minutes of extra time, to end the Tigers’s 2023 campaign in the preliminary final.

It sets up the first grand final without the Tigers since 2017, but Mulla and his teammates weren’t thinking about Edge Hill Utd anymore as they prepare to face a tough Mareeba United outfit which has hit some superb form as late.

“They’ve been really good this season, they’ve been really hard games,” Mulla said.

“They’re in good form at the moment so they’ll be up for it. We have to be solid at the back.

“It’s good to be back in a grand final, it’s our third in a row now - it doesn’t feel like it but it is.

“We have a good chance to go back-to-back, we want to do it, and we’ll give it a crack.

“It’s not any different to last year. We just want to go back to back, get another trophy.”

Leichhardt will line up with a similar lineup to the one which got the job done against Edge Hill Utd a week ago, but could welcome back midfielder Cody Eszes for the big one

HISTORY BECKONS FOR FATHER-DAUGHTER DUO

Should Leichhardt complete its 2023 goal and win the FQPL Far North Women’s premiership, it will cap a career and life highlight for at least two members of the squad.

Andrew Guarrera has coached the side for the past few seasons, with daughter Raychel becoming a regular fixture in the line-up.

It’s not the first time they have had an opportunity to win a grand final together, but this shapes as their best chance yet when they start favourites to turn their dominant regular season into grand final glory.

Guarrera isn’t overlooking Southside Comets for a second, but said it would be an amazing experience to win a trophy alongside his daughter.

“Sometimes I have my coaching hat on too long, but other times I have my dad hat on too long,” Guarrera said.

“It’s definitely challenging. You want to be fair, but she makes my job easier because she is a good little footballer – nobody can complain when she’s on.

“It helps to appease any doubters out there.”

Guarrera said Raychel had proven herself to be a key member of the squad as she grew with experience in the region’s top competition.

“Maybe a little early on, a few years ago, when she was growing as a player, but because she fought so hard and she’s grown so much as a footballer, it’s not come up now for a long time,” Guarrera said of the doubters.

“It’s a good group, they’re supportive, and Raychel speaks for herself.”

Raychel said it would be a dream come true to win a championship together. “It will be amazing, especially with my dad being the coach,” Raychel said. “He’s like any other coach, it’s not too different.

“Sometimes he doesn’t take the coaching hat off, I get the talks on the way home, but it’s great.”

HOW SOUTHSIDE REBUILT THE COMETS

When Nathan Paull first came back to the Southside Comets, he was driven by a desire to rebuild the women’s program.

It’s been years since the Comets had a team that not only competed in the Premier Women’s division, but was anywhere near a contender.

This week, they are preparing for their first grand final since 2015, an experience Paull described as “surreal” when looking back at the year.

“The goal was to make top four this season, and we did that,” Paull said. “We weren’t expecting a whole lot heading into finals, we just wanted to make that top four.”

And here are Comets Halleys, the senior of two Southside sides in the competition, just one day from a grand final.

English striker Katherine Hatton (20) and rising star Eliza Sailor-Tabuai (16) receive the teamsheet plaudits after contributing more than half of the Comets Halleys’ goals, but it’s been a genuine team effort to achieve what they have in an unforgettable campaign at Walker Road.

“I outlined a plan with the club because we haven’t had a strong women’s program since 2015-16,” Paull said.

“This season, we had a few juniors coming through, so to give them the opportunity to play at the highest level in Cairns, and we did our best to scout around to see if other players were available to play for us with those connections we had. It’s important to have balance in the team.

“We had top players come from Germany and England, who are here and working different jobs.

“We tried in 2020 but had a young team full of inexperienced players, whereas this year we have some good players who have been with the club since U10s, and we wanted experienced players to guide the group.”

One of those experienced players, Lena Wrensch, said her team played as a genuine team, and that made all the difference in crunch games, and it will again when they start as the clear underdogs against a Leichhardt team which lost just once.

“It feels really good, it’s a great experience for the whole team,” Wrensch said.

“I reckon we’re the underdogs, Leichhardt were on top of the ladder and won twice against us, but I think we have a good chance to win the final.

“In football, everything is possible.”

Their run is made all the more remarkable when you consider they lost all three of their opening games in the league, scoring just once and conceding 12.

Their fightback through the campaign, then successive wins against Stratford (2-0) and Edge Hill United (3-2) to make the decider proves one of the biggest achievements for Paull’s team: the way this team grew together.

“We didn’t score a goal in the first three or four games – we knew it would be a tough start – but with training, coaching, the girls stuck to the plan and it’s starting to come to fruition,” Paull said.

“It’s been a year of growth, and it’s testament to the girls and their character.

“The biggest thing is more about the managing of the group, they’ve come together really well.

“I haven’t coached a group like this in forever, the connection is amazing from the coaching staff to the girls within themselves.”

HUNGRY LIONS ON MISSION TO REIGN

A win in the FQPL Far North Women’s grand final will make the greatest of Leichhardt’s dreams a reality, but the Lions aren’t roaring just yet.

Leichhardt lost just once in a season in which it was the dominant force, scoring 91 goals and allowing just 12 on its way to winning 16 of 18 games in the league.

Lions defender Raychel Guerrara said her team was ready to rip in as they chase their first women’s championship since 2020, on a day in which the club could claim both senior titles.

“Nervous and excited, it’s a bit of a mix,” she said.

“It will be such an experience, and my team is looking forward to it as well.

“We’ve had a great season leading up to this. It’s been ­really good, we have a shot.

“Grand finals can go either way, but I definitely believe we can do it.”

Leichhardt’s only loss of the season came in its final game of the regular season in a 2-1 shock against Edge Hill United, and Guerrara said that, while they had enjoyed a successful campaign, the response to that loss was challenging.

“It was good, it was challenging when we had our loss, bouncing back from that because we were so used to the idea winning,” she said.

“We’ve been able to work and improve and build that confidence in ourselves and each other, it’s still been good.”

Leichhardt thumped Edge Hill Utd 4-1 in the qualifying final then watched its recent premiership foe get bundled out by its geographic rival.

It makes for the biggest south Cairns derby in this region’s recent football history, with the latest chapter of the Leichhardt-Southside rivalry to be written in a grand final.

Guerrara, who has been part of trophy-winning teams in reserves but is yet to win a premier division title, said the Comets, who Leichhardt beat twice this season, would be a strong challenger.

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“They’re a good solid team, they’ve built up over the years and have a good formation,” she said. “They’re strong, they will be a challenge.”

Kick-off is at 5pm.

matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au

Originally published as FQPL GF: Lions’ big loss before facing the Bulls