Soccer: Kingz brought down to earth

By TERRY MADDAFORD and NZPA

The Football Kingz' roller-coaster ride through the national soccer league continues.

From the high of Wednesday night's big win over Perth Glory, the Auckland-based side slumped to their sixth loss - in 17 outings - when beaten 3-1 by former league champions Brisbane Strikers at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.

And there was more disappointment than just three competition points lost. All Whites midfielder Chris Jackson, who played after a painkilling injection in his injured toe, picked up his seventh yellow card of the season and will miss two games. Robbie Middleby will miss Friday's game against Sydney United after copping his fourth caution of the season.

"The cards were a joke," said player-coach Wynton Rufer. "Chris Jackson should have been awarded a penalty, not handed a card."

The Kingz fell into the trap too many New Zealand teams have in recent years in conceding early goals - in each half.

Brisbane captain Stu McLaren beat two Kingz defenders to head home inside two minutes. A second goal 26 minutes later from Wade Baldwin gave the home side their 2-0 halftime lead.

Chay Hews made that three just three minutes into the second spell.

The Kingz' only consolation was a 64th minute goal by substitute Stu Riddle.

Missing key players Fred de Jong (injured) and Marcus Stergiopoulos and Dino Mennillo (suspended), the Kingz, especially in the second spell, had plenty of possession and knocked the ball around nicely.

"But we didn't have a lot of chances," said Rufer. "Their coach John Kosmina complimented us on playing some nice football but we wanted to do more than that. Simply though, they scored, we didn't."

Rufer can now look ahead to Friday's game against bottom-placed Sydney United.

"We will train every day," said Rufer. "Hopefully we will have Fred [de Jong] and Aaran Lines back."

Despite the loss, assistant coach Shane Rufer, who wants his players to adopt a Continental style of moving the ball quickly with one-touch passing, said he was pleased with advances being made.

"Ball speed is better and the self-belief is high - we know we can win away from home," he said.

"What we need is to continue to develop our game intelligence - when to play, when not to play; when to go quick, when to go slow; when to foul, when not to foul. That all comes from experience."