Soccer: Kingz crash back to earth with six-goal loss

By TERRY MADDAFORD

The dream has again turned into a nightmare for the Football Kingz - hammered 6-0 away by South Melbourne last night.

Down 1-0 after just two minutes, the team in turmoil following coach Ken Dugdale's departure never really recovered.

In the end their long day in the air, at airports and sitting around caught up, and they had no answer to a slick Melbourne side.

"It was very disappointing," said stand-in coach Tommy Mason. "We conceded a couple of silly goals. They scored after two minutes and then after 30 from only their second real attack.

"They took every chance but we simply ran out of steam. It has been a long day and there were some very tired legs out there."

The result leaves the Kingz rooted to the foot of the table with just four points from their first nine games.

Michael Curcija opened the scoring early with a 25m drive, but the Kingz battled away and enjoyed a greater share of possession and territory for long periods in the first half only to be caught out when Steve Laurie scored from a rare attacking corner.

The second half was a Curcija benefit as he scored a further three for a four-goal haul.

The Kingz came close when Brad Scott hit the post and Mason rang the changes, but to no avail, as the home team continued to press.

Curcija completed his spree late in the game with Scott Tunbridge completing the rout in added time.

In the absence of captain Chris Jackson (suspended) and Harry Ngata (injured), goalkeeper Michael Utting captained the side.

After earlier being ruled out by Dugdale because of work commitments and the teams late return, early on Wednesday morning, Mauro Donoso and Ross Nicholson did make the trip.