Soccer: Kingz play with purpose, but still go down to Strikers

By BOB PEARCE

Andy Vlahos gave his all in his 150th NSL game, but the Kingz still lost 2-1 to the Brisbane Strikers at Ericsson Stadium last night.

In time added on John Markovski hit the top of the bar, but there was to be no last-minute reprieve.

The Kingz were 2-1 down at halftime, but they played far better than the score indicated. In contrast to their back-to-the-wall display against Olympic last week, the locals took the offensive from the start.

Vlahos, roaming often unmarked on the left, created mayhem in the Brisbane defence and as early as the fourth minute he had a clear shot, only to sky it over the bar.

But four minutes later the Kingz took the lead. Jonathon Perry delivered a perfect cross from the right and George Goutzioulis picked his spot to score with a header.

The Kingz were exploiting the wide open spaces left by the Brisbane defence and they almost added a second in the 12th minute when Vlahos again broke on the left and Paul Urlovic's lunge at a tantalising cross was wide of the mark.

It was too good to last. Brisbane finally strung some passes together and Paul Foster made the most of some hesitant defence to score a neat goal in the 34th minute.

Worse was to come. John Carbone floated the ball behind several Kingz defenders and Foster was on hand to score his second.

The Kingz replaced Urlovic, who was favouring a leg injury, with Mark Burton at halftime and moved Harry Ngata forward to work with Vlahos. They started the second half much as they had the first. Chris Jackson was just wide from long range and then Ngata threw himself at a Vlahos' cross, but could not make contact with a yawning goal in front of him.

In the 67th minute the Kingz should have had a penalty when a Brisbane defender used his upper arm to control a bouncing ball, but referee Derek Rugg waved play on.

Then Vlahos, hunting in the centre for a change, was narrowly wide with a header as the goalkeeper grabbed air.

But the best late chances went to Brisbane and it took two good saves by Michael Theoklitos to deny Fernando Rech.

In the defence, which remains a problem, newcomer Robbie Hooker was clearly rusty and will need time to fit into the Kingz' pattern. But he had some nice touches and he and Markovski certainly worked hard.

The match was played in intermittent heavy rain which made the surface slippery and put a premium on first-touch control.

It was this ability which allowed Vlahos and Ngata to stand out where some of their team-mates struggled to retain their balance and deliver accurate passes.

The Kingz are away to South Melbourne next week.