Soccer: Dani's the boy as Knights claim point

Only hours after gaining his clearance to play, Portuguese striker Dani Rodrigues turned up trumps for the New Zealand Knights.

After falling a goal behind eight minutes into their A-League Pre-Season Cup game against Queensland Roar at Maroochydore, Rodrigues struck the 25th-minute equaliser.

The score remain unchanged at 1-1 and left the Knights in second place on the points table in their pool with two points from 1-1 draws in their opening games.

They face the acid test at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday afternoon, against defending A-League champions Sydney FC, who have won both their Cup openers 2-1 against Queensland and, in the second round, Newcastle Jets.

No team in pool A has taken maximum points, with Central Coast and Adelaide both having four points from a win and a draw.

The Knights began a little tentatively and were undone from a Queensland goalkick when Ante Milicic neatly latched on to the long clearance. His square pass found Massimo Murdocca, who in turn played in Spase Dilevski to beat Knights goalkeeper Michael Turnbull.

The Knights, with their African duo, Jonas Salley and Malik Buari, standing out in midfield, played their way back into the game. Former Roar striker Jonti Richter led the way up front. Richter just missed with an early attempt and continued to impress.

The visitors got back to 1-1 when Noah Hickey fired a shot from 25 metres which goalkeeper Tom Willis failed to hold and Rodrigues pounced to tuck home.

Former Knights player Steve Fitzsimmons came on for Roar after halftime but Dilevski posed the biggest problems for the Knights defence.

Rodrigues then had the best chance to snatch a winner for the Knights but he smashed his shot, from Hickey's left-wing cross, against the crossbar.

The biggest concern for Knights coach Paul Nevin would have been the ill-discipline which saw a number of his players booked, including Salley (for diving) and Richter (kicking the ball away).

Sydney had a dream start at home against Newcastle, when Nikolai Topor-Stanley scored after just three minutes.

Former Kingz player Robbie Middleby made it 2-0 before the break.

The visitors' reply was courtesy of a 68th minute own- goal.