Acacia Ridge FC FQPL3 squad had their first competitive hit out of the season in the 2nd round of the Australia Cup against Ripley Valley at their home field. After a tight encounter, the boys were victorious in a penalty shot out after finishing full time at 1-1 with the goal scored by Tu Nguyen. We went into the game under-strength with 5 first squad players unavailable for the match which gave an opportunity for others to showcase their talent. New player Miguel Nydam had a strong game up front before being subbed late in the game and returning player Mitch Collishaw saw out the full match at wing-back in a great performance. We also had debuts of the bench for our Chilean recruit Pablo who scored the decisive penalty. There was also a debut off the bench for our new under 23 recruit the diminutive Kanishka who showed he could more than match it with big guys. The debut of the night went to Goalkeeper Jeremy Stout who has moved to the club after many years with Slacks Creek and proved his value with 3 great saves in the penalty shoot-out.
It was an all-around great performance by the whole team while a special mention must go to Jhonatan Martinez-Gomez and his tireless performance in midfield both in attack and defence.
The boys move on to round 3 with another away game to the newly promoted Pine Hills next weekend.