Sport
26 August, 2024
Sensational victory for Bulls
A sensational finish to the Mareeba Bulls match against the Stratford Dolphins on the weekend has sent the team into the FQPL Far North & Gulf season semi-finals.
Midfielder Darcy McCormack took a corner in the 90th minute and curved it between the posts, stunning the crowd and bringing a huge sigh of relief to the team.
The job done, it was then a 45-minute wait to hear the outcome of a draw between Leichhardt and the Comets, before the Bulls knew they were into the top four finishing sides.
“It really went down to the wire,” Bulls captain Adrian Madrid said. “We had to win our game, and needed a draw from the other match, otherwise the southside would have knocked us out.”
The Bulls catch-up game held at Nick Brko Field on Saturday night, saw the Dolphins lead 1-0 in the first half, despite an evenly matched tussle.
But the Bulls upped their attacking style in the second half which saw substitute “Kenzi” score the first goal and Wayne Srhoj knocking in the second. Stratford then levelled the game with another strike, and both teams pushed to the limit until that final McCormack magic.
“It was a spectacular corner,” Adrian said. “We went back to the middle and the whistle blew. So there was a big sigh of relief.”
Adrien said after their match he was given a run-down by phone on the game playing out between the Comets and the Lions, which still had 45 minutes to go.
That too was a nail-biter, with the Comets leading 2-0 and the Lions down to 10 men. But a remarkable finish by Leichhardt saw the game tied to 2-all by play’s end.
“Look everyone had their fingers crossed but we would have liked not to have relied on that (result). We had the belief in ourselves.”
As for preparation for the coming games, Adrian said “nothing changes for us”.
“We’ll be back to the training that has kept us on form for the last two months,” he said. “And we’ll enjoy the next couple of weeks.”
“We have a couple of injuries (Wayne Srhoj and Stephen Cater), but they’ll be alright, don’t you worry.”
The Bulls will play Edge Hill Tigers on Saturday 31 August in the semi-finals at Endeavour Park, Field 2, at 4.45pm.
Marlin Coast Rangers will play Leichhardt Lions on Field 1 at the same time.
