Rovers Darwin 0 v Brisbane Strikers 6
Rovers Darwin FC 0
Brisbane Strikers 6 Meredith (12’) Omori (14’) Henslee (18’) Newman (OG, 68’) Clulow (80’) Richter (88’)
The Brisbane outfit put aside the blow of losing the skipper before kick-off to blow Rovers away in a scintillating six-minute period in the first half at Darwin’s Football Stadium.
After an even opening 10 minutes, the visitors showed their class and clinical finishing to put the result to bed before the break.
Prolific striker Rhys Meredith started the carnage, poking home from close range after a long-range effort deflected into his path.
It took just two minutes for the ex-NSL champion to double their lead, a sweeping team move ending with Jake McLean’s defence-splitting pass finding Hiroki Omori to score.
And stand-in skipper Greig Henslee capped an astonishing six minutes, when from a corner his header went in via a deflection.
At 3-0 at the break the Strikers could have cruised through the second half but they continued to push for more and made it four when Jonti Richter’s effort was turned into his own net by Dexter Newman.
Trent Clulow got his name on the scoresheet inside the last 10 minutes before Richter made it 6-0 as the Strikers equalled the biggest-ever winning margin in Westfield FFA Cup history.
And as it turned out, the loss of Strikers captain Michael Angus - who was left back at the hotel due to illness - didn’t make any difference to this one-sided affair as Strikers march on.
