Parkside A are through to the grand final after defeating Atlas A 3-1 in the major semi-final of the Mount Isa Soccer Association on Saturday night.
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The 2014 minor premiers made a statement to its A grade rivals with a rare win over the competition frontrunners.
In a high-paced start to the game, Parkside was putting its opponents under the pump putting plenty of pressure on Atlas A midfield pair Billy Orsag and Carl Rogers-Page.
The Parkside defensive partnership of Marcus Varley, Corey Moon, and Damien Boughton was rock solid and rarely troubled until the latter stages of the second half.
The first opportunity on goal went to Parkside with winger Rowan Murphy getting himself into a one-on-one situation with Atlas goalkeeper Lurick Sowden but Murphy pulled his shot wide.
Moments later, Murphy chipped in a free kick outside the 18-yard box into a dangerous area in the Atlas box although Parkside was wasteful once again.
Against the run of play, Rory Page made Parkside pay in the 29th minute following up on Andrew Frahm’s saved volley making it 1-0 for Atlas.
Only a minute later, Parkside striker Matt Walker equalised the score by picking up the ball crumbs of a corner kick whipped in by Murphy.
Carl Rogers-Page could have put his side back in front before the half-time interval but shanked a free kick over the bar from prime position.
Parkside came out of the dressing sheds with plenty of purpose again with Jordan Hennessey producing a world-class volley from long range in the 48th minute handing Parkside its second goal.
Varley and Howard exchanged two passes at the back before Varley did a one-two with Josh Celona with Varley eventually lobbing a through ball over the top for Hennessey to finish.
Atlas A showed fight with Page squandering another one-on-one against before Parkside gave their rivals another setback.
A long throw from Boughton could not be successfully cleared out by the Atlas defensive lines with Parkside’s Josh Filewood pouncing on a loose ball for 3-1.
Rogers-Page was terribly unlucky not to narrow the deficit after heading the bottom end of the cross bar in the 75th minute.
But the day belonged to Parkside with the full-time whistle blowing at 3-1 to the underdogs.
Having only been smashed by Atlas A 7-1 over four weeks ago, Parkside coach Jae Dawes was impressed with how his side reacted.
“The job is half done,” Dawes said.
“It was more that we turned up and was prepared to get in there and say ‘hey, we’re here to play’. That set the tone.”
Parkside will now enjoy a week off football action while Atlas A will meet Concordia A in the preliminary final next Saturday.