Souths United inflicted the Brisbane Strikers' second defeat in consecutive weeks tonight at Wakerley Park, scraping home 2-1 in a highly entertaining match which kept a sizeable crowd living on the edge of its nerves throughout.

But while the injury-ravaged Strikers went down tonight, they went down fighting. Gone was the complacent and under-performing outfit that went down tamely at home last week to Eastern Suburbs. It was replaced by a team that played with heart, courage and more than a little verve.

The glut of injuries that have hit the Strikers this month reached almost farcical proportions late this week when Nathan Carloss and Daniel Leach, who were selected in the squad to face Souths, both injured themselves at training on Thursday night. This left coach Bobby Hamilton, who had already been obliged to call up several youngsters for their first taste of senior team action this year, having to dig even deeper into the club's pool of reserves while asking several of his players to play in unfamiliar positions.

Make no mistake, it was a patched up and makeshift Brisbane Strikers side, most of whom were under 20 years old, that took the field to play the competition's second-placed team. Ross Duncan and Brad Stevens, who normally fill attacking positions, were tasked with filling the fullback roles alongside Matthew Bell and Adam Webber as Hamilton fielded a 4-4-2 formation for the first time this season. Carl Giannangello and Michael Zullo got their first games of the season in midfield, and were partnered there by Eli Gilfedder and Matthew Hornby who have played less than three full games this year between them. Up front, Greg Di Losa was partnered by Michael Butters, who was "sacrificed" from his favoured position on the right wing in order to accommodate the new formation and cover for Russell Woodruffe who, although carrying an injury, took one of the spots on the bench.

In contrast, Souths United boasted a settled side of experienced players, with a particularly strong midfield who have been there, done that in the Premier League and have been in impressive form. With a good home crowd in, the stage was set for an extremely trying and potentially disastrous night for the visiting team.

But the Strikers began well, and produced the first chance on goal within five minutes of the kick off when a nod down in the penalty area presented Di Losa with an opportunity to volley the ball towards the United goal. Di Losa, however, failed to hit it cleanly and the ball bounced harmlessly wide.

Four minutes later, though, Di Losa opened the scoring when he outjumped a very tall set of United defenders to get his head to a corner kick which had been swung in from the left. To the jubilation of the very noisy contingent of Strikers supporters, Di Losa's header thundered into the back of goalkeeper Shaun Falkenhagen's net and the big striker raced towards the Strikers supporters to show them that, yes indeed, he could score goals in his favourite number eighteen shirt!

Stung by the early onslaught from the visitors, Souths got busy. Craig Collins, David Parra and Cody Lovell began to show why they have been so highly rated in the Souths midfield, producing crisp passing, good movement and understanding as they orchestrated attacks on the Strikers goal and worked on getting forwards Masanori Uchimura and Craig Slaughter in behind the Strikers' back four.

Uchimura was the first to get around them, ghosting onto a pass on the right side of the Strikers' penalty area and producing a clever low cross with the outside of his right foot which went across Antony Hall's goal before finding a team mate who scuffed his shot, much to Hall's relief.

Souths had the majority of possession for perhaps twenty minutes after Di Losa's goal, while the Strikers concentrated on getting men behind the ball and frustrating the home team in order to attack them on the break. It must have been pleasing for Hamilton to observe the maturity and energy with which the young Strikers midfield went about this task, with Zullo in particular darting about and harassing players twice his age and size, and showing a slippery turn of pace when in possession. Stevens and Gilfedder were also doing well down the left and combining to good effect.

The Strikers were, in fact, doing a good job of shutting out the home side and came close to getting a second goal when an indirect free kick was touched aside to Di Losa, who connected well to send a powerful grass-cutting shot just wide of Falkenhagen's right upright.

In the twenty-eighth minute, however, United's patient build-up work through the midfield was rewarded when a clever interchange of one-touch passing saw the ball worked from the right wing to David Parra in the middle. Parra's precise pass split the Strikers' flat backline and was placed perfectly into the path of Craig Slaughter, who had made a run around the back from the right. Slaughter was inside Hall's six-yard box in a flash and slotted the ball home to make the score 1-1.

If anyone at the ground had imagined this goal would puncture the Strikers' confidence or resolve it took only two minutes for them to be proved wrong, as Giannanangello drove in a shot from some twenty-five metres that had Falkenhagen at full stretch to tip it over the crossbar.

The teams went into the break at 1-1, with Souths having produced the more structured play but the Strikers perhaps having had the better chances.

Souths began the second half in much the same vein as they had played the first, switching the play quickly from one side of the pitch to the other as they sought to stretch the Strikers defenders and midfielders wide and probe for openings. But while the Strikers seemed to be coping well with this approach, nine minutes after the re-start Souths' ball movement led to a rather lucky second goal. The ball was worked quickly from the right again towards Parra, positioned in the middle of the park and just outside the Strikers' penalty area. Parra found enough room to turn and hit a shot that Hall appeared to have covered, but the ball took a treacherous deflection off Duncan to finish up in Hall's net and put the home side in front.

In the fifty-seventh minute Souths were almost in again when, having been pinned inside their half for two or three minutes after scoring their second goal, Souths broke away down the right before switching the ball to Collins in the middle. Collins spotted a run down the left from Lovell and found him unerringly with a first-time pass that cut out the Strikers' defenders. Lovell then cut inside his marker and unleashed a swerving right-footer which cannoned into Hall's right post and bounced across goal and away to safety

It is at times like this, when their team has unluckily conceded a goal and finds itself under the hammer, that coaches and supporters can often find out a lot about their team. It probably would not have surprised anyone associated with the Brisbane Strikers if their young team had dropped their heads at this point and accepted that it was all too hard. Instead, they lifted, and for most of the remainder of the match the visiting side threw themselves into the contest with admirable guts and determination.

Zullo and Giannangello, in particular, managed to give the likes of Collins and Lovell and left back Ryan Bridge a torrid working over. At times, the speed and agility of Zullo must have seemed like a yellow blur through the middle of the park and made the quality Souths midfielders wonder what on earth they were dealing with. And Giannangello played with similar flair and speed down the right wing, getting in numerous teasing crosses and delivering several menacing corner kicks.

One such corner kick came close to producing an equaliser when Duncan got a grazing header to Giannangello's driven delivery but sent the ball wide of Falkenhagen's goal.

After the visitors survived a nervous moment in the sixty-fifth minute which came from a communication breakdown between Hall and his defenders, Adam Webber (who was again having a blinder) found himself striding down the inside right channel. Webber looked up to hit an inch-perfect cross in the direction of Gilfedder, who had arrived behind the Souths defenders towards the left hand side of the Souths penalty area. Gilfedder's volley was struck superbly and rifled past Falkengagen only to smack the crossbar and stay out.

In the seventy-first minute Webber almost got himself on the score sheet with a header from another Giannangello corner. This time, Webber's header flew narrowly wide of United's far post as the home side's defence creaked dangerously. Then, with fifteen minutes left, Giannanello jinked inside United's left fullback and unleashed a left-foot shot which must have scraped the paint off Falkenhagen's endangered crossbar.

With the game entering its last ten minutes, Giannangello and Zullo were causing heart palpitations among the Souths defenders. Zullo collected a short ball from Giannangello on the right, turned quickly inside two defenders and worked space for a ferocious shot which Falkenhagen kept out one-handed but with little idea of where the rebound was going.

By now it was Souths who were under heavy pressure and having to play on the break as the Strikers, spurred on by raucous support from their supporters, turned the screws in search of an equaliser. But the home side remained dangerous when playing in this mode, and should have wrapped the match up with two or three minutes left on the clock when Uchimura got on the end of a long ball out of defence to nip in between Bell and Hall as Bell's desperate back header failed to make it to his 'keeper. With Hall off his line and stranded, Uchimura's lob looked goal bound but bounced on to the top of the crossbar and out.

While the Strikers pressed until the ninetieth minute, there were no further efforts on goal from either side, and Souths outlasted their opponents to take the three points with. On the available evidence, they must have done so with an almost certain collective sigh of relief. The points might have been theirs, but they had been made to fight every inch of the way.

For Strikers supporters, there was a lot to be pleased about in this display by their team. The debut performances by both Zullo and Giannangello caught the eye like few debut performances do, while Duncan and Stevens did well in unfamiliar positions and Hornby and Gilfedder continued to improve. Adam Webber was again outstanding, this time as a stopper, producing a dominant, hard-as-nails display. One fair and legal tackle by Webber towards the end of the game was delivered with such force that the hapless United forward who lay prostrate and face down after it must surely have felt that the amenities block had fallen on him.

In summary, this performance by the Strikers was as brave and committed as last week's effort against Eastern Suburbs was limp. It did much to restore pride in the yellow shirt and faith amongst supporters that their team will bounce back from its current difficulties when more fit players are available.

Souths United 2 (1) v Brisbane Strikers 1 (1)

Scorers:

Souths United: 

Brisbane Strikers: