The Brisbane Strikers will continue their pre-season preparations without the benefit of further fixtures in the Silver Boot tournament after they were dumped unceremoniously out of the competition by a grimly determined and opportunistic Ipswich Knights at Luxury Paints Stadium tonight.

Any fond thoughts that Strikers supporters held of taking on the Queensland Lions Orange team in a quarter final vanished when the Knights triumphed 3-1 with a performance which must have given their supporters plenty of encouragement for the Division 1 campaign that lies ahead of them.

The Strikers came into the match on the back of what must have been a confidence-boosting 4-0 win over Premier League outfit Taringa Rovers on Sunday afternoon, having lost only on penalties to Mitchelton in the Silver Boot on Friday.

But the team which took the field in Strikers colours for the first half tonight looked flat, disjointed, out of sorts and in experimental mode. They were made to pay for it by a Knights team which, in comparison, looked as if they had come with a game plan and the passion necessary to play a cup tie.

The Knights were ahead before some of the small contingent of Strikers supporters (this one included) had even assumed their seats, with a goal to Matt Hilli in the third minute serving notice to their better-credentialled opponents that it would not be an easy night.

But if Strikers supporters expected that this early jolt would galvanise their team, they were mistaken. Instead, the Strikers struggled with the pace and commitment of the Knights and earned the wrath of coach Ken Swan for being second to most loose balls and lacking in conviction in the tackle. In fact, nothing much seemed to be working as it should, as the Strikers back line of Micheal McEvoy, Paul Brownlie, Daniel Dreger and Ross Cunneen looked uncertain and mistake-prone, and the midfield featuring Damien Waugh, Brad Hicks, Brad Stevens and Brad Lacey looked strangely disinterested. The effect of all this was to leave Russell Woodruffe and Greg Di Losa isolated up front for much of the time.

The Knights produced the perfect tactics for a team playing with this sort of lack of purpose, by getting players back in numbers behind the ball when they lost possession, defusing attacks with ease and occasionally breaking out with sharp passing and movement. Indeed, a few minutes before the end of the half an attack on the break produced dividends for the Knights, when a move involving three players swept from deep inside their own half to finish with a goal to Andy Corner. Corner strode into the Strikers’ penalty area apparently unmarked to fire a low shot past the stranded Antony Hall.

The Knights went into the break 2-0 ahead, with the Strikers supporters wondering when their team would turn up to play. Perhaps Swan had been wondering also, because whatever he said to his team at half time must have been blistering stuff. The Strikers came out fired up after the break, and within ten minutes were back in the contest when Carl Giannangelo ghosted in behind the left side of the Ipswich defence to despatch a low shot past the ‘keeper and into the corner of the Knights’ net.

For the next ten or fifteen minutes, it looked like "game on" as the Strikers strove for the equaliser. But Ipswich defended doggedly and proved equal to the task of keeping them out, while continuing to threaten on the break.

Then, with time running out and a Strikers win looking increasingly unlikely, McEvoy scuffed an unnecessarily rushed clearance. It was returned with interest by the Knights from the half-way line, over the top and in behind the ragged Strikers back line. Corner ran on to the ball unmarked and slipped it neatly to Hall’s left to bag his second goal for the night and put the result beyond doubt.

The Knights were understandably delighted with their win. But it must be said that this was far from a performance that their Premier League opponents should be satisfied with. It is likely that training at Perry Park on Thursday night will be a far from pleasant experience.