Take a bow Queens Park AFC.... Four in a row
“I think it moves the goals, in terms of building towards next season. We are under no illusions that we are the little side from Invercargill punching above our weight.
Queens Park AFC has made it four wins in a row in the Southern Premier League rocketing itself to fifth in the competition standings.
It also reaffirms that the Invercargill football club more than belongs playing at that level.
Queens Park beat Dunedin City Royals 2-1 on Saturday in Dunedin, climbing from second last in the competition standings to fifth in the 10-team league in recent weeks.
Dunedin City Royals scored first to go 1-0 up in the game played in Dunedin before Queens Park banked two first-half goals to go 2-1 up which remained the final score.
So, what’s behind the spike in form from the Paddy Murphy-coached team?
“I think it’s just a little bit of belief. We’ve got a lot of young players in the squad that are improving every week,” Murphy said.
“The performances weren’t bad in the first half of the season, we weren’t playing bad. We just needed to take a chance, or a few chances and we’ve started to do that now.
“The young fellas are playing really well. We are just going nicely now.”
Queens Park has played 13 games in its 18-game Southern Premier League campaign.
Included in its final five outings are fixtures against Mosgiel, Wanaka, and Northern AFC who they are yet to beat in Queens Park’s two seasons at the next level.
That provides some further motivation in the quest to finish the 2023 season strongly.
First up will be a trip to take on Mosgiel on Saturday.
There were some questions as to how Queens Park would handle the step up from Southland’s Donald Gray Cup competition after deciding to make the move in 2022.
In particular with the demanding travel schedule factored in.
Murphy is happy with what has transpired over the past two seasons.
“I think it moves the goals, in terms of building towards next season. We are under no illusions that we are the little side from Invercargill punching above our weight.
“We need to stay in this division, first and foremost. It would have been nicer to get those points on the board earlier in the season rather than scrapping until the second half of the season.”
Meanwhile, Queens Park’s second-tier team was tipped up in the first round of the Donald Gray Cup competition on Saturday.
Winton AFC beat Queens Park 3-2, while in the other Donald Gray Cup game on Saturday Thistle beat Gore 4-2.
Old Boys was initially scheduled to play Te Anau but Te Anau was a late withdrawal from the competition sighting problems with players being able to travel.
It has reduced the competition to five teams with a bye now included.
Southland’s top-flight football competition initially started as 12 teams before the top six split to play for the Donald Gray Cup and the bottom six playing in Division One.