Words: Michael Flynn
Image: Albert Perez / Football Queensland

Palm Beach SC captain Justyn McKay says his side are conscious of not falling victim to a Westfield FFA Cup upset against Broadbeach United on Tuesday night.

The winner of the Gold Coast Zone Qualifying Round 5 tie will claim local bragging rights on the glitter strip as the last remaining Gold Coast club in this year’s Westfield FFA Cup.

Despite the defending PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland Premiers playing a tier higher than their opponents, Broadbeach will take into the contest form that sees them undefeated in the third-tier BLK Premier League this season.

By contrast, Sharks come off a last start loss against Brisbane Strikers and McKay admitted his side can’t afford to replicate that performance against Broadbeach, despite defeating them 4-0 in a pre-season friendly in February.

“It’s a one-off game and you can see how many upsets there have been already in the FFA Cup. We’ve got to be right on our game to make sure we’re not on the wrong end of a shock,” McKay explained.

“Their confidence will be sky high because they haven’t been beaten all season and they do have some quality players in their team that could play at a higher level so we won’t be taking them lightly.”

“But if we play to our full capabilities we should be too strong for them, but we all know that cup competitions are never that straight forward.”

McKay said Sharks coach Grae Piddick keeps a keen eye on BLK Premier League competition, and that his tactical insight will be invaluable on Tuesday night.

“Grae knows the local league really well. He is always out watching games, so he will have them well-covered and know where their strengths and weaknesses are,” he explained.

Last year’s inaugural Westfield FFA Cup delivered Palm Beach to the national stage for the first time in their history and their Quarter Final run was the best result achieved of any Queensland club, including Hyundai A-League club Brisbane Roar FC.

However, McKay was adamant that he and his teammates didn’t want to be considered one-season wonders and he is eager to replicate last year’s heroics.

“For those of us that have returned this season, we definitely don’t want to rest on our laurels and just think back to 2014. We want to create some more memories.”

“The trips away and the games at Cbus Stadium, they will probably be the highlights of some of our careers, so we want to get through these early rounds and do it all again.”

“But there are also a lot of lads who have come in (to the club) and they will also want to be on that big stage for the first time and put themselves in the shop window for bigger teams.”

McKay also believes a sustained Westfield FFA Cup run could prove the catalyst to turn around his team’s erratic start to the league campaign, which sees Sharks currently in eighth position.

“It’s been such a disjointed start to the season which hasn’t helped, but now we have a good run of games coming in the league and the cup.”

“At the moment we’ve played seven games in about ten weeks, so we haven’t been able to get any sort of rhythm or routine in the games. It really hasn’t helped.”

“But we know we’ve also got a lot to improve on because at the moment we’re just not creating enough chances in the final third,” he concluded.

Westfield FFA Cup Gold Coast Zone Qualifying Round 5

Broadbeach United v Palm Beach SC
Nikiforides Family Park
Tuesday, May 12
Kick-off - 7:30PM