RED Devils coach Graham Fyfe has praised his side’s resilience after bouncing back from a disappointing defeat to Logan with a hard-fought 2-1 away win over North Star FC.
Fyfe said the three points were well deserved against a North Star side he believed was better than its league position suggested.
“It was a good away win,” Fyfe said.
“They should have more points than what they do on the table. They’ve got some good players and some good young lads.
“It was a tough place to go, but we grinded it out. We’ve played better, but defensively we were good and scored two great goals.
“We could have got a couple more, but we had to defend really well as well. They were a bit unfortunate at times, but it was a good win.”
The victory was the perfect response after Redlands slumped to a disappointing 5-1 loss against Logan the previous week.
Fyfe admitted he hadn’t seen that performance coming.
“I didn’t think we had that in us, to be honest,” he said.
“Logan were good. They were energetic and they did okay, but we just gave goals away early doors and couldn’t recover.”
He revealed illness had swept through the squad leading into the North Star clash, leaving him uncertain who would even be available on match day.
“We’ve had a lot of sickness run through the camp,” he said.
“We had boys not train all week and they were only available on the Saturday morning, so I didn’t even know who my team was.
“But they dug in and there was nothing better than getting the win after the defeat. It was good to get back on the winning ways again.”
Fyfe also singled out Jayden Balarezo for his impressive form this season, saying the talented youngster was beginning to flourish despite being asked to fill several different roles.
“Jayden’s been great,” he said.
“Since day one, really, he’s had to move around positions a little bit because of injuries and availability.
“We’ve helped him positionally to get into more dangerous areas and when he does that, he’s got a great left foot.
“He’s got that goalscoring attribute, but even when he’s not scoring, he’s tackling and has the willingness and desire to defend as well. He’s got a bit of everything.
“You can see why he’s been an NPL player and could easily do it again.”
Redlands face another challenge this weekend when what was meant to be a home clash against Capalaba becomes a neutral venue fixture at Nudgee after the club lost access to its home ground because of the Junior State Cup touch football tournament.
“It was supposed to be at home, but we’ve had to go to Nudgee,” Fyfe said.
“It’s very frustrating. It would have been great to have Capalaba at home, a local derby, really good for the club and for people to come and watch at Redlands.
“But we’ll go to Nudgee, so it’s kind of an away game for both teams.
“They’ll be fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league, and we know they’ll be desperate.”
