REDLANDS City Devils went top of the QSL ladder – if only overnight – but more importantly kept the pressure up on leaders Sunshine Coast with an emphatic 5-0 victory over the travelling Whitsunday Miners on Saturday night.

Redlands gave themselves the best possible start when Andy Barton scored his fourth goal in three games, powering in a header from a corner ball after only five minutes. Soon after, the visitors could have got back on level terms but Devils keeper Matt Ham saved well from Michael Van Moolenbroek.

Redlands then began to turn up the heat and in the 20th minute Josh Filewood hit an absolute screamer from fully 30 yards beyond the despairing fingertips of the Whitsunday keeper into the top right corner to double their lead.

Just two minutes later, the Devils were three up when Danny Gardner outpaced the Whitsunday defence and curled in a perfectly weighted ball from out wide for Barry Moran to finish well.

Whitsunday looked shell-shocked and before they had time to re-group found themselves four down when captain Ryan Bridge headed home from another corner.

Redlands kept up the pressure but there were to be no further goals in the half.

Ten minutes into the second half Matt Hill knocked a glorious 40 yard diagonal ball that split the Whitsunday defence and dropped at the feet of Yoshi Okada some 20 yards out.

The Whitsunday keeper, sensing the danger, rushed out to meet the Redlands midfield player but Okada calmly rounded him before rolling the ball into the now vacated net. With the score at 5-0 the Devils seemed to lose concentration and the game tapered off until the Whitsunday’s Michael Van Moolenbroek burst into the Redlands penalty box and smashed a shot against the foot of the post.

This jerked the home side back into action and in the 80th minute Raj Oshen was very unlucky not to have scored Redlands’ sixth when his powerful header from another corner appeared to comfortably cross the Whitsunday goal line but was waved away despite protests.

The visitors wasted a golden opportunity to take away a consolation goal but poor finishing from close range saw the effort go high over the Redlands crossbar.

Redlands played out the final five minutes before the referee brought the entertaining match to a close.

After the match Redlands assistant coach Dave Thorogood said: “We went into the game cautiously as their ‘goals for’ column in the table was right up there, but we were fortunate to get the early goal which always helps.

“We then put in an excellent first half performance capped by four quality goals. Three were very well crafted with tidy finishes and Josh’s thunderbolt would have been worth the entry fee alone.

“We were a little disappointed that we lost our way during the opening 15 to 20 minutes of the second half, but credit should go to Whitsunday who although four goals down still showed plenty of fighting qualities.”

On next weekend’s game against the QAS, Thorogood said: “Although it is an away game for us, it will be played at the Cleveland Showgrounds on Saturday, May 17 at 3pm. They are the cream of the State’s young players and come very well credentialed.”

The Toscanis Restaurant Man of the Match Award went to Josh Filewood for a great allround performance and a great goal.

PREMIER DIVISION: The Redlands United Premier Division 1 side went down 2-1 to Grange Thistle at home on Saturday night. The match never really hit any heights compared to recent performances by the Harvey Norman Red Devils and started as if both teams were happy to go through the motions.

Grange scored early through a quick counter-attack and went in at halftime with a 1-0 lead. The second half saw Redlands go 2-0 behind after a long range effort found its way into the corner of the net.

This lifted Redlands and for the last 20 minutes the Devils dominated the game, creating chance after chance.

The Harvey Norman Red Devils pulled one back but could not finish off any of their chances and the match ended 2-1 to Grange Thistle.

Redlands coach Lenny Ingle said: “That was probably one of our worst performances in recent weeks but we still created enough chances to win it; we just need that bit of luck in front of goal.

“I cannot ask much more from our players – they work very hard at training and try to stick to our game plans but we seem to get punished when we make mistakes.”

The Alexandra Hills Hotel Man of the Match Award went to Greg Walden for a solid performance. Redlands United Premier Division 1 Reserves played out a 1-1 draw with Grange Thistle Reserves. Coach Aiden Murphy was happy with his young side’s efforts in a game they could have easily won.

This weekend’s fixtures see Harvey Norman Red Devils travel to Eric Evans Oval to face Ipswich Knights, Reserve Grade kickoff at 1pm with the First Grade kickoff at 3pm.