Under 18 Boys – Sunshine Coast FC (2) v Brisbane Roar FC QAS/NTC (4)
The game kicked off at noon in warm conditions with a slight sea breeze and due to the conditions the referee agreed to allow mid-half drink breaks.
The Roar settled into their technical game and looked the sharper of the two teams as they worked to close Fire down quickly and deny them possession.
After ten minutes pressure was mounting on the Fire defence and Fire were not holding possession for long enough to create any threats going forward.
For all their pressure, Roar had only a half-chance which the attacker blasted away over the bar from a narrow angle but it wasn’t until the 25th minute that Fire had their first shot on goal when Jez Lofthouse forced the Roar keeper, Dakota Strange, to save low to his left and concede a corner.
Fire had worked their way into the game when at the 29th minute they lost possession and this time Roar was able to counter quickly and Lleyton Brooks ran onto a ball in behind the Fire defence and put the ball into the net passed the advancing Josh Wall.
A minute later a Roar player was through again on the Fire’s right but Taj Suffolk tracked him into the penalty box and shadowed him closely and did not allow him to attack the goal. The resulting shot was well wide and posed no danger.
Fire were looking vulnerable and Wall was sweeping effectively in behind his defence maintaining a high line and saving them on a number of occasions. He was called on to make a save from close range at his near post to deny Roar a second goal.
Fire were edging back into the game and in the 40th minute Lofthouse was able to drive past two Roar players in midfield and play wide to Abe Reeves who was beginning to find space on the right using his speed to accelerate passed defenders. His dangerous cross was cleared for a corner. The ball from the corner went through the outstretched hands of Strange and just over the bar for a repeat corner.
On the left Cameron Nairn was working hard to find a way past the attention of several defenders as Fire were building momentum. Finally Fire were rewarded in the 43rd minute when Reeves once again used his pace to beat a defender and drilled the ball into the net to make it 1-1.
Fire were sparked into action and the midfield created some promising moves as half time approached.
Fire started the second half as they finished the first and two minutes in Terone Wattegedara put Reeves away again on the right. Reeves drilled a shot at the near post from a narrow angle but Strange had it well covered.
In the 55th minute Reeves caused trouble again down the right and the cross from Nairn was headed away by a Roar defender. A few minutes later Liam Burns was involved a number of times in a passing move that saw Jack Stevenson pin a Roar defender in the corner.
In another momentum shift in the 62nd minute Fire were in trouble inside their own box and could not clear the danger as the ball seemed to pinball between several players. Braedon Steel for the Roar pounced on the loose ball and his low hard shot beat Wall to make it 2-1 to the Roar.
Five minutes later Roar too easily got in behind the Fire defence and with some poor marking ex- Fire player Ollie Duncan was able to head home the cross from close range to make it 3-1 to the Roar.
Fire were feeling the pressure and gave away a free kick just outside the penalty box in the 73rd minute. In consecutive games Fire conceded a goal from a quickly taken free kick as Fire were caught completely off guard as the referee bizarrely allowed the free kick to be taken as Josh Wall was against one post lining up the defensive wall. With the blessing of the referee Lachlan Sayers kicked the ball into an open goal to make it 4-1 from a scene of confusion.
Fire were trying to salvage something from a game that had slipped away from them and did not deserve to be down by three goals on the day. But a minute later they again had to scramble the ball away from inside their own box when Wall made repeat saves before the Fire defence could clear the danger.
Both teams were suffering from the heat as players started to cramp up. In the 82nd minute Kye Yamaoka-Chapman, on for Nairn who was required to back up for the First team, played a ball in behind the Roar defence for Wattegedara to run into the box and beat Strange to put the ball into the net off the post to make it 4-2, before he was cleaned up by the keeper in the process.
Fire were finishing strongly and Lofthouse made a run down the right and crossed a ball that was intercepted by Strange diving forward to deny Fire. In the 89th minute the Roar defence was stretched and Strange was required to come out of his box to meet the threat from Yamaoka-Chapman. In going to ground to deny Yamaoka-Chapman, Strange handled the ball outside his box and received a red card for being the last defender and denying a goal scoring opportunity to the Fire.
Roar put a field player in-goal for the last minute or two and Fire were almost rewarded when Reeves pressured the stand-in keeper who lost the ball but recovered to deflect the ball for a corner.
Player of the Match: Josh Wall
