The Fire Under 18 Boys winning streak came to an end on Sunday when they were defeated 2-0 by Brisbane City in the Macron Cup Final at H.A. Dalton Park.
The loss meant the boys were runners-up in the pre-season competition, after remaining undefeated through the first three games.
The intense game saw the Fire start well, defending strongly against Brisbane City with Jordy Irwin making some great tackles and Aaron Smith pulling off two early saves in goal.
On the 6th minute the Fire created a chance when Nairn passed to Fuller to beat a player and take the ball into the box only for the City keeper to save Nairn’s tap-in off the line.
Just a few minutes later City saw a chance as a free kick saw a scramble before the Fire defence cleared the ball.
Smith’s good form continued as he made another save, this time a City strike from the 6 yard box. Just two minutes later good defensive work from Irwin saved a goal after a City striker beat Smith.
On the 20th minute City was awarded a penalty after Kelton Scriggins brought down a player in the box. City converted the penalty to gain a goal advantage.
Fire chased an equaliser with a good attack from De Chastel and Fuller, only for Fuller to be caught off-side.
In the 38th minute De Chastel won the ball to pass to Jacob Fulluck who made a good attempt to turn and shoot under heavy pressure, and on the 41st minute Devitt made a long-range shot however an equaliser remained elusive.
Just minutes later a City player was given a yellow card for a foul on Fulluck in a goal scoring position and Nairn sent a free kick wide of the post just before half time.
City was awarded a penalty early in the second half after a player was deemed to have been brought down in the box, however the City player failed to convert the shot.
On the 49th minute Vieira lost control of the ball in the centre of the field and a City player was able to take a good left-foot shot past keeper Luke Marker, who was in goal for the second-half.
The Fire created chances; in the 55th minute Devitt took a shot from a Nairn corner which deflected straight to the keeper, in the 68th minute Fulluck flicked on an Irwin free kick for Lloyd to shoot over the bar. Fulluck again saw a chance in the 80th minute, latching onto a good through-ball from Irwin to take a shot which the keeper fumbled however there were no Fire players to pick up the crumbs. Fulluck again had the last chance of the game, going 1v1 with the keeper for the keeper to recover and save his shot onto the post and out.
“The two best sides played in final, which was great to see. Brisbane City was well structured throughout, we were in parts but you could tell it was pre-season for us, there’s a lot still to work on,” he said.
“On another day the result could have gone the other way, if we had have taken our chances, however they took our chances and we didn’t.
“The Macron Cup was a great pre-season event and it was very well run, being able to mix and match to bring our younger players through and test them on the field was great.”
