Under 12 Boys
Western Pride FC (0) v Sunshine Coast FC (10)
Fire started strong with some fast passing and two minutes in Kane Gibbs drove straight to goal and took a shot. Immediately after, a counter attack by Western Pride, straight to the goal where Fire’s Ben Nassiep made a great save.
In the 7th minute, Maxx Demeritus had a shot on goal which sprayed wide, followed by Gibbs making a nice run up the middle passed to Nathan Weckert who took a solid shot but a great save was made by Western Pride’s keeper.
The next few minutes saw some great passing by Fire through the midfield. In the 10th minute, Gibbs made another run again, delivering a great ball to Weckert who this time hit the back net for Fire’s first goal.
A defensive error at the top of the box in the 15th minute allowed Gibbs to win the ball and score to bring Fire up to 2-0.
Some great footwork by Flynn Faulkner in the middle and passed to Dimitri Pritchard who crossed the ball into the box and Weckert got a head to it, scoring again for Fire in the 18th minute.
Western Pride scrambled in their defensive line to get back and combat the constant attack by Fire.
In the 26th minute Faulkner again showed some great footwork in the middle, passed through to Gibbs who again passed off to Weckert to give him his hat trick.
Fire made a solid start to the second half with a shot on goal within the first 30 seconds. Faulkner took another nice shot on goal but saved by the keeper. Demeritus took another shot on goal 60 seconds later which went wide.
Faulkner put a great ball through to Jake Rocker who cracked it to the top right of the goal in the 37th minute. A defender error in the box in the 41st minute allowed Demeritus to tap it to Gibbs who scored.
Rocker used his pace to beat the defenders and put a great ball through to Sam Klein who scored in the 46th minute. Almost straight after, Weckert broke through the middle, took a shot and hit the post. The ball was recovered by Faulkner, who took a long shot and scored yet again.
Fire closed the scoring for the game in the 52nd minute when Rocker placed the ball nicely past the Pride keeper into the left corner.
Player of the Match: Kane Gibbs
Under 13 Boys
Western Pride FC (3) v Sunshine Coast FC (2)
The Fire 13s were looking to consolidate their fine performance from last week. A much improved Western Pride side who were fielding several players from last year’s Olympic outfit were never going to be easy an opponent. The opening exchanges were quite messy with both teams struggling to hold possession for any great length of time. It was Fire however who created the better chances with both Gaske and Smith having early shots on goal.
Patterson was the first to put the ball in the net; however the linesman deemed him to be offside. Alex also found himself 1v1 with the keeper only to push the ball wide. On the 15 minute mark and with the drinks break only seconds away, Pride were awarded a free kick just outside the box.
A well placed shot found Pride up 1-0 at the first drinks break. Shortly after the resumption of play the Fire struck back to level the score. With a free kick awarded wide on the right, Debbage curled a perfectly placed ball into the box. With the keeper stranded and finding it hard to move behind the well positioned Patterson, the ball was deflected off a defender’s head and into the net, going into half-time 1-1.
Shortly after the break saw the Fire go 2-1 up. A flick from Simpson with the outside of his boot found Williams with space in the midfield. A nice through ball to Patterson exposed the Pride defence and found him 1v1 with the keeper.
A lovely chip over the keeper and the Fire were leading for the first time in the game. Fire continued to press for another goal and were unlucky not to go further ahead. A great run from Debbage followed by a nice ball through to Gaske again found Fire unlucky not to score as the keeper pulled off a fine save from close range. However, as the case has been several times this year, the opposition levelled the score as a Pride midfielder found some space outside the box and scored with a great shot.
With the game now evenly balanced, the final goal was decided by the referee. After what appeared to be a fine shoulder to shoulder tackle from Ellenberger, the referee deemed the challenge to be a foul and just inside the box. Showing great character the young Fire team pushed for the equaliser. Debbage on one of his winding attacking runs forced a save from the keeper that fell to Patterson, who pushed the ball wide of the goal. Emery showed us his superb vision from a free kick inside the Fire half and sent Patterson through again. A fine save from Pride keeper saw a follow up shot pushed wide and the Fire just couldn’t find a deserved equaliser on the day.
Player of the Match: Jacob Lombardo. Brilliant in defence and equally as good going forward. One move in particular found Jacob wrapping around his winger to create an extra man down the left. Jacob received the ball back just inside the box and his powerful left foot shot was well saved by the keeper.
Under 13 Girls
Peninsula Power FC (2) v Sunshine Coast FC (8)
Round one of the 2016 season saw Sunshine Coast Fire against Peninsula Power away at AJ Kelly Park. The morning heat put extra strain on the girls as they were warming up but as the game began they focused on the game ahead and were determined to start the season with a win.
Fire opened the game with an early goal which was played from the right side of the field with Courtney Brunner and Tamika Banks using short passes to open the goal up for Brunner where she had a one on one with the goalkeeper.
Fire scored soon after with another goal from Brunner. The ball was played from the back by Tia Vela and straight up the left side to Mikayla Wrigley who then passed the ball inside to Brunner and she was able to find the net again.
Peninsula Power came back with a goal which was dribbled through the Fire midfield and was played through as a lay off which led to the shot on target.
Shortly after, Peninsula Power caught Fire out on a counter attack. Peninsula’s #11 ran the ball straight through the midfield and defence and scored the equaliser. One minute before half time saw Brunner on the ball again taking a shot which was powerful but safely tucked away in the top right corner leaving the Fire girls 3-2 up in the first half.
The second half was dominated by Fire, Brunner was able to run with the ball straight through the defence placing the ball passed the Power goalkeeper. Fire continued to keep possession, denying Peninsula Power any opportunities. Brunner was too fast for the Peninsula Power defence and was able to score another four goals by cutting in and taking a one on one chance with the keeper.
Shortly after Wrigley had the ball dropped at her feet inside the penalty area and tapped the ball into the back of the net. Audrey Upston began to build play involving the other Fire players which pushed the ball up field to 18 yard box. Upston had the ball passed to her close to goal and managed to place the ball in the goal. A few minutes later, Upston again received the ball on the edge of the 18 yard box and took a chance to score by shooting directly at the goal from her position which lead to the eighth goal of the game for Fire. The final whistle was blown and the final score was 8-2 to Fire.
Player of the Match: Courtney Brunner
Under 14 Boys
Western Pride FC (0) v Sunshine Coast FC (6)
Not submitted
Under 15 Boys
Western Pride FC (2) v Sunshine Coast FC (5)
It was another sweltering day that greeted the U15 boys as they looked to get back to winning ways after two losses to late goals in recent weeks.
A good early chance for Pride went over the crossbar before Beau Boucher played a good pass to Kaelan Debbage whose pace allowed him to get in behind before his effort was deflected wide.
Fire slowly gained control and a Tom Whittaker header was saved, followed by a great piece of individual skill that saw Keegan New find Whittaker who went on a mazy run before finishing with a cheeky chip over the keeper.
Pride were in the match at this stage though and almost equalised after a cross was deflected towards the goal, however it rebounded off the crossbar rather than finding the net.
On 22 minutes Pride equalised after Fire gave the ball away in a central area. Lachlan Tolpitt’s attempted tackle rebounded to the Pride midfielder who put the ball into the bottom corner from 18 yards.
The goal seemed to spark Fire into action and Debbage came close and Harry Arnison hit the crossbar before Whittaker grabbed his second of the day with a good header from a Debbage cross.
A third goal came just before half time as a long ball from Tolpitt into the box landed at Whittaker’s feet and he once again finished well to grab a first half hat trick.
The second half saw Pride continue to put up a good challenge, however it was Fire who looked the stronger side as the midfield gained ascendancy.
The fourth goals for Fire came after Harry Bowen combined well with Whittaker to release Debbage and the left-winger made no mistake with another strong finish.
It was almost five as Budd Baulbys played a fine ball down the wing for Whittaker who returned the ball to Baublys, but his volley went over the bar.
A free kick for Fire led to the fifth goal of the day, with Jordan Meredith finding Debbage whose ball into the middle was volleyed with force into the net by Harry Arnison, who continues to perform extremely well for the U15s.
A ball into the mixer that wasn’t cleared allowed Pride to grab a consolation late, but in the end the 5-2 win was a good reflection of the game as a whole.
Player of the Match: Tom Whittaker
Under 15 Girls
Peninsula Power FC (0) v Sunshine Coast FC (8)
Not submitted
Under 16 Boys
Western Pride FC (1) v Sunshine Coast FC (3)
Fire started the game setting the pace by playing possession football and not trying to force the attack.
Western Pride passed the ball nicely down the right hand side had a decent shot on the eight minute mark but they hit the post.
Both teams created chances to score and Western Pride started to get frustrated, being caught offside multiple times.
Bailey Waern made a run through the middle in the 21st minute and played a nice one-two with Mitch Bridge. Waern received the ball back took a powerful shot that just went wide of the goals.
Dylan Brownett put a great through ball behind the Western Pride defence onto Taj Suffolk, who got past the keeper and shot into the far post net on 25 minutes. Nathan Foster held off Pride’s shots to keep a clean sheet the first half.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Terone Wattegedara put a through ball to Suffolk who beat his defender but is denied a goal by the post.
Play starts with Foster who kicked a long ball to Suffolk on the right wing who took the ball down the line put a cross into the box. Wattegedara heads it past the keeper to score Fire their second goal in the 49th minute.
Pride took a free kick from outside the box in the 65th minute which was tipped over by Foster’s finger tips. Western Pride broke through the centre of the field with a through ball and the first strike was saved by Foster but the deflection fell to a Pride attacker who tucked it into the goals.
Suffolk was brought down in the box in the final minute. The resulting penalty was taken by Suffolk who deceived the keeper and shot low, closing the score at 3-1 to Fire.
Player of the Match: Nathan Foster
Under 18 Boys
Western Pride FC (6) v Sunshine Coast FC (3)
The first PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland match of the 2016 season for the Fire 18 Boys saw them travel to Western Pride for a 5pm kick off on a hot Saturday afternoon, with only a slight breeze to temper the heat.
The first few minutes were end to end and each team had a corner without threatening the other’s goal. Western Pride settled first and used their speed out wide from both wingers to trouble the Fire’s defence.
In the 10th minute an incisive raid into the Fire penalty area by the Pride’s Salomon Lukonga saw him brought down to earn his team a penalty. It was converted to make it 1-0 to Pride.
Fire had an immediate response when Jez Lofthouse found space behind the Pride defence with good footwork but his shot could not beat the Pride keeper, Dylan Williams, in a 1v1. The rebound from Williams spun favourably back into his arms.
In the 16th minute Lofthouse again drove up field and split the defence with a pass that found Terone Wattegedara. When Williams parried Wattegedara’s shot back toward him he was able to pounce on the loose ball and find the net to make it 1-1.
Just as Fire were looking to build momentum from the equaliser, within a devastating 10 minute spell, Western Pride took the game away from Fire with goals in the 19th, 23rd and 29th minutes without reply to lead 4-1. Fire failed to deal with the speed up front from Pride and the enthusiasm they showed.
Fire fought back and in the 37th minute Wattegedara made another run into the box and received the ball at his feet, back to goal. He held off the attention of the Pride defenders and laid the ball back to Ollie Blackmore sitting deep outside the penalty box. Blackmore’s first time low strike was driven powerfully into the bottom left hand corner of the goal passed the desperate dive of Williams to make it 4-2.
The second half started under lights as the sun had set and the air was cooler for the players. Despite an improved showing in the second half by the Fire boys, it was Western Pride who increased their lead in the 52nd minute when Lukonga completed his hat trick. Fire did not deal with a scrappy ball across the face of the Fire goal from close range and the ball struck Lukonga on the upper thighs and deflected into the goal to make it 5-2.
Williams, the Pride keeper, was having a good game and managed to frustrate Fire as he tipped a shot from Taj Suffolk onto the frame of the top right corner, and tip a goal-bound shot from Blackmore onto the post after a promising passing move in which several Fire players were involved. Williams also managed to scoop out a goal bound downward header from Kobe Fuller, and dive at the feet of the Fire forwards to collect a low hard cross from the right from Suffolk.
Fire finally found reward for their second half effort when Lofthouse was put through into space on the left by Kye Yamaoka-Chapman. The cross from Lofthouse found the feet of Wattegedara who found the back of the net with his first time shot. At 5-3 another goal for Fire would have made for an interesting finish.
Fuller had a further opportunity in the 80th minute when he found himself 1v1 with Williams but his low shot went agonisingly passed the outside of the left hand post.
Pride would have the last say however as the Fire defence did not deal with a speculative long ball in the 82nd minute and Lukonga was on hand to finish for his fourth, to make the final score 6-3.
Player of the Match: Terone Wattegedara
