Under 12 Boys – Sunshine Coast FC (0) v Western Pride FC (4)
This Round 15 contest was the second meeting of the season between these two sides, Pride winning the previous Round 6 encounter convincingly, 8-4, in Ipswich.
Pride started the game kicking from left to right and were caught offside on their first foray forward.
Thereafter Fire dominated the early exchanges and had the first chance of the match after only two minutes when Luke Vancam was unable to convert a cross from the right-hand flank. A minute later Vancam was again involved after a good play from Jett Wouters created another shooting opportunity for him which the Pride keeper saved. Herbie Allsopp also drove a shot wide of the target after 4 minutes as Fire continued their early dominance.
Pride began to grow into the match and forced a corner on six minutes and after Fire half cleared the visitors sent a speculative shot over the bar. Fire were still on top however, and after a strong run from Riley Moore through midfield the final pass towards Beppe Rocco was just too heavy. Vancam again came close for Fire after 10 minutes when the Pride keeper was unable to clear effectively but Vancam’s shot was inches wide. Vancam then saved Fire with a last man tackle after Pride broke forward quickly following a Fire corner on 12 minutes. Riley Moore, having a good half in the Fire midfield, was unable to find the angle for a shot after some neat Fire approach play. On 16 minutes Fire, again were only inches away from taking the lead when Wouters couldn’t quite connect to a perfectly placed Dré Ngaha free kick.
Minutes later Allsopp picked out Vancam with a great cross field pass that was played first time into the path of Wouters whose touch forced him a little too wide and the Pride keeper was able to smother and concede the corner.
Pride again broke forward down their right-hand side in the 19th minute, and with Fire putting themselves under pressure by failing to clear, Pride fired a shot just over. Pride were allowed to take a short corner in the 20th minute without Fire pressing and again came close. In the 21st minute Pride took the lead after a defensive mix up and a sliced clearance presented the simplest of chances for the waiting Pride striker to easily convert.
After their bright and purposeful opening 20 minutes Fire began to struggle and Pride were through on goal again in the 25th minute but the chance was missed.
As half time approached Fire forced a corner after some good play down their right and a half chance fell to Wouters but he was unable to finish. The resulting corner was the last action of the half and Fire went in unlucky to be trailing 0-1.
The second half began in stark contrast to the first, both teams playing scrappy, untidy football, neither side able to string passes together and it took until the 39th minute for any meaningful attacking play to occur when Ngaha forced a Fire corner after a run down the right-hand side. Again, Pride broke quickly and a good ball in behind the Fire defence allowed the Pride striker to go 1 on 1 with keeper Alec Lavender who was unable to prevent Pride from extending their lead.
Fire almost got themselves straight back into the game when Ngaha fired a free kick narrowly over the Pride crossbar on 43 minutes.
In the 48th minute Pride made it 0-3 and Fire were again guilty of not clearing the ball from dangerous areas and missing tackles. On 50 minutes Pride came close once more after playing the ball though the Fire defence but this time the striker shot wide when clean though on goal.
As the half wore on Pride continued to look the team mostly likely to add to the scoring, Fire misplacing passes and being unable to create any momentum. In the 59th minute Pride headed just wide from a good cross but made no mistake in the final minute after easily passing the ball through Fire to give the final score line the very convincing look of Sunshine Coast Fire 0, Western Pride 4.
Under 13 Boys – Sunshine Coast FC (11) v Western Pride FC (0)
Round 15 saw Sunshine Coast FC’s second meeting with Western Pride FC. The last meeting was at Western Pride’s home ground where Sunshine Coast walked away with a confident win.
This match was reminiscent of our first meeting of the season. Sunshine Coast FC immediately placed pressure on Western Pride’s defence and moved the ball with confidence.
Josh Kacperski ran the ball from right back, passed it through to Dimitri Pritchard on the right and across to Samuel Klein for our first goal on the 3rd minute. Fire 1-0.
The 7th minute and Sunshine Coast FC were on the board again when Pritchard passed the ball through to Kane Gibbs in the centre who took a shot with the ball hitting the bottom right post to roll over the line. Fire 2-0
This was closely followed with another goal on the 8th minute when Matthew Becker delivered the ball to Gibbs with a return pass back to Becker and a solid shot on goal. Fire 3-0
Sunshine Coast FC continued with their high intensity attacking game pushing towards goal. Pritchard passed the ball to Gibbs when a strike on goal deflected off the keeper and was followed in by Becker on the 15th minute. Fire 4-0
Gibbs and Klein worked together to see Klein’s second shot hit the bottom left post and roll over the line on the 18th minute. Fire 5-0
The second half saw Sunshine Coast FC return with confident movement of the ball and use of the entire pitch.
Maxx Demerutis passed the ball through to Jake Rocker who took a strike on goal. It was deflected by the keeper with Rocker ready to follow in on 40th minute. Fire 6-0
The movement of the ball continued with Demerutis finding the feet of Kyle Barnes who took a decisive strike and found limited space in between the keeper and the post to score on the 46th minute. Fire 7-0.
The team didn’t stop driving forward and a minute later Rocker took a strike on goal. Becker continued to demonstrate his hunger and determination and followed the ball in off a keeper deflection to score a hattrick for the match. Fire 8-0
A deflection by the Western Pride Keeper from a Demerutis strike on goal was again followed in by Becker on the 50th minute. Fire 9-0
Sunshine Coast FC didn’t hold back with a pass by Pritchard through to Gibbs for a goal on the 65th minute. Fire 10-0
A corner just before the whistle taken by Pritchard found the head of Becker for his 5th and final goal of the match on the 70th minute. Fire 11-0
Player of the Match: Matthew Becker
Under 15 Girls – UQFC (0) v Sunshine Coast FC (1)
With the team down three players this week, and our goal keeper running just a little late, the girls took to the field feeling the pressure. It was soon business as usual though:
3 mins – Long cross from Kijah Stephenson saw Jackie Doyle try to head our first goal just missing the corner of the goal.
7 mins – Our back line was set tight – Izzy Ohara using her speed to defend off UQ winger.
11 mins – Jackie Doyle took a shot at goal with the ball hitting the crossbar and almost bouncing back down into the goal.
25mins – Kijah Stephenson’s incredible speed and footwork made ground and passed to Emily Roach who took an unlucky shot at goal.
27 mins – Kijah Stephenson again made ground and was unlucky sending the ball over the crossbar.
29 mins – Audrey Upston received a nice short pass to take aim at the goal but it too went flying over the cross bar.
30mins – Jordan Weckert who was carrying an injury to her right shoulder sent a long beautiful cross to Jackie Doyle who was waiting to head the ball into goals but didn’t quite make it.
31 mins – Our luck finally came with Kijah Stephenson making ground and setting herself up in front of the goals to put the ball cleanly away into the back of the net Score 1 – nil.
42 mins – UQ team had kept us busy in defence with Murphy Sheaf saving plenty of shots at goal.
47 mins – Our girls were again under attack from a corner kick which almost curved into the box saved again by Murphy Sheaf.
54th mins – Audrey Upston making ground in the centre took a shot at goal.
63 mins – Jackie Doyle took on three UQ players to eventually have a shot at goal.
65 mins – A penalty kick by Kijah Stephenson went wide of the goal post with the team looking at the clock for a much needed break.
In the last minute of the game UQ looked to score with a scramble in the goal box but as the ball was cleared the whistle blew full time.
Final score 1 – nil
