The Fire First Team faced a tricky mid-week game at Palm Beach on ANZAC day.
Coach Kevin A’herne-Evans said Palm Beach had threatening players at its disposal, however the Fire players did not take long to get into their rhythm and pressure the Palm Beach back-line. The forwards; Niko Bechar, Jeremy Lynch and Sam Knight; were tireless in their effort to get the important first goal.
About 20 minutes in, Lynch did just that. A superb through-ball from Paul Arnison found Knight behind the left full back. Knight’s first-time pass found Lynch, who calmly placed the ball home from the edge of the box.
After eight corners and a number of free-kicks around the Palm Beach goal, it seemed as though it would only be a matter of time until the Fire netted a deserved second goal. However, frustratingly the score remained 1-0 until half-time.
The Palm Beach players found some life for the first 15 minutes of the second-half, however they were restricted to only a handful of ambitious efforts from a distance. The gaps which began to appear out wide played straight into the hands of the Fire. Bechar was isolated 1v1 a number of times and eventually he was able to race on to a great through-ball from Zammit. Bechar drew out the goal keeper and squared the ball to Lynch to tap in his second into the empty net.
Soon afterwards the ball again reached Bechar who twisted and turned inside the box, frustrating the defender. The defender lunged in to win the ball, only to trip Bechar for a penalty which Arnison calmly slotted into the net.
The Fire then had a string of substitutions with the game against Northern Fury on Sunday in mind. In response, Palm Beach put more players forward in hope of finding a lifeline. This payed off as one of the Palm Beach players got a great ball from the left and a very powerful header brought the score to 3-1.
During the last 10 minutes of the game the Fire players were deep in their own half, defending patiently and extinguishing any threat of a comeback. The score was 3-1 to the Fire at full-time.
A’herne-Evans said the match had been difficult with the travel and a long day in the hot weather. However once the game started he said the boys were focused on getting the job done.
“I am very pleased for Jeremy Lynch, he earned his re-call through his attitude in training as a substitute in previous games.”
“Grabbing a brace was great for him. That puts him on four goals from three starts. He is a player that is a joy to work with, has a bundle of enthusiasm that rubs off on his team-mates. As long as he keeps his work rate and attitude correct, he will become a very good player.”
