Under 18 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Palm Beach 5-4.
Goal scorers: Aiden Little (3), Chris Jancevski, Tosh Togatia
Coach Paul Arnison said his team played an entertaining game with goal chances galore.
The Fire started well, creating a few chances without scoring. Palm Beach opened the scoring as the right winger managed to get a cross in for the striker to nick the ball across the line. Palm Beach quickly extended their lead to 2-0 as a corner floated in for an unmarked Palm Beach player to take a shot into the back of the net before goal keeper Damien Cox could react.
“After these goals I think the boys realised the problems we had and that we needed to raise the tempo and close down our opponents quicker,” Arnison said.
With that in mind the Fire players soon put themselves on the score board courtesy of Elliot Marsay and Chris Jancevski. Marsay played a long ball into the path of Jancevski, who took a touch and fired into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
The Fire started to take control of the game and soon gained a second goal. Strong play from Aiden Little and Tosh Togatia saw Little able to take a shot, which the goal keeper saved only for Togatia to to finish it off and level the score going into half-time.
Arnison spoke with the team about what they needed to achieve in the second-half and the team returned to the field with determination.
The Fire’s goal tally kept climbing courtesy of Aiden Little, but each time the boys scored Palm Beach managed to peg a goal back.
Little sealed his hat-trick with an audacious over-the-shoulder volley from the edge of the box which Arnison described as “up there for goal of the season – but don’t tell Aiden that!”
However just two minutes later another mix-up between the Fire goal keeper and defence resulted in a Palm Beach goal to bring the score to 5-4.
The Fire had a nervous last 2 minutes but hung on for the win.
“Over all I was happy we won, there were plenty of chances created but also plenty of defensive elements we can work on this week,” Arnison said.
Under 18 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Palm Beach 5-2.
Goal scorers: Mia Radda, Samara Christmas
Coach Francis Lynch said Palm Beach pinned the Fire girls in their defensive 1/3 and shot at will from long range quickly accumulating two goals early in the game.
The Fire girls focused on playing forward into Palm Beach and managed to secure a well-constructed goal from a Kayla Moore forward pass for Mia Radda to finish off.
From that point the Fire looked a completely different team, crafting wave after wave of offensive moves for the Palm Beach goal keeper to valiantly save. An unfortunate mishap allowed Palm Beach to move into 3-1 lead on the half.
Once again in the second-half the Fire was slow off the blocks and Palm Beach scored early in the through a lapse in concentration.
Palm Beach moved from strength to strength and were soon 5-1 ahead.
Once again this triggered a comeback from the Fire and they were able to move in behind the Palm Beach backline only to be cleared by an in-form Palm Beach goal keeper.
A well-executed short corner allowed Samara to face forward and drive a shot into the roof of the net, bringing the final score to 5-2 Palm Beach.
Under 15 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Palm Beach 1-0.
Assistant coach John Whiting said the Palm Beach match was an unfortunate one for the Fire with the boys losing 1-0 at home to Palm Beach.
Both teams started the game playing fast paced football with an equal amount of possession in the middle of the park. The first chance came from Sean De Chastel, who had an opportunity in the box in the 15th minute, but couldn’t get the ball down in time before the goal keeper came out and held onto it.
The first half ended with the score 0-0.
Palm Beach scoring in the 42nd minute as the right winger cut the ball inside and an unfortunate clearance from the Fire saw the Palm Beach central striker place the ball in the net.
Fire central defender Hayden Lawson soon had a chance when a cross from the corner saw him head the ball over the bar.
The Fire had another chance from Jack Tait in front of goal, however the Palm Beach goal keeper made a great save on the line.
The game ended 1-0 to Palm Beach with some unfortunate misses from the Fire. Next week the Under 15s will be playing Olympic.
Under 14 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated South West Thunder 1-0.
Goal scorer: Lisa van Hooijdonk (1).
The Fire had only 11 players in a tight game against South West Thunder
Coach Tom White said his team outplayed South West Thunder and gained a deserved win.
“We played some good football and our build-up play was of a good standard,” he said.
“The only thing missing was someone to finish the chances we created. We hit the post, the bar and the goal keeper.”
“A number of our girls deserve credit for their performances. Zoe Hopwood and Abbey McMullen were very good and defended brilliantly. Aqua Meanie and Madi Warren worked tirelessly and Amie is showing what a good young prospect she will become.”
“Overall I’m satisfied with our performance and I think we deserve the win today. I am proud of my players and now we move on and continue the hard work!”
Under 13 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Palm Beach Sharks 5-1.
Goal Scorers Fire: Jesse Gibbs (4), own goal from the sharks.
The Fire could not have asked for a better start to the game as the boys gained a goal advantage in the second minute from a Palm Beach player own-goal.
Looking to push on for more goals, Fire striker Jesse Gibbs let go of a shot inside the box only for a defender to block it.
Sharks equalised against the run of play from a corner delivered to the back-post which Fire goal keeper David Payne misjudged.
After more pressure from the Fire and a number of shots, Jesse Gibbs finally broke through and placed one in the top-corner from 15 yards out.
At half-time the score was 2-1 to the Fire.
Palm Beach came out chasing an equaliser in the second-half and the Fire boys had to fight hard to control the game.
The Fire once again dominated the half and left Palm Beach defending to keep the score down.
Fifteen minutes in Tyson Williams took a shot from 20 yards out which left the post shaking. Moments later Williams was again involved, slipping a through-ball for Gibbs to double his tally and make it 3-1.
Soon afterwards a Palm Beach defender handled a Jac Eather cross and the Fire was awarded a penalty. Gibbs calmly slotted it into the net to complete his hat trick.
Jesse then wrapped up the game with a final goal; turning on the edge of the box and slotting it into the bottom corner with his left foot.
“I said to the boys a few weeks back that when we clicked as a team we were going to be dangerous and unfortunately for Palm Beach it was against them,” Barlow said.
“I am very proud of the way we played today and am looking forward to next week’s game against a tough Olympic team. It will be a game for the boys to prove their performance against the Sharks was not a fluke.”
