Under 12 Boys
Western Pride FC (1) v Sunshine Coast Fire (6)
A warm day welcomed us in Ipswich. After winning their first game of the season in their last fixture, Pride would be looking to repeat that performance.
It was an important game for Jonah Roberts as this was his last game for the Fire. Captain Roberts led his team out determined to leave with a win.
Fire came out strong and quickly tipped the scales in their favour. Patience around the box and the ball played to Aaron Smith, who curled a nice shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. (1v0, 7mins)
Pride equalised after a good break down the left and their left winger pulled back a low cross, where an unmarked Pride striker sent the ball into the back of the net. (1v1, 13mins and HT)
Fire showed an improved form in the second half and dominated the play mostly in Pride’s half.
An early second half goal helped settle the boys. Good pressing from Patterson saw the GK clear under pressure. The ball found its way to Debbage who fired a low hard drive under the keeper. (2v1, 31 mins)
A free kick from Todd Camm sailed over the Pride Goalkeeper to increase Fire’s lead. (3v1, 42 mins)
A handball in the goal area gave Fire a penalty. Roberts took the free kick and smashed the ball into the goal before the whistle. The re-take was dispatched exactly the same way as he powered the ball high into the net. (4v1, 45 mins)
Gaske made a run down the field, weaving through Pride defenders, dropping his shoulder before ghosting past the defender, slotting the ball into the far corner. (5v1, 47 mins)
Fire’s last goal came from another left wing run, this time Gaske pulling the ball back and Patterson hit a first time shot which rolled into the bottom corner. (6v1, 51 mins, FT)
Player of the Match: Jack Williams
Under 13 Boys
Western Pride FC (2) v Sunshine Coast Fire (9)
*Not yet submitted
Under 13 Girls
Eastern Suburbs FC (0) v Sunshine Coast Fire (0)
*Not yet submitted
Under 14 Boys
Western Pride FC (2) v Sunshine Coast Fire (4)
An unseasonably warm winter’s day met the team for their last encounter with Western Pride at Ipswich. Fire had beaten the Pride convincingly in their last two encounters, but this fixture would prove a little tougher.
Due to illness, Matt Huston was unavailable and Michael Williams had his own game to play in Noosa, so substitute U12 coach Peter Higginson stepped in to guide the team. The travel, the warm weather and a delayed start to the game seemed to sap the boy’s energy levels and they were off to a sluggish start. The Fire was making it hard for themselves throughout the first half by constantly giving away possession. However, the boys were patient and probing, with effective combinations in the opposition half and last third.
A combination play between Tom Whittaker and Daniel Cuttler in the 9th minute would see Tom Whittaker score, but only to be ruled offside.
Mackenar Bradfield took on and won the ball from QLD centre defender Jarrod Hyslop in the 10th minute, then passed through to Daniel Cuttler to cut across field. After a contest in the box, the defender missed the clearance and Oil Williams ran onto the ball to calmly slot into goal. (0-1)
After a tackle by the Fire defence in the 24th minute, the ball spilled out for winger Wilfrid Phillip to run away with and score. (1-1)
This gave Western Pride some confidence and they stepped up their pressure on the Fire defence over the next five minutes with some nice set plays.
In the 27th minute, a bounced ball was played back short to the Fire GK, who cleared the ball into the advancing player only for it to deflect and Hayden Whyte made no mistake by putting it into goal. (2-1)
Fire nearly found an equalizer just before half time with some great lead up work from Oli Williams and Kaelan Debbage crossed the ball perfectly, but the shot was skied over the crossbar.
The Fire had dominated the play for the majority of the first half; however the Fire gave the ball away too cheaply and lacked composure in and around the opposition goal area that undid the combination build-up.
Budd Baublys made an impact on the right wing in the second half with his explosive attacking runs and in the 47th minute, a double sweaty play between Baublys and Tom Whittaker, would see Whittaker drive the ball into the net. (2-2)
Only three minutes later, a well-placed ball from Daniel Rouillard through the midfield, found Tom Whittaker eager to run away with and score. (2-3)
Western Pride was not out of the game though and GK Kurt Moore-Barnard was forced into a great reaction save in the 56th minute and scrambled to clear the ball again over the back line. Pride stepped up their attack with a few threatening corners over the next five minutes.
It was an intense last 10 minutes in the game, with both sides creating opportunities and after a great run from Budd Baublys, the strike would be saved and deflected by the Pride keeper for Tom Whittaker to follow up but he was ruled offside.
A free-kick to Western Pride in the 66th minute, would see GK Moore-Barnard back track and pop the ball over the cross bar.
However in the 67th minute, Tom Whittaker would find his hat trick with a brilliant run up the left wing from halfway, to outpace several players, bowl over the last defender and score into goal. (2-4)
With 30 seconds left on the clock and spirit still in his step, Budd Baublys made another great run to take a shot, but a goal would remain elusive for him when the ball would run wide across the face of goal and over the back line.
The team did well to win after being 2-1 down at halftime. Good response from the boys who looked solid at the back and continued to probe and build and got the just rewards. The Fire needed to stay solid as Pride looked dangerous on their counter attacks.
Player of the Match: Kurt Moore-Barnard
Under 15 Boys
Western Pride FC (0) v Sunshine Coast Fire (6)
A beautiful sunny day at Ipswich saw Sunshine Coast Fire return to action after a week’s break with an important match against Western Pride.
Both sides began with plenty of endeavour; however the quality of the passing was a little sloppy. Fire seemed to settle the better though and on nine minutes some neat combination play between Mitch Bridge and Kurtis Modlin saw Modlin’s shot flash just wide.
Fire had a slight scare a couple of minutes later, with an interception and breakaway ending with a shot the keeper David Payne saw onto the post before going out.
The first goal of the game came in the 14th minute, with a corner flicked on by Max Footitt and the ball fell invitingly to Tom Croft who put the ball into the top right corner with an excellent finish.
Fire continued to dominate possession and field position, but were unable to break through for more goals before the break.
Fire produced one of their best halves of football for the season in the second half, with some great build up play combined with good finishing.
In the 41st minute Tom Croft scored his second for the afternoon after a Terone Wattegedara cross field pass was perfectly placed for Kurtis Modlin to run onto and his shot deflected to Croft who finished into the bottom right.
Fire made it 3-0 after a strong run forward from Dane Dawson rewarded with his cross finding the back of the net.
Chances continued to come as Fire started to dominate the match, with a Taj Suffolk header, Tom Croft and Tyson Williams shots being saved.
It was soon 4-0 though, after a surging run from centre back Taj Suffolk saw him beat a number of players before passing to Terone Wattegedara, who found Tyson Williams who placed the ball past the keeper from 14 yards.
A set piece gave Fire a 5th goal with Mitch Bridge and Tom Croft combining to find Terone Wattegedara who blasted the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle.
The final goal of the day saw Kurtis Modlin rewarded for a hard working display, as once again some good combinations between Wattegedara and Croft worked the ball behind the Pride defence and Modlin finished low into the corner to make it 6.
Player of the Match: Tom Croft
Under 15 Girls
Eastern Suburbs FC (3) v Sunshine Coast Fire (0)
*Not yet submitted
Under 16 Boys
Western Pride FC (0) v Sunshine Coast Fire (4)
At this stage of the season teams are meeting for the third time and Fire travelled to Ipswich for the second time this season. In a rare Saturday game, the teams faced off in very warm conditions for late winter. Fire prevailed 5-1 in hot conditions early in the season but succumbed 0-2 to Western Pride at home in May in wet and squally conditions. Coming off a good win last week Fire needed to back up with another solid performance.
Pride signalled their early intentions from the kick off with a long diagonal ball in behind the Fire defence and shortly after launched another long ball for the Fire defence to deal with.
In the 4th minute Fire had a promising passing movement from Joshua Nisbet to Aiden Ward who accelerated in behind the Pride defence and played an angled ball back to Josh at the top of the box, but his goal bound shot was comfortably saved by the keeper.
In the 9th minute Kobe Fuller put a ball into space for Callum Jones and he kept his composure as the advancing Pride keeper forced him wider to his right. Aware that the keeper was now stranded at the right edge of the box Jones neatly chipped the keeper to score from a wide position.
Fire defence were required to deal with many direct balls played forward and James Beckman led the way with a number of timely covering tackles and was dominant in the air. Sean Culpitt also chimed in with good interceptions and determined tackles. When Pride ventured wide, Kye Yamaoka-Chapman was there to clean up on the left in the first half and Liam Burns to great effect in the second. Abe Reeves marshalled the right side of defence well and successfully pulled off one memorable shoulder to shoulder tackle as both players were running back competing for the ball. Abe also used his speed well to get forward on the right and put extra pressure on the Pride defence.
Ollie Blackmore found himself in space outside the box in the 27th minute and his driving low shot was going inside the right post until the Pride keeper pulled off a desperate diving save to push it away for a corner.
Abe Reeves was continuing to get forward on the right where he could and in a last effort for Fire before half time the ball seemed to ping pong back and forth across the Pride goalmouth before Matt Cann made a great effort to scoop the ball from behind him in a shot that just cleared the bar.
The half time score remained 1-0 to the Fire.
The second half seemed to take on the same shape as the first with Fire attempting their passing game but Pride working to break it down. James Beckman and Sean Culpitt in central defence for the Fire once again were busy dealing effectively with direct balls played forward. Josh Wall was called on a number of times to clean up crosses and through balls but Fire did not seem under threat. Fire, however, could not yet find a second goal.
That didn’t come until the 58th minute, when Callum Jones floated a free kick, from near the left hand corner flag, high into the box and a Pride defender, unchallenged, made a headed clearance straight up field. Ollie Blackmore had been sitting deep, unmarked about the mid-point between half way and the penalty box. As the defensive header fell it bounced tantalisingly for the advancing Ollie and he adjusted his body shape and hit it sweetly on the volley into the top left hand corner. 2-0 to the Fire.
After the drink break it was Fire who were finishing more strongly as the second goal took a little out of the Pride resistance and the Fire midfield enjoyed more space than they had earlier in the match.
Aiden Ward had a number of dangerous runs forward down the left before Kye Yamaoka-Chapman found Ward with a wide pass in the 75th minute. Ward took on the defender on the outside and managed to battle to get in front despite some close attention from the defender. With no angle from wide on the left hand side of the box the determined Ward drilled a low left foot shot into the net at the far post to make it 3-0.
Within a minute Jack Bowen provided the target and with his back to goal and ball at his feet he spread the ball left. Addi Brader provided a decoy as he stepped over the ball as it made its way to Aiden Ward. Aiden again accelerated in behind the Pride defence on the outside of the defender and in an almost carbon copy of his first goal, drilled the ball low into the net with his lethal left foot to make it 4-0.
In a last effort of the game James Beckman came up from defence for a corner in another effort to get on the scoresheet this season. His spectacular attempt at a bicycle kick brought a free kick for dangerous play to end the game on a lighter note.
Player of the Match: Abe Reeves
Under 18 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (8) v Western Pride FC (0)
Jordan Vieira, Jed Zanos and Jordan Lloyd all combined well to start the game on the front foot. Western Pride had a rare chance at goal after miscommunication lead to a shot and a save by goalkeeper Aaron Smith. Combination play in midfield led to a Lloyd shot and finish near post to open the scoring. Sean Pateman was on the wrong side of a poor challenge and was substituted moments later by Josh Chumbley after an injury prevented him from playing on.
A Lloyd pass to Vieira ended with a dribble down the wing and a cutback to find Lloyd again who finished the move off to score his second goal of the game. A quick counter moments later, lead by Rhyan Scriggins and Zanos, found the well-timed run of Lloyd and the back post who adjusted his body and connected with a diving header to recorded a 28’ minute hat trick.
Fire came out refreshed and ready for the second half, Luke Devitt worked a shot with quick feet and great skill. A fourth goal came via a Devitt corner which found R. Scriggins who headed back across the goalkeeper and found the far post. Devitt skill and cross again found R. Scriggins who headed past the goalkeeper for his second in four minutes. An R. Scriggins hat trick followed moments later after a turn and shot followed a Sean de Chastel pass. Glen Morris, Devitt and de Chastel all combined well with quick passing through midfield to allow a Devitt shot which found the top corner.
A Lloyd corner found Vieira at the edge of the box who connected perfectly to unleash a volley which worried the goalkeeper. Fire ended the game with an eighth goal after Devitt’s quick footwork and a cutback to de Chastel who shot at the goalkeeper and R.Scriggins tapped in to score his fourth of the game.
Player of the Match: Jordan Lloyd
Youth Women
Eastern Suburbs FC (1) v Sunshine Coast Fire (2)
A very close contest on a very uneven playing surface that created very difficult to read bounce between hard, dry sections and very loose uneven sandy sections.
The Fire girls dominated possession, particularly in the first half. The first goal was scored in the 9th minute after a ball was successfully played through the midfield with a number of passing combinations to Madi who beat the East’s back line and then goal keeper to put Fire into the lead.
The second goal was also scored by Madi off a penalty that was awarded for a foul just inside the penalty area.
Player of the Match: Jodi Nugent
