Under 12 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Brisbane South Development 2-1
Goal scorers: Daniel Cuttler, Joseph Higginson
The Fire secured a narrow victory over the Brisbane South Development team in a tough, hard and heated game.
The Fire dominated from the start with a goal in the early minutes of the game from Daniel Cuttler. The boys continued to look dangerous in front of goal with Cuttler threatening the defence again and again. Brisbane South was able to peg a goal back when Oliver Williams took a player down in the box.
The Fire continued to set up scoring opportunities into the second-half, hoping for a second goal opportunity. The Fire picked up a free-kick in a dangerous area and Daniel Rouillard stepped up to take it. He was unlucky not to score as the ball hit the bar.
With 10 minutes left in the game, the Fire finally capitalized on a chance which fell to Joseph Higginson. He received a ball on the wing, had great touch and looked up to cross the ball into the box with Kaelan Debbage free. He miss-kicked the ball and it found the back of the net to bring the score to 2-1 to the Fire.
With a couple of minutes remaining in the game, Rouillard hit the bar again from another free kick. Fire had one more chance in the game when they received another free kick just inside the half, Oliver Williams stepped up to take the shot but unfortunately the ball went way over the goal.
“It was an exciting game for us, we created many chances throughout the game,” Coach Matt Huston said.
“We played well individually and well as a team, however we would like to build a better team performance in the remaining games of the season” Huston said.
Under 14 Girls:
Sunshine Coast FC lost to Central Brisbane 2-1.
Goal scorer: Michelle Le Roux (1)
The Fire Under 14 Girls travelled to Brisbane to take on Brisbane Central to in match which would determine whether they placed first at the end of the season, or second.
Coach Tom White said the girls battled hard but were just outclassed by a strong Brisbane Central team with 11 good footballers.
The Fire gained an early goal after a great long-distance effort from Michelle Le Roux, who was fantastic for the whole game.
The Fire’s back four, in particular centre backs Aqua Meanie and Kirra Guy, along with Zoe Hopwood were very good, but lapses in concentration allowed Central to gain an equaliser right on the verge of half-time.
In the second-half the Fire created very little, as did Brisbane, but a mistake on the Fire’s behalf meant Central was able to score again.
“I’m very proud of my team and how far we’ve come,” White said.
“We will learn a lot form this loss and look forward to bouncing back stronger than ever next game.”
Under 14 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Brisbane South Development 7-0.
Goal scorers: Kobe fuller 6, Abe Reeves 1
Coach Ben Cahn said Kobe Fuller stole the show in a straight-forward victory for the Fire against Brisbane South Development on Sunday. Continuing his tremendous run of form, he bagged an impressive double hat-trick and overtook Ty Dawson in the chase for the golden boot.
Despite the impressive score line the game was scrappy and unsettled. Both teams struggled to play combinations on the hard Goodwin Park surface.
Fuller netted a five goals in the first-half, and a great overlap and finish from Abe Reeves saw the Fire gain a 6-0 lead at half-time.
With the result in the bag at the restart the Fire became complacent, losing shape and structure. Brisbane South did well to hang on without conceding a goal. South would have secured a second-half clean sheet if it wasn’t for
Fuller nabbing his sixth goal just before the final whistle.
“Kobe was outstanding today,” Cahn said, “Six goals in any game is a remarkable achievement.”
“Although we looked okay in patches I was slightly disappointed with the performance. It is well known that it is hard to raise your game and get motivated against weaker opposition but we spoke before the game and at half-time about doing things the right way and getting in to good habits.
“Hopefully we can train well this week and take our game to another level when we travel to Gold Coast to play Palm Beach next week.”
Under 15 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Brisbane South Development 6-0.
Goal scorers: Timi Adu (2), Jordy Irwin, Cameron Nairn, Jack Tait,
Assistant Coach John Whiting said the Fire got off to a great start when Timi Adu scored from an Alex van Kampen assist in the first seven minutes.
Shortly afterwards, Adu was again in action as he made a run down the left-hand side and took on the goalkeeper only for the ball to rebound off the post for Jordy Irwin to slot it in to goal.
Cameron Nairn scored the Fire’s third goal after a sprint down the line. He took on the goalkeeper and hit the post, only for a Brisbane South player to score an own goal after it deflected off his shin.
The Fire went into half-time confident with a 3-0 lead and control of the game.
The boys maintained control after the restart and continued to create chances. The fourth goal came in the 55th minute as Adu ran the whole half of the field and took a shot into the keeper’s near post.
The 63rd minute saw Nairn place a volley in the box for Jack Tait to finish from close-range.
Tait then bagged a brace after volleying in a great pass from Irwin.
Whiting said he was pleased with the boys’ effort.
“We played dominating football, whilst creating many chances throughout both halves,” he said.
Under 18 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Western Pride 5-2.
Coach Francis Lynch said Western Pride played with determination from the starting whistle, playing a series of long-balls in to their centre-forward who kept centre-backs Keira and Madi Nugent busy for the first 20 minutes.
However the Fire backline maintained composure and played out to full-backs Chloe Hobelt and Els van Hooijdonk. They were able to release wingers Lucy Froud and Mia Radda to cross in to Samara Christmas, who was lethal in front of goal forcing the Western Pride goal keeper to save multiple shots.
Western Pride was the first on the scoreboard after a long-ball isolated Fire’s central defenders and allowed a quick shot on goal. Keeper Savanna Bowtell-Harris saved the shot but unfortunately slipped and dropped the ball into the path of a Pride forward who slotted it into goal.
The Fire girls then regrouped and played some of the most entertaining football of the season.
“Ipswich were about to be realise how good these girls could play,” Lynch said.
The Fire kept Ipswich wedged in their defensive third for the remainder of the half. One-touch, high-tempo football which released Summer McGladrigan, Claire Glackin, Amy McGlynn and Sienna Tucker into 1v1s with Ipswich goal keeper. The keeper saved with desperation and the upright was rattled more than once. Finally Samara zoned in and levelled the score at 1-1.
The second-half was a repeat of the first with more forward-facing attacks on goal. McGladrigan was rewarded with a quality pass into her run and she slipped the ball past an out stretched Ipswich goal keeper to bring the score to 2-1 to the Fire.
Martha Bensted was dominant in both defensive and attacking midfield and was duly rewarded with a well-timed run into the box to head home a shot 3-1.
With the sting taken out of the Ipswich game the girls settled and played short, sharp passes into each other, ending with quality shots on target. Desperate defending saved multiple shots, but that could not contain McGlynn’s enthusiasm as she slammed home a well-worked set play from the right wing byline. Christmas completed her brace with a neat clinical shot which gave the Pride keeper no chance to save.
The last kick of the game could have seen Christmas rewarded with a hat-trick all be it for a line call decision,
Lynch said he was very happy with the girls’ excellent game.
