First Team:
Sunshine Coast Fire 1 v Brisbane City 0
Sunshine Coast FC collected 1-0 win against Brisbane City on Sunday at Stockland Stadium in a replay of the 2013 NPL semi-final.
Ryan Delahunty sealed the win with a later first-half goal for Fire while Brisbane City remained scoreless.
Brisbane City settled into possession early with Fire patiently waiting opportunities to counter. In the 15th minute Fire won the ball in the midfield and an opportunity fell for Delahunty, only for City keeper Matthew Stein to save his 12-yard strike.
Stein was again called into action when Nakamura broke free of City’s back line, saving the striker’s low shot to the left-hand side.
Brisbane City’s go-to man Mathew Biggins was threatening in the midfield but the Fire backline denied his opportunities. Fire threatened again when Futa Nakamura’s header struck the woodwork from a corner. In the 44th minute Fire beat the off-side trap for Stein to save Needham’s shot; the ball fell into Delahunty’s path and he finished from a tight angle to put Fire ahead before half-time.
The two teams continued to trade blows after the re-start. A ball from Jared Moore released Nakamura early in the half, the marksman this time denied by the post.
City began to put more pressure on Fire goalkeeper Antony Hall. Biggins had an effort hit the post and the Fire defenders thwarted any real chances for an equaliser off the rebound. With minutes remaining on the clock Brisbane City had an opportunity through ex-Fire player Chris Toovey, however the forward’s snap-shot went wide.
The Fire held on to a valuable victory and leap-frogged Brisbane City on the ladder, who is is now winless in 5 games.
Under 18 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire 3 v Brisbane City 0
Another team performance from Fire earned the team a 3-0 win over Brisbane City and kept Fire in a top-three spot on the league ladder.
In a physical game, Fire opened the scoring on the 20th minute as Captain Jacob Fulluck capitalised on an error from Brisbane City’s defence to slot the ball into goal.
Fire held out the half with a goal advantage; Nik Taylor was again outstanding in defence earning a Man-of-the-Match award while Fulluck was strong in the front.
City was again very physical in the second-half and in the 55th minute Fire was awarded a penalty after Reece Dalton was taken down in the box. Fulluck stepped up and brought the scoreline to 2-0 in Fire’s favour.
In the 80th minute Fire was again awarded a penalty after Brandon Lee was brought down in the box. Again Fulluck slotted the ball in to take the score to 3-0 to Fire.
Fire was awarded four penalties in total, however Fulluck ended the game with a dismissal after obtaining two yellow cards.
Fire saw out the remainder of the game with a three-goal buffer and took the three points.
Man of the Match: Nik Taylor and Jacob Fulluck
Under 16 Boys:
Report by Manager Brett de Chastel
Sunshine Coast Fire 4 v Brisbane City 1
Looking to retain their top of the table status, the Under 16 Fire team hosted Brisbane City at Stockland Stadium. While City was in 6th spot on the table, the team had a potent forward line with the second highest number of goals scored in the league.
Fire could not have had a better start. After City kicked off, Fire gained possession and swept down field with strong passing. Jordon Vieira collected the ball 25 metres from goal and let fly with a hard, low strike which snuck inside the bottom left-hand side of the goal. Fire was up 1 – 0 after only 45 seconds.
The game settled into an even tempo. While the City forwards looked dangerous, they were well contained by Sean Pateman, Tyler Morse, Liam Culptitt and Jordan Irwin.
After several close chances, Fire went further ahead in the 23rd minute. City was in possession and breaking towards the Fire goal when Liam Culpitt made an excellent intercept to break up the attack. He then played a diagonal ball to Adam Edgar to allow Edgar to go 1v1 with the goal keeper and score.
For the first 30 minutes, the Fire played good possession football but the last 10 minutes of the first half belonged to City as the team pressed for a goal and was unlucky on several occasions.
With injuries beginning to take a toll some players having to play in unfamiliar positions during the second-half. After conceding a free-kick in the 48th minute, Fire could only watch as City took advantage with a well-taken shot that gave Fire keeper Luke Marker no chance and brought the score to 2-1.
Fire was able to restore their two-goal buffer 8 minutes later. Thomas Swane passed a good ball to Cameron Nairn who sprinted down the left wing. Edgar met his cross and took a shot which hit the post. After a scramble for the ball, Edgar slipped the ball across to Alex Van Kampen who stroked the ball into the back of the net to continue his goal scoring form.
The Fire went to a 4 -1 lead in the 58th minute. Jordan Irwin had a good interchange of passes with Sean de Chastel in the midfield and then played a well-weighted pass to Edgar who beat the goalkeeper with a hard low shot.
With a buffer on the scoreboard, Fire lost some shape and struggled to hang on to the lead. This was compounded with injuries (Jordan Vieira – ankle and Tyler Morse – head knock) with the Fire having no reserves by the end of the game. Despite City hitting the crossbar and having a strong finish, Fire held on to the final 4 – 1 scoreline.
Looking ahead, next week sees the Fire Under 16 team return to Toowoomba. This is the site of the only loss of the season and the team will be looking forward to redemption.
Man of the Match – Thomas Swane
Under 15 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire 1 v Brisbane City 0
Fire started rather average, taking time to switch on and maintain possession. The first-half was quite evenly contested, however Fire had two close opportunities midway through the half, both created by through balls from the midfield to Lisa van Hooijdonk on the left wing. She found the net twice but was unfortunately offside.
Brisbane City began to create opportunities and Fire keeper Katie Offer was forced into making some brilliant saves before half-time.
Fire returned to the field much stronger in the second-half. The girls worked well defensively and reduced City’s opportunities on goal.
In the last 15 minutes Sophie Tiver used her pace and made a run down the right wing to play the ball through the middle to van Hooijdonk on the left wing who then beat the defender and scored the match winning goal.
Player of the Match: Michelle le Roux
Under 12 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire 4 v Brisbane City 1
Our first game of the season with Brisbane City was expected to be a tough game. But the Fire boys continued their strong form with an excellent performance in the early sunshine at Stockland Park.
Fire started the game well, looking composed at the back, controlling the midfield, and dangerous up front as every player looked to play together.
Brisbane City was under pressure from the first minute facing attack after attack. The pressure paid off on 6 minutes – the referee awarded Fire a penalty after a City defender controlled a pacey cross down with his hand. Harry Arnison stepped up and converted with ease to give the Fire a 1-0 lead.
City struggled with the pace and teamwork on show from the Fire. This frustration led to numerous free-kicks and it was from one of these that the second goal came. Brodie Boyce stepped forward and delivered a sweet free-kick to the feet of Jack Beardsley, who had intelligently evaded the offside trap. Beardsley’s first touch was good and he controlled, turned and calmly side-footed past the City keeper.
The polished first-half performance was complete on 25 minutes when another controlled build-up allowed Luke Varga to turn in a cross and put Fire ahead by 3 goals.
The Brisbane City players bounced back in the second-half and had their best spell of the game, grabbing their only goal. The City player collected a poor clearance and coolly lobbed the keeper Ben Potter to finish well.
This turned out to be just a blip for the Fire. Brisbane City tried to capitalise after the goal, but Fire who soon regained control. The game was put out of reach mid-way through the half when Arnison collected the ball after good build up play and pushed the ball forward, settled and rifled an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner.
Fire had a few more opportunities to increase the lead but City defended well with two quality performances from their right and left backs.
Late in the half Brodie Boyce ran from deep, taking on player after player before being fouled to win the second penalty of the game. Brodie narrowly missed the penalty which would have capped off an already outstanding performance.
Coach Peter Higginson said his squad had a comfortable game against good quality opposition, who would no doubt gear up for the two teams’ next meeting.
“It was great to see us continue to build and improve. The boys are listening and learning and it’s good to see this attention turn into good performances on game day,” Higginson said.
“There were good performances across the park again…there could be literally 7 or 8 Men of the Match today. Harry Arnison, Cody Pyne, Jack Beardsley, Sam Fleming all delivered quality performances however the #3 and #4 partnership of Brodie Boyce and Ezekiel Hawkins was a highlight for me.”
Man of the Match: Ezekiel Hawkins and Brodie Boyce
