First Team:
Sunshine Coast Fire drew with Redlands United 3-3.
Goal scorers: Leon Dwyer, Jeremy Lynch and Paul Arnison.
In a highly anticipated match-up the Fire First Team took on last year’s BPL Champions Redlands at the fantastic Cleveland Showground surface.
The Fire players imposed their authority on the game early, controlling possession for long periods of time. It was no surprise when the boys were rewarded with the first goal of the match via Leon Dwyer on the 20-minute mark. A string of passes involving every player and fantastic combination play from Verdin, Lynch and Dwyer released the play-maker too coolly finish.
Soon afterwards Lynch was able to reap the benefit of some more fine play from Dwyer. Verdin cut inside his fullback and played a precise pass through to Dwyer, who cut the ball back to Lynch to bury into the top corner, taking the front man’s record to five goals in five starts.
The Fire continued to control the game and saw out the remainder of the half with relative ease. The score at half-time was 0-2 to the Fire.
The Redlands players took charge in the second-half; after a series of crosses and clever passing it seemed it would only be a matter of time until they were was on the scoreboard. Ironically, Redlands scored on the counter-attack after a Fire move broke down and allowed Barboruses to release Close to run through on goal. Hall parried his shot straight into the path of Reuben Way who smashed the ball in from 12 yards.
Redlands sensed an equaliser was not far away and threw players forward; however the Fire gained a penalty after Nico Bechar ran into a tangle with a Redlands defender. Paul Arnison stepped up to convert and bring the score to 3-1 in favour of the Fire.
Redlands now had nothing to lose. The Fire failed to deal with a cross into the penalty area and after a frantic scramble, the ball fell to the Redlands striker. He toe-poked the ball into the corner of the net, breathing new life into Redlands with five minutes remaining.
The Fire had an opportunity to seal the game when some clever play from Dwyer and Frew delivered the ball to an unmarked Bechar. However, a poor first-touch gave the Redlands defender a chance to block the shot. From there Redlands broke with vigour and scored a third goal.
Both teams had half chances in the remaining minutes, however neither side could convert.
“I am extremely proud of how brave my players were tonight to come to a place like Redlands and take it to them with the aim to win the game.”
“On another night with a little bit more composure in both boxes I am sure we would have had the three points. However I cannot fault the effort, teamwork and enthusiasm they continue to show on a weekly basis. With so many new additions to our squad I feel we are performing extremely well against teams of a very high standard.”
Under 18 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Redlands United 4-0.
Coach Paul Arnison said after the Fire’s great performance against Palm Beach last weekend the game against Redlands was disappointing.
For the first 20 minutes the Fire played some strong football, however shortly afterwards Redlands scored a great goal against the run of play and the Fire seemed to lose confidence.
The boys were soon two and then three goals down as Redlands scored right on half-time.
The Fire lost Caleb McInnes and Aiden Little to injury and were down to two subs, Josh Ives and Matt Birrell.
At half-time Arnison made a tactical change to play Matt Birrell up front, and told the players they needed to put in more effort during the next half.
During the second-half the Fire showed more effort and quality, spending most of the time in Redlands’ half. The boys created a few chances which fell to Birrell. He nearly managed to get his head on a couple of crosses but unfortunately the Fire remained scoreless.
Redlands’ fourth goal came after a player appeared to foul the Fire’s Steven Lawrance, however the referee ruled to play on allowing Redlands to fire a shot past goal keeper Damien Cox. The game ended with Redlands leading 4-0.
“All in all it was a frustrating day for the Fire, however we will bounce back next week with a hard week’s training,” Arnison said.
Under 18 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Western Pride 3-1.
Goal scorers: Lucy Froud (1), Madison Phelps (1) and Samara Christmas (1).
Coach Francis Lynch said from the first whistle the Fire played high, pressing football, forcing Western Pride into their 18-yard box. It was a credit to the Western Pride goal keeper that she was able to stop multiple shots on target.
The Fire’s continued pressure allowed Claire Glackin to receive and release Lucy Froud to slot a shot past the converging goal keeper.
Samara Christmas continued to take her chances at goal and was only denied by the upright post. Madison Phelps continued overlapping runs down the left flank and was finally rewarded when she got herself to the byline, cut back and squeezed the ball past the near post into the goal.
During the second-half, Fire defenders Keira Burgess, Chloe Hobelt and Els van Hooijdonk diffused any Western Pride counter-attacks and continued to control ball tempo. They played out with confidence to defensive midfielders Kayla Moore and Isobel Hall.
Volley attempts from Sienna Tucker, Martha Bensted and Mia Radda forced the Western Pride goal keeper to make multiple saves.
Western Pride continued to counter-attack with long-range shots. A volley strike from Western Pride’s number nine forced Savanna Bowtell-Harris to pull off a quality outstretched-diving save.
The goal of the game came from mid fielders Moore, Hall and Bensted who played out from the Fire’s defensive third. Glackin switched in to winger McGlynn who hit the byline then squared the ball to Christmas for a clean shot past the Western Pride goal keeper. This brought the score to 0-3 in favour of the Fire.
Western Pride continued to swing the ball into its number nine and a miss-timed strike bounced luckily for her to drive the ball past Bowtell-Harris and bring the score to 1-3.
The Fire kept up the attack right to the end of the game. In the last 10 minutes Grace Wilkins whipped some quality crosses into the 18-yard box, which the Western Pride goal keeper managed to save.
Lynch congratulated his team on a great performance.
“Now we need to regroup and prepare for the Mother’s day ‘Coast Challenge’ at Stockland Stadium at 12pm.
“I encourage all spectators to come on down for the top of the table clash.”
Under 16 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Redlands United 2-1.
Goal scorer: Wade Nelson
Assistant Coach Jarrod Rodios said playing the undefeated Redlands United in the scorching heat was always going to be tough for the confidence-depleted Fire. However, with what seemed like an impossible task ahead of them, the Fire boys were enthusiastic and ready to show they could mix it with the best.
The Fire was strong from the opening whistle and pressed Redlands aggressively, high up the field. This made it difficult for Redlands to play and constantly forced turn overs of possession.
As the 12pm heat started to take its toll on the players, the pace of the game slowed down. Both defences proved strong and opportunities to score were few and far between.
Redlands looked to open the game up by exploiting the pace of their left winger, however Glenn Morris had a stand-out half of football at right-back as he constantly caught up to the pacey winger and shut him down. Eventually the winger switched to the other side of the field.
Every Fire player showed their fight and determination as the team defended as a solid unit to prevent Redlands breaking through.
Luke Devitt created an opportunity when he twisted and turned through three Redlands players before moving into the box, however unfortunately his shot went straight to the goal keeper.
The best chance of the game came just before half time. Max Adey received a low cross inside the box but unfortunately the shot was pushed just wide. The Fire players entered the second-half knowing if they could continue the form displayed in the first-half they could be the first team this season to take points from Redlands.
However, Redlands had made some tactical changes to its game plan for the second half. The home-team resorted to the long ball game, which proved effective as their pacey front men converted two 1v1s within the first 10 minutes of play.
The Fire rallied and looked to create opportunities through mixing up their attacking style. Wade Nelson found himself 1v1 with the Redlands goal keeper and his pace, combined with a perfectly timed pass allowed him to slot the ball home.
The goal lifted the Fire as it began to take control of the game and create more goal scoring chances. However Redlands held off the desperate Fire to claim a hard-fought 2-1 win.
“The boys showed the fight and belief they had been lacking so far this season,” Rodios said.
“With this, some confidence, and maybe a little bit of luck, the U16s will surely be back to winning in no time.”
Under 15 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Redlands United 4-0.
Goal scorers: Cameron Nairn (1), Timi Adu (2), Nick Vieira (1).
Coach Daniel Carew said the Fire looked strong in the opening minutes and was rewarded with a nice strike from Cameron Nairn 12 minutes in. 0-1 to the Fire.
The Fire continued to outplay Redlands and was unlucky not to add more goals before half-time.
The second-half continued much the same as the first as the Fire moved the ball around with ease and added an early goal from a quick counter-attack.
Timi Adu slotted the ball home in the 41st minute to bring the score to 0-3.
Shortly afterwards the Fire was awarded a penalty which substitute Nick Vieira drove home into the Redlands net.
Redlands reacted with a solid period for 10 minutes in which the Fire had to be patient and hold things together. Goal keeper Luke marker was determined to have his second clean sheet and pulled off an amazing save to keep Redlands scoreless.
As the game looked destined to finish 3-0, Adu struck again; out pacing Redlands defence and slotting away the Fire’s fourth in the 79th minute.
“The ball movement was fantastic, as the season goes on the boys want to get on the ball and play more,” Carew said.
“I was also very happy with Alex van Kampen; he has been a stand-out so far and hopefully can keep producing the goods.”
Under 14 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Redlands 3-0.
Goal scorers: Kobe Fuller (1), Jack Bowen (1) and Ty Dawson (1).
Coach Ben Cahn said Sunshine Coast took the points in a very one-sided game on Sunday.
The game took its shape from the very start as the Fire kept the ball and Redlands defended with 10, sometimes 11 players behind the ball.
Captain Josh Nisbet and Kobe Fuller’s movement through the middle was terrific and it was only a matter of time before they created a breakthrough. Fuller continued his run of great form, burying a shot in the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Jack Bowen also continued his goal scoring form, adding a second towards the end of the first-half with a tidy finish from close range.
The game was all but won as half time approached; Redlands had hardly had a touch of the ball.
The game took a turn with the last kick of the half as Kobe Fuller whipped in another terrific corner. The Redlands goal keeper dropped the ball and Mason Bell was there to pounce. Unfortunately his attempt made contact with the goal keeper who caught a knock to the face. The referee saw this as an illegal attempt to win the ball and produced a yellow card for Mason Bell.
As play was about to restart, the referee changed his mind, instead showing Bell a straight red card.
As the second-half began the Fire anticipated Redlands might come out and chase the game, but instead the half continued in similar fashion to the first. Redlands again defended with 10 players behind the ball and the Fire dominated possession and plodded along in second gear.
Ty Dawson was able to seal the win after a great bit of combination play between himself and Josh Nisbet. From this point the game really died and the Fire kept the ball for the rest of the afternoon.
“There won’t be many games this season as one-sided as this one.” Cahn said.
“Another three points, another clean sheet and another impeccable performance from the Fire dampened only byMason Bell being sent off.”
“We will be reviewing the incident and deciding whether or not it is worth an appeal.”
Under 14 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire drew with Central Brisbane/Olympic 2-2.
Goal scorers: Kirsty Clifford (2).
In what Coach Tom White described as a “scrappy” game, the Fire girls fought from 2-0 down to level 2-2.
The first-half was sub-par for the Fire, as some poor defending allowed Olympic to gain a goal.
In the second-half the Fire girls had a bit more fight about them and after conceding a penalty, the battle started.
Kirsty Clifford pegged a goal back with a superb finish, bringing the score to 1-2.
With moments to go Madi Warren played a great through-ball which Clifford latched on to again to round the goal keeper and slot home a shot.
“Overall it was a fair result after a poor start,” White said.
“Some players worked really hard and played a big part in securing the draw. Tayla Gesch and Kirra Guy at the back were solid and worked to break down all of Brisbane’s attacking play. Maisie worked tirelessly in the middle and a fantastic attacking display from Lisa van Hooijdonk and Kirsty Clifford was a pleasure to see.
“The girls were not in good form, but their class pulled a result out.”
Under 13 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Redlands United 6-0.
Goal scorers: Jesse Gibbs (3), Taj Suffolk, Brayden Huston, Terone Wattegedara.
After a run of games without a win, the Fire players were determined to make things right and send a message out to the league.
Coach Alex Barlow said the boys knew they would need a clean sheet, after they had conceded a lead in their past three games.
Jesse Gibbs opened the scoring for the Fire, adding a hat-trick to his season’s tally.
Barlow dubbed Gibbs’ third as goal of the match after slick passing and a number of one-twos opened up Redlands’ defence.
Terone Wattegedara scored after he followed up on a Mitch Bridge shot which the goal keeper parried, and Brayden Huston bent a shot into the top corner from a distance.
Taj Suffolk scored the Fire’s sixth goal with a tidy half-volley against his former club. He then moved up-front and moments later had the Redlands goal keeper stretching after he connected with a bicycle kick.
Barlow congratulated his team on their effort throughout the game.
Photos: Under 14 Girls v Central Brisbane/Olympic
