Under 13 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Brisbane City 1-7.
Goal scorer: Jesse Gibbs
After a convincing win last weekend, the Fire looked to make it back to back wins against Brisbane City.
Coach Alex Barlow said the Fire was strong in the opening 15 minutes as the players did everything they could to dominate the match except put the ball in the back of the net.
However in the 20th minute all the Fire’s hard work was undone through a Brisbane City counter-attack. The Fire failed to deal with a long clearance allowing City to score a 1v1 past Fire goal keeper David Payne. Just before half-time the Fire found themselves 2-0 down after conceding from a defensive corner.
The second-half started much the same as the first and even though the Fire looked to keep the ball, pressure from City proved too much. City scored a further four unanswered goals after some tidy 1-2s in and around the box caught the Fire out of position.
“It was the first time we’ve been broken down this year,” Barlow said.
The Fire did get a consolation goal from hard-working Jesse Gibbs who scored a 1v1 late in the match.
City then sealed the deal in the last minute with a classy through-ball which left the city striker to tap the ball in.
Under 14 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated South West Queensland Thunder 3-0.
Goals: Kirsty Clifford, Maisie Berry and an own goal.
Coach Tom White said the Fire pulled through with a 3-0 win after a one-sided yet frustrating contest.
The Fire dominated the whole of the first-half without scoring any goals and came in at half-time disappointed not to be ahead.
However, in the second-half the Fire came through and broke the deadlock with a bit of luck.
Captain Tayla Gesch intercepted the ball and ran through to unleash a shot which took a wicked deflection past the goal keeper. Girl of the match Maisie Berry followed with a superb shot which lobbed the goal keeper. The Fire’s top scorer Kirsty Clifford then pulled off a composed finish to increase her season tally to 21 goals.
“We dominated the game with possession but just did not create enough chances,” White said.
“The movement in the final third was not our best and we did not push SWQ Thunder as high up the park as I would like, but it is good to see that the few opportunities we did create were converted”
“I have to be honest the game was mainly controlled by the superb skill and technique of our own young Maisie Berry, she really showed her maturity for her age on Sunday.”
Under 14 Boys:
Sunshine Coast FC 3-0 Brisbane City
Goal scorers: Jack Bowen, Joshua Nisbet and Ty Dawson.
The Fire Under 14 Boys beat Brisbane City 4-0 just two weeks ago in the identification round, however with the boost of having three state team players back, Brisbane City were expected to be more competitive.
Similar to the identification round, neither side created many opportunities in the first-half.
The best opportunity of the half fell to Brisbane City after Jez Lofthouse was caught in possession deep in his own half. Goal keeper Marcus Worthington came to the rescue making a terrific save with his feet.
The Fire gained control in the last 10 minutes of the first-half with Henry Hore, Joshua Nisbet and Kobe Fuller starting to impose themselves in the midfield. This dominance set the platform for what was to come in the second half.
As was the story two weeks ago, the second-half was a different game. The Fire midfield took total control and the ball rarely left the Brisbane City half.
Ty Dawson missed a clear-cut header on the goal line, Jack Bowen hit the post, Abe Reeves missed a 1v1 with the goal keeper and Fuller had a free kick saved but the Fire’s patience and persistence paid off when Fuller whipped another terrific corner into the box. Bowen met it with conviction and it bulleted into the back of the net.
The goal settled the Fire’s nerves and it was not long before Captain Joshua Nisbet drove from the midfield, bounced a wall-pass of Dawson and slid one home with his left foot in to the bottom corner.
Dawson sealed the win late in the game as he forced the goal keeper to launch the ball long with his customary high pressing and hard work rate. Dawson looked as surprised as anyone when the ball cannoned back off his back and flew in to the back of the net.
Cahn said no one deserved a goal more than Dawson as his work rate was consistently causing problems for the opposition.
“With six wins from six and five clean sheets, I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Cahn said.
“However, there is still a long way to go and we have a lot of work to do. I have no doubt that if the boys continue to show the terrific attitude they have had all season we can continue to improve.”
Under 15 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire drew 3-3 with Brisbane City.
Goal scorers: Cameron Nairn, Timi Adu, Jordan Wust.
Assistant Coach John Whiting said the Fire started strongly, passing the ball around freely whilst dominating possession in the opposition’s final third.
The first real chance came from Tom Swain who rattled the crossbar after 15 minutes from 25 yards out.
Cameron Nairn was the first to score in the 20th minute as he received the ball on the left wing, cut inside and managed to place the ball through the goal keeper’s legs.
Two minutes later the Fire had another great opportunity after a miss-kick from the City goal keeper placed the ball in the path of Sean De Chastel. However the goal keeper recovered well before de Chastel could fire the ball into the net.
The Fire again dominated possession in the start of the second-half. A great run from Cameron Nairn placed the ball in front of Timi Adu who finished with a shot into the bottom-right corner.
The Fire scored its third goal in the 60th minute through a great team effort. The midfield used one-touch passing to get the ball forward, allowing Jordan Wust to take a shot into the bottom corner.
Brisbane City then managed to get two goals back through strong finishing from their centre forward. City completed the comeback with a third goal as the central striker volleyed home an equaliser with three minutes to go.
“It was a disappointing day for the Fire,” Whiting said.
“Although still unbeaten, we should have gained three points.”
Under 16 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Brisbane City 2-3 at Stockland Stadium.
Assistant coach Jarrod Rodios said the Fire started the game with great intensity and kept the City players pinned backed in their half, barely getting touches on the ball.
The Fire’s fast passing and movement were too much to handle for City. The Fire carved through the City defence, creating attack after attack with a goal soon to be the inevitable outcome.
City’s only answer to the Fire’s intensity was to kick the ball long and exploit the pace of their wingers on the counter-attack.
In the 2oth minute a clash between the City goal keeper and defender allowed the ball to fall invitingly to Wade Nelson, who tapped it into an empty net.
Rodios said the Fire put on display some of their best football and looked sure to add to their lead; however City broke away and finished a well-structured counter-attack to take the score board to level terms.
The Fire went into the dressing rooms at half-time shocked not to be ahead.
Fire First Team Coach Kevin A’herne-Evans delivered a half-time talk to inspire the boys to go out and secure their first win on home turf this season. However City came out in the second-half with greater intensity and started to put together some good passing sequences and create opportunities.
In the 75th minute the City left back played multiple one-twos from his own half and continued his untracked run right into the Fires 18-yard box. His run was met with the perfect pass and completed with a driven finish into the Fire’s net.
The Fire players kept their heads up and took control of the game as they dominated possession and looked to get back in the game.
With five minutes to go it looked like Fire would suffer another defeat as the City defence withstood everything the Fire threw at it.
However Matt Carrick, who was moved to right back instead of his preferred holding midfielder position, found himself on the right side of City’s 18-yard box and with brute strength forced his way through three defenders to score with a well-placed shot any striker would be proud of.
The Fire sprinted back to the half-way line with belief they could bag another goal in the dying minutes.
City kicked off and within a minute was inside the Fire six-yard box. What looked like a cross somehow found its way into the Fire’s net to make the score 3-2 in the 77th minute.
The Fire kicked off but it was too late as the referee’s final whistle sounded.
“Another defeat left every Fire player and coach’s head hanging,” Rodios said.
“After another great dominant performance we wondered what we would have to do to leave the field with three points.”
Under 18 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Brisbane City 3-1 at Stockland Stadium.
Goal scorers: Jared Moore, Chris Jancevski, Corey Dodson.
Coach Paul Arnison said after the disappointing result last week at Redlands, the boys were ready to make amends against Brisbane City.
“I told them we need to start the game on the front foot with a high tempo,” he said.
The Fire did just that for the first 30 minutes, closing from the front and creating a few good chances.
Steven Lawrance made a run down the right and fired the ball across to Josh Ives. From six yards out he looked sure to score, however the City goal keeper made a great save. Jared Moore headed home the resulting corner from the front post area giving the Fire a 1-0 advantage.
The City fought back and Fire goal keeper Damien Cox was called upon to make a save. In the last 15 minutes the Fire slowed and City managed to equalise going into half-time.
After Arnison urged the Fire boys to lift their tempo in the second half, Chris Jancevski headed home a de Chastel right-wing free kick that to make it bring the score to 2-1.
Jesse Wilson had a great chance to seal the game but fired wide from two yards. The Fire looked solid at the back and finally Corey Dodson managed to gain the vital third goal.
“It was an excellent performance and I was happy with the attitude and work rate from the boys,” Arnison said.
“Well done to Steven Lawrance who had made his First Team debut. He played 45 minutes with the First Team and then a full 90 minutes for the Under 18s. He did a great job and I hope more boys will follow him soon.”
Under 18 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire lost to Palm Beach 1-4.
Goal scorer: Amy McGlynn
Coach Francis Lynch said for the first 20 minutes the Fire kept Palm Beach to their defensive third. The Fire offensive players were unable to convert overlapping runs from Madison Phelps and Els van Hooijdonk into scoring opportunities.
Palm Beach then converted against the run of play bringing the score to 1-0.
The Fire kept composure and maintained quality possession for the remainder of the half, however did not test the Palm Beach goal keeper.
In the second-half Palm Beach scored early due to loose defensive play from the Fire, but good attitude from the Fire players kept them in the game. Amy McGlynn soon had the opportunity to shoot from a corner clearance, bringing the score to 2-1.
The Fire started to believe it could salvage a point; however Palm Beach had other ideas. Palm Beach played around the Fire’s 18-yard box and forced successive turnovers to score two quality finishes and put the game to rest at 4 -1.
