Under 12 Boys:
Sunshine Coast FC 3 v Palm Beach 3
The Fire started the half very dominant and this continued throughout the first half. Some of the team plays were excellent – especially given this was the boys’ first competitive game together.
Fire boys played out from the back and dominated the midfield. Byron Rzoska’s penetrating runs and Jayden Emery’s interchanges at number 10 were excellent.
Goal keeper Taylan Salih was rarely troubled with the Fire midfield and forwards launchingattacks and playing excellent football.
Good pressure from Jake Debbage saw the Palm Beach left back turn over possession square across the goal. A cool finish from Alex Patterson saw Fire take a deserved lead in the 16th minute.
In the 21st minute Rzoska launched a driving run and finished with a smart pass to Patterson, whose first touch bought him time to finish and secure a brace on the 21st minute.
The Fire defence was effective when called upon with Roberts breaking down Palm Beach’s moves and tackling well. Liam Macmillan and Patrick Swindles at fullback worked tirelessly against quality opposition wingers.
In the second half the Palm Beach players came out strong and were much more determined.
The Fire boys seemed to struggle against a rejuvenated Sharks team and started to get sloppy with poor distribution, which was a sharp change from the first half.
Giving away possession cost the Fire and Palm Beach scored three goals in 12 minutes to take the lead.
In the 32nd minute a Palm Beach player found space outside the 18-yard box and struck the ball just off centre of goal to put Palm Beach on the scoreboard.
In the 40th minute The Fire defence was caught out allowing the Palm Beach right winger to receive the ball and go 1v1 with Salih to slot away the second goal.
Palm Beach wrapped up the flurry of goals in the 44th minute as the number 10 made a run, went 1v1 with Salih and scored.
The last 15 minutes, Fire took back control chasing the equalizer and started to dominate and work hard in BPO which was great character to see. The pressure finally paid off after Debbage latched onto a quality killer through-ball from Emery to show lightening pace and finish low into the corner of goal to level the score.
Fire continued to press and came close a few times however score remained 3-3 until the final whistle.
Coach Peter Higginson said the Fire players were disappointed after dominating for long periods and giving away some cheap goals, however it was a quality game of football for the start of the season.
Player of the Match: Jayden Emery
Under 13 Boys:
Sunshine Coast FC 4 v Palm Beach 0
The Fire started nervously in the first 15 minutes against Palm Beach, rushing opportunities and picking the wrong options at times. However after 15 minutes the boys settled and started playing some good football with a solid defence.
On the 25th minute the Fire opened the scoring when Jack Beardsley made a great run to beat a few players at the edge of the box and calmly draw the keeper before slotting the ball past him into goal.
Just three minutes later the Fire extended the lead as Harry Arnison won the ball in midfield to pass out to Luke Varga, who delivered the ball back to Harry to strike from 30 yards over the keeper and into the top corner, bringing the score to 2-0.
With a minute to go before half time the Fire scored the third goal, Jacob Smith received the ball and passed it wide to Sam Aitken who showed good pace to race down the wing and cross back in to Smith to slot into goal.
With a three-goal advantage, Fire kept the pressure on into the second-half, getting the ball wide and exploiting the Palm Beach backline in wide areas.
In the 67th minute Jack Beardsley sealed his brace as he beat two players in the box and calmly beat eh keeper again to slot in the Fire’s fourth goal.
Coach Paul Arnison said he was pleased with the boys who had played excellent football at times, and had kept a clean sheet.
Player of the Match: Ezekiel Hawkins – great 1v1 defending.
Under 14 Boys:
Match Report by Manager Sharon Foster
Sunshine Coast FC 5 v Palm Beach Sharks 1
The Fire Under 14 Boys defeated the Palm Beach sharks in the opening Junior Round of the PlayStation 4 ® NPL Queensland competition.
In the first 10 minutes Palm Beach dominated the game and made some nice attacking runs. In the 12th minute a lack of communication and a mix-up in the Fire defence found a Palm Beach player able to take a shot which deflected off another Sharks player into the net to give Sharks a goal advantage.
On the 13th minute the Fire had a chance as Tom Whittaker took a shot on goal, but the Palm Beach keeper made a comfortable save.
On the 19th minute the Fire’s work was rewarded when Whittaker fed the ball to Owen Brader who found the Palm Beach keeper on the wrong side of the goal to slot the ball away and level the score.
The Fire defence was strong, with Budd Baublys shutting down some Palm Beach attacks and backing up with some good runs of his own.
Fire extended the lead on the 24th minute as Oli Williams delivered a through-ball to Danny Cuttler to cut inside two defenders and score.
Just two minutes later a Fire corner allowed Harrison Hooper a shot on goal which forced the Keeper into a great save over the crossbar. Whittaker forced the keeper into another save over the crossbar on the 31st minute.
Palm Beach had the last chance of the half forcing Fire keeper Nathan Foster to make a fully-stretched save, palming the ball to the left of goal just before half time.
Fire started strongly after the restart with a series of rapid goals.
After a nice run Bowen delivered a cross to Kaelan Debbage who ran into the box to score from close range on the 47th minute. On the 54th minutes a good one-two between Cuttler and Debbage gave Cuttler the room to drive the ball past the Palm Beach keeper and bring the score to 4-1 in Fire’s favour.
Another dominant run from Kaelan Debbage in the 59th minute allowed him to feed the ball to Cuttler who sealed his brace and took the score to 5-1.
Palm Beach fought back and made an attacking run and shot on goal on the 63rd minute, but Fire keeper Kurt Moore-Barnard made a comfortable save.
Fire created more chances, on the 65th minute Debbage made a nice run to pass to Cuttler only for a wall of Palm Beach defenders to block his shot. Brader then had two shots on goal which went wide.
Just minutes later Joey Higginson made a great cross-field to shut down and block a Palm Beach attacking run.
In the dying minutes of the game Palm Beach made a run on the right and crossed into the boxes only for the shot to go over the crossbar, sealing the Fire’s 5-1 win.
Player of the Match: Daniel Cuttler
Youth Men’s Team
Sunshine Coast FC 1 v Palm Beach 0
Fire faced a tough Palm Beach Youth Men’s Team and secured a hard-fought 1-0 win in the season opener.
Fire started strong in defence with Ray Schultz making a great block in the second minute. Just a minute later Kayne Varga took a shot from a Cameron Nairn corner, his deflected shot fell to Luke Devitt who slotted the ball into goal.
On the 14th minute combination play from Matt Carrick and Devitt allowed Devitt a chance to extend the lead however his shot was saved.
Damien Cox put in good work in goal to keep Palm Beach off the scoreboard; making saves in the 25th minute and 39th minute.
In the 36th minute a counter attack from Devitt, Varga, Nairn and Brandon Lee ended with a shot from Nairn which lacked power, then in the 42nd minute the Fire launched the last attack of the half with combination play from Nairn, Devitt and Varga resulting in a bursting run from Jordy Irwin.
Palm Beach started strongly in the second half, creating an early chance on the 48th minute, before a defensive error resulted in a Palm Beach flick at the near post which narrowly missed.
On the 59th minute Fire a well-worked Fire free-kick resulted in a shot blocked off the line and then a follow up shot from Devitt, and in the 65th minute Lee had a solid long-range effort, however a second goal proved elusive.
Goal keeper Cox remained in good form and dealt well with a dangerous cross from Palm Beach.
Fire had two late chances when Cronk had a shot from outside the box which Sean Pateman foolwed up, before Nairn showed good skill to work a volley in the dying minutes, however the final score was 1-0 to the Fire.
Youth Women’s Team:
Sunshine Coast FC 2 v The Gap 1
The new Youth Women’s Fire secured a 2-1 win over Brisbane Powerhouse The Gap in the opening game of the season.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the game, however the Fire created more opportunities and could have seen a much bigger score-line had all the chances been converted.
Madi Warren scored an impressive first goal for the team in the 28th minute after Lisa van Hooijdonk made a break up the right wing before crossing in to Warren to volley into goal.
The Fire created chances including some shots which were only denied by the woodwork, however it wasn’t until the 82nd minute that Fire secured a second goal.
Danielle Collins made a brilliant interception and then beat two players in the midfield before passing out to Paige Jenner on the right wing who made a great run and beat the defender 1v1 to score with a great left-footed shot.
The Gap managed to break through in the 39th minute to score a goal, however the Fire held on the win the match by 2-1.
