Under 18 Girls:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated The Gap/Brisbane City 7-1.
Goal scorers: Samara Christmas, Amy McGlynn, Madison Phelps, Samara Christmas, Claire Glackin, Martha Bensted, Kayla Moore, Sienna Tucker.
Coach Francis Lynch the first-half score line reflected the quality and quantity of possession football the Fire girls maintained in and around the Brisbane City 18-yard box.
The Fire’s first goal came after Chloe Hobelt overlapped on the right wing, squaring in to Samara Christmas to volley into the net. The Fire quickly increased the lead to 2-0 as Madison overlapped on the left and cut into the byline to slide the ball past the near post.
The exhibition continued when Amy McGlynn pressed high to force a turn-over to clip the ball over the advancing Brisbane City goal keeper 3-0.Martha Bensted timed her run into the 18-yard box to drive a half-volley into the top of the net and Claire Glackin neatly placed her last pass into the bottom-right corner to bring the score to 5-0 at the end of the half.
As predicted, Brisbane City started the second-half with a high tempo and took advantage of a lapse in concentration to score.
The girls regrouped and turned a lack-luster second-half start into a display of controlled possession. Midfielders Kayla Moore and Sienna Tucker both beat the offside trap and placed their shots out of reach for goal keeper to bring the final score to 7-1.
Under 18 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Olympic 1-0.
Goal scorer: Aiden Little
Coach Paul Arnison said the Fire gained a fully-deserved three points after a tough match against Olympic.
“We looked more solid all over the field this week and created loads of chances throughout the game,” he said.
Aiden Little scored the winning goal, his fourth in two games, with a cool, calm finish.
When Olympic did manage to break through to the Fire’s half Damien Cox pulled off three excellent saves.
The Fire’s Josh Ives and Corey Dodson had further chances to score and Grant de Chastel came close as his shot hit the post.
“It was great to have another win and a clean sheet. This keeps us within touching distance with the top teams over the next few weeks.”
“Well done boys, it was a great team effort by all of us.”
Under 15 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Olympic 2-0.
Goal scorers: Sean de Chastel, Tom Swane.
Assistant Coach Johnno Whiting said the match against Olympic was fast paced as the Fire held the majority of possession. The Fire’s first chance came in the 18th minute with a free-kick which Timi Adu placed in front of Cameron Nairn, however the Olympic goal keeper quickly pounced on it.
Two minutes later Jack Tait had a chance at the near-post, for the Olympic goal keeper to make a great save.
The 34th minute the Fire opened the scoring with a great free-kick from Jordy Irwin into a scrambled 18-yard box. Sean De Chastel placed it into the back of the net on the second attempt.
The second half started with the same intensity as the Fire created chances and held possession. Tom Swane had a chance to score in the 56th minute as he went 1v1 with the keeper, who pulled off a great save. Cameron Nairn also had a chance 10 minutes later with another 1v1 on the left side and unfortunately just put it past the far post.
The final quarter of the game saw the Fire create multiple chances; Cameron Nairn made a run down the wing and Timi Adu just missed the far post.
With six minutes left the Fire finally gained a second goal from Tom Swane, who scored from the left hand side, catching the Olympic goal keeper out on his near post.
“It was a great effort from the Fire, who dealt with the wet playing conditions brilliantly,” Whiting said.
Under 14 Boys:
Sunshine Coast FC v Olympic FC
Goal Scorer: Ty Dawson
The Under 14s Fire team had its first run out at Stockland Stadium for the highly anticipated fixture against top of the table Olympic. Coach Ben Cahn said the game started in a started in scrappy fashion as both sides struggled to gain control.
Just as the Fire were beginning to gain a foothold in the game, a sloppy passage of play presented Olympic with a great chance which their number nine finished past Fire goal keeper Marcus Worthington.
The Fire responded strongly and finished the first-half in control. Ty Dawson was unfortunate to have a goal disallowed after an offside decision and Abe Reeves’ shot flew wide of the post after a terrific run from deep in his own half.
The Fire started the second-half looking shaky in possession and fragile at the back. After gifting Olympic another two sloppy goals the game was out of their reach.
In similar fashion to the first-half, the Fire finished strong. Josh Nisbet and Kobe Fuller started to dominate the midfield. Nisbet’s perfectly weighted through-ball allowed Ty Dawson to finish into the bottom corner to bring the score to 3-1. Although the Fire created a couple more chances before the end it proved to be too little too late.
The Fire will need to bounce back after tough games over the last few rounds.
“I was happy with the performance in patches,” Cahn said.
“We controlled the game well at times and looked threatening; however we were untidy in possession in large periods which left us vulnerable at the back. We will keep working hard in training and try to improve on our weaknesses.”
Under 13 Boys:
Sunshine Coast Fire defeated Olympic 3-2.
Goal scorers: Jesse Gibbs (2), Oliver Duncan.
Coach Alex Barlow said the Fire knew it was going to be a hard game against top-of-the-league Olympic. After a convincing win over Palm Beach, the boys knew they would have to step it up another level to gain three points from Olympic. Last time the two sides met, the Fire lost 4-2 in a hard-fought game.
After a night of downpour the pitches were not in the best condition so was going to make it a hard game for both teams.
The Fire looked to make most of a home advantage and started off well as they controlled the midfield which quickly turned into a mud pit.
“We knew if we could win the midfield battle, we’d have a strong chance to win the game,” Barlow said.
Olympic took the lead against the run of play after a strong run from the striker who slotted it past fire goal keeper David Payne.
The Fire striker Jesse Gibbs soon evened the score as he smashed a shot in to the top corner of Olympic’s goal, leaving the goal keeper stranded.
Again Olympic took the lead through high pressure, taking the score to 2-1.
The Fire did not give up and a minute before the half-time whistle Oliver Duncan scored the goal of the game with a stunning strike which once again left the Olympic goal keeper with no hope.
The half ended with an even score line and the Fire had full momentum going into the second-half.
“We brought on the two wingers Jack Eather and Tyson Williams to give us another dimension as the boys in the midfield needed an outlet after winning the ball,” Barlow said.
The game got messy late-on as the pitch got muddier, however once again the Fire kept up the intensity and Gibbs was able to double his tally for the game. He drove down the left-hand side of the pitch, cut inside past three Olympic defenders and slotted one in to the far corner to seal the win.
“It was a huge result for us, I couldn’t be happier for the boys,” Barlow said.
“We said when we lost to Olympic last time that we would get our revenge at our home ground and we did. We played well and the boys should be proud.”
