Hyundai Queensland State League – Round Twelve
Whitsunday Miners v Sunshine Coast Fire
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Kane Frampton – Staff Reporter
The Sunshine Coast Fire have snatched a winner at the death to topple the Whitsunday Miners 3-2 and maintain their 13 point HQSL lead.
Chris Bacon hit the winner with the last touch of the game, after the Miners twice came back from a goal down to square the ledger.
After spending the day travelling, the Fire showed no signs of weariness as they controlled early possession and carved out scoring chances against a Miners side intent on securing a finals place.
But for all the Fire’s early dominance, they proved wasteful in front of goal and couldn’t convert on the scoreboard.
This changed in the 26th minute when Alex Henderson scored his first senior goal for the club, latching onto a corner and shooting home from six yards.
With the Fire finding themselves in the familiar position of leading the game, they looked to bury the contest before half-time. However, Miners keeper Brad Moss produced a number of fine saves during the first half to deny the Fire, including a shot from distance by Yuta Gonai which looked certain to find the corner of goal.
The Sunshine Coast came out for the second half looking to up their intensity, but hopes of a comfortable victory were quickly shattered when Ryan Evetts lashed a half-volley from distance into the back of the net and levelled the scores for the Miners after 54 minutes.
The goal spurred the Fire into action, and they began to get back on top of the contest. On 60 minutes the Fire earned a penalty due to an accidental handball, and captain Shaun Blackman sent the keeper the wrong way with his spot kick for the Sunshine Coast to regain the lead.
The match edged closer to full time with the Fire defending their 2-1 lead, pressing for a third goal but wary of conceding. Substitute Chris Bacon had a goal disallowed when an offside decision went against him.
As full time loomed, the Sunshine Coast looked to have done enough to claim another three points on the road, but the Miners had other ideas. The home crowd erupted on 90 minutes when the Miners levelled the scores at 2 apiece, after Graham Harvey nodded home from a set-piece.
Rattled by the late equaliser and desperate to prolong their winning streak, the Fire pushed forward and camped the remaining minutes of injury time in the Miners defensive half.
With full-time imminent, a long throw into the penalty area by James Stinson was nodded to the far post by Blackman. Bacon was on hand to knock it into the goal and secure a twelfth consecutive win for the Fire.
Aston Bell was again impressed with his side’s ability to produce a win with their backs to the wall, but thought the three points should have been secured earlier in the match.
“It’s great to win again, but the players know that we have to dominate on the scoreboard, not just on the pitch. At times I was a little disappointed with the lack of intensity, but we dug deep when we really needed to and took the result. After conceding our first goal, we sparked into action and our movement and intensity improved. Credit to the Miners for coming behind twice, and especially to their keeper who kept them in it with some quality saves.”
The Fire’s attention will now turn to Sunday, when the team return to Stockland Park for the first time since Round 3 to take on the third-placed North Queensland Razorbacks.
“It will be a high tempo, intense week of training . We’ll enjoy the bigger pitch (of Stockland Park) on Sunday when we play the Razorbacks,” Bell said.
Kickoff for that Round 13 match is at 1.30pm on Sunday June 20, at Stockland Park on Nicklin Way, Kawana.
Final Score: Sunshine Coast FC – 3(Henderson, 26’, Blackman (pen) 60’, Bacon, 94’)
Whitsunday Miners – 2 (Evetts, 54’, Harvey, 90’)
