Hyundai Queensland State League – Round Nineteen
Sunshine Coast Fire v Whitsunday Miners
Sunday, August 1 2010
Kane Frampton – Staff Reporter
For the second time in the club’s history, the Sunshine Coast Fire have been crowned HQSL Premiers, after cruising to a 5-1 victory over the Whitsunday Miners.
A four-goal haul from Shaun Blackman as well as an early goal to Aaron Brazendale secured the title for the Fire, two games before the end of the regular season.
With the team knowing full well that only 90 minutes stood between them and the Premiership, they took it to the Miners from the opening whistle and buried them inside their defensive half.
An early cross from Sam Knight on the right flank fell for Shaun Blackman, who put his shot wide from inside the area. Tyson Holmes had an early chance to beat Miners keeper Brett Gutteridge with a flicked header, but the keeper dealt with it easily.
The Miners were having difficulty getting the ball past the middle of the park, as the industrious Sunshine Coast gained the majority of the possession. After 11 minutes, some good work down the right flank by James Stinson allowed him to release Blackman, who laid the ball off for the advancing Holmes to shoot from 18 yards, narrowly missing the left upright.
Despite controlling the game the Fire couldn’t break through, as Blackman rattled the crossbar with a powerful header. The missed opportunities were proving frustrating for the Sunshine Coast, who kept pressing for an opening goal.
Whitsunday created one of their first opportunities on the break through Warwick Jansen, who made Antony Hall work in goal for the Fire.
After 19 minutes the Sunshine Coast’s territorial dominance was finally rewarded, as Aaron Brazendale angled a header past Gutteridge at the near post following a Corey Towle corner.
The Fire seemed to settle a little after going ahead, and kept a firm grasp on the game. As the Miners failed to clear their lines, Yuta Gonai hit a long range shot over the bar from 25 yards.
Soon after, the score was 2-0, and the goal again came from a set piece. Gonai swung a corner to the far post, where Holmes was on hand to nod the ball down to Blackman, who put the ball into the net with minimal fuss.
After dominating the opening exchanges the Fire were finally being rewarded, and were ruthless in keeping up the pressure. On 34 minutes the Fire netted again as the game quickly slipped away from the Miners. Holmes slid a neat through-ball to Blackman, who rode a challenge before again beating Gutteridge from close range.
Jai Cross went close to adding his name to the scoresheet in the next play, after beating Gutteridge from close-in but inching his shot wide of the upright. Brazendale almost had his second after connecting well with a header, but his shot was blocked.
As half-time approached, the Miners began to string together some passes and offer resistance. Hall made a comfortable save off a Joe Civello shot, and Matthew Zappone hit a drive from distance that went well over the bar.
With the game all but over, maintaining the momentum was key for the Fire after half-time, and it didn’t take long for Blackman to complete his hat-trick. He proved too difficult to dispossess in the penalty area, and let Gutteridge commit himself before rolling a shot into the bottom corner on 47 minutes.
The Fire were four goals ahead and were steaming towards victory, but the Miners began to apply themselves better as the second half wore on, and manufactured a few chances of their own. Although the Fire still had the better of possession, increased pressure from Whitsunday was causing numerous moves to break down.
On 68 minutes, a corner from the left found Miners captain Graham Harvey, who headed past Hall. Despite Towle getting a touch on the ball it still found the net, and the Miners added some respectability to the scoreline.
Minutes after this, the Fire looked likely to regain their four-goal lead when Kyle McBurney pushed substitute Ryan Delahunty in the penalty area, forcing the referee to point to the spot. Holmes stepped up and cracked the penalty kick into the crossbar, letting the Miners off the hook.
On 78 minutes the lead was out to four goals again, when substitute Josh Taylor hit a superb cross for Blackman with his first touch of the game. The captain didn’t need an invitation to convert his fourth goal of the match and his team’s fifth for the afternoon.
With the game well out of their reach, the Miners kept fighting until the final whistle for a second goal. A late effort from Daniel Scotton was well blocked by Hall in what proved to be one of the last attacks of the match, as the Sunshine Coast Fire celebrated being crowned 2010 Premiers with a 5-1 triumph.
Coach Aston Bell put the team’s spirited showing down to pure determination, which was on show in training during the week.
“We trained the house down this week, I nearly had to stop them kicking each other off the park during training – the determination to finish the job was evident. The guys have worked so hard all year, and they have deserved everything they’ve got.
“This will give us the chance to give the players a little bit of a rest over the next few weeks, before playing the Major Semi Final against our arch-enemies, the Brisbane Strikers.”
The Fire face a long trip to Townsville to take on the North Queensland Razorback’s next week, in what will be a good chance to give the side some fine-tuning before the finals series. Kick-off for the Round 20 match is at 7.30pm on Saturday August 7, at Brolga Park in Townsville.
Sunshine Coast FC – 5 (Brazendale, 19, Blackman, 23, 34, 47, 79)
Whitsunday Miners – 1 (Harvey, 67)
