Hyandai Queensland State Youth League – Round 4
Sunshine Coast Fire U19 vs. Brisbane Strikers U19
Saturday April 17, 2010
Kane Frampton – Staff Reporter
The Sunshine Coast Fire have gone down 6-4 to the Brisbane Strikers in a round four fixture of the Hyundai Queensland State Youth League at Perry Park.
After the disappointment of surrendering a lead against the Gold Coast last week, the Fire were surely keen to secure a result in this tough away fixture.
It was not to be, however. Despite a first-half hat-trick to Ryan Delahunty, the Strikers eventually overrun the Fire, keeping them scoreless in the second half.
The Fire looked dangerous from the opening whistle.
An early chance went begging for the Fire, as Delahunty released Kaine Frew in the penalty area, who copped a whack around the ankles that went unnoticed by the referee.
Four minutes in, the Fire went a goal down after Jack Tennant was beaten by a nicely placed finished from close range.
The following minutes were dominated by the Fire, as the players found a number of clear-cut chances. A Josh Taylor corner found Brad Wallace, who connected beautifully with a header that the Strikers keeper did well to hold on to. Taylor was again involved in the next play, releasing James Verdin out wide, who slipped a pass to Wallace. Wallace tried to place a shot inside the far post but missed just wide.
Against the run of play, the Strikers scored up the other end after what seemed to be a clear offside was not picked up by the linesman.
Down two goals after 11 minutes, the Fire looked desperate to find a goal. Taylor combined well with Delahunty, who shot wide across the face of goal.
On 16 minutes, Delahunty got the goal he deserved, after riding a tackle, cruising into the penalty area and placing a shot past the keeper.
The pace of the game settled a little after this goal. Both teams were having some difficulty holding the ball in midfield, which was leading to a number of counter-attacking chances.
It was from a counter-attack that Brisbane extended their lead to 3-1 on 23 minutes, after neat passing led to another tidy finish.
Undeterred, the Fire continued to flood forward and Delahunty picked up a brace on 25 minutes, after outpacing his marker and beating the keeper from six yards.
The quality across the park steadily improved for the Fire as they began to settle and build through passes. An equalising goal seemed inevitable, and came on 36 minutes when Delahunty picked up a hat-trick, after the Strikers keeper got a hand to his shot but couldn’t stop it from finding the net.
With the score 3-3, the Fire could smell blood and flooded forward to find a fourth goal. It came unexpectedly after Nick Roth hit a volley from 20 yards that looked to be heading wide, although deflected off the back of a Strikers defender and into the net.
The whistle blew to end the first half with the Fire leading 4-3. After the break, the Sunshine Coast began stringing short passes together, and attempted to maintain possession for longer periods. In a seesawing contest, either side could’ve scored the next goal.
Seeing a space, Nick Roth made the keeper work on 46 minutes after shooting from long range.
Dylan Davis and Luke Lewis were brought on after 61 minutes to give the Fire fresh run through midfield, as the game continued to be balanced on a knife edge.
Two goals in quick succession to the Strikers midway through the second half changed the complexion of the game, with the Strikers now leading 5-4.
Given that the match had changed so quickly, the Fire still believed they could secure a result and kept on the attack. Cohen Bell forced a quality save out of the Strikers keeper after 73 minutes.
Just like last week against the Gold Coast, a late red card to the opposition gave the Fire a numerical advantage, but despite a few half-chances, the Fire couldn’t capitalise.
The game ended as a contest on 88 minutes when the Strikers scored a sixth, consigning the Sunshine Coast to its second loss of the season.
Next week, the U19’s will hope to recover before they face South West Queensland at Stockland Park’s Western fields. Kickoff is at 3.30pm on Sunday, April 25.
Final Score – Brisbane Strikers – 6
Sunshine Coast FC – 4 (Delahunty, 16, 25, 36 – Roth, 40)
