Hyundai Queensland State League – Round Six
Sunshine Coast Fire v Gold Coast Stars
The Sunshine Coast Fire returned to the QSL winner’s list on Sunday afternoon, dispatching the Gold Coast Stars 3-0 in Kawana.
First-half goals from Alex Henderson and Sam Knight and a second-half sealer from Tyson Holmes helped the Fire to their fifth win of their season.
After being slow out of the blocks against FNQ last week, the Fire looked lively in the opening minutes on the rain-damaged pitch. The Gold Coast Stars were also keen in the opening exchanges, with Anthony Hagan whipping in an early cross that cleared the heads of his teammates in one of the team’s first moves forward.
With possession hard to maintain in the difficult conditions, the best chance of the match for the Sunshine Coast came on 14 minutes, when Leon Dwyer chipped a ball toward Holmes at the far post, but Gold Coast keeper David Chambers was on hand to avert the danger.
As the sides settled into their rhythm, the two defences were clearly on top. With the two sides playing out a scoreless draw during the pre-season, it was unclear where the goals were going to come from this time around.
That question was answered on 19 minutes, when Holmes rode a challenge as he dribbled through the centre of the Stars’ defence, before shooting from close range. Chambers did well to parry the shot, but Alex Henderson was well-placed to drill the loose ball into the net for a 1-0 Fire lead.
Spurred on by the unexpected advantage, the Sunshine Coast had the better of the following minutes with Jason Hicks having a shot cleared off the line by John Costello, and Shaun Blackman missing the target under pressure minutes later.
Hicks went agonisingly close to doubling the score on 26 minutes, when he was released in acres of space 30 yards out. He steamed into the penalty area, settled on his preferred left-foot and cannoned a shot into the far post with the goal at his mercy.
With the Gold Coast lucky not to be two goals down, the visitors continued to press in the middle of the park and were imposing themselves physically wherever possible. However, at the other end the Fire were beginning to find their range in attack.
On 33 minutes, Blackman and Dwyer strung together some neat passes before Dwyer moved into the penalty area. With the Stars’ defenders forced out of position, Dwyer played a ball across the face of goal for a sprinting Sam Knight to smash home.
Two goals down and nearing half-time, the Gold Coast needed a spark to get back into the contest. John Costello prodded a shot over the bar following a short corner, and minutes later a shot from the right flank was forced wide of the near post.
On the stroke of half-time, Hicks again broke away from the defence and moved in on the Gold Coast goal. Hounded by two defenders, Hicks steadied on 18 yards and looped a shot towards the top corner, but keeper Chambers did well to claw the ball away to safety.
The contest entered another gear after the half-time break, with the Stars desperate to get back into the game and the Fire needing another goal to kill off the contest. It didn’t take long for that third to come, as a quick chain of passes between Dylan Roberts, Jason Hicks and Tyson Holmes culminated in the captain earning a one-on-one opportunity which he converted with ease, sliding the ball past Chambers into the bottom corner.
The Stars were showing signs of frustration after going 3-0 down, but couldn’t find an avenue to goal through the Fire’s defence, meaning Antony Hall was having a quiet evening between the sticks.
As the second half wore on, a short free-kick was played down the left flank toward Sam Knight, who picked out Greig Henslee at the far-post with an accurate cross. Henslee rose well to meet the ball, but pulled the header to the left of goal.
With full-time approaching, Matt Hilton was pressured into shooting wide on the run for the Stars, and John Prugh was unlucky not to convert when he connected well with a volley. Although they had battled for the full 90 minutes, the Stars had no answer for the Fire’s attack with the home team finishing deserved 3-0 victors.
Fire coach Richard Hudson was relieved to see his team bounce back from last week’s disappointing showing.
“Last week we travelled a long way, and we used that as an excuse, but today we were a lot sharper. As long as we keep on creating chances like we did today, we are going to have games where we do score five or six goals, but we’re very pleased with the result today.”
With the QSL on an Easter break next weekend, the Fire has a fortnight off before travelling north to Rockhampton to take on the struggling Capricorn Cougars. The Round 7 match is set to kick-off at 7pm on Saturday April 30 at Jardine Park.
FINAL SCORE:
Sunshine Coast FC – 3 (Henderson, 19,Knight, 33, Holmes, 58)
Gold Coast Stars – 0
