After last week notching the biggest win in the club’s history, the Sunshine Coast Fire’s confidence will be sky-high heading into this week’s Round 8 clash with the Whitsunday Miners.
The undermanned Capricorn Cougars were on the receiving end of the Fire’s wrath in Round 7- against a Fire outfit at full strength, the Cougar’s squad woes came to the fore and the end result was a 14-1 bloodbath.
Tyson Holmes ran rampant with six goals, Jason Hicks notched a hat-trick, Sam Knight a double, and there were single goals from Shaun Blackman, Alex Henderson and Aaron Brazendale. Five of the goals came in the last ten minutes as the young Cougars simply ran out of steam.
The Sunshine Coast will make it a priority to put this result behind them and concentrate on the task posed by the Whitsunday Miners on Sunday.
The Miners have been competitive thus far this season, managing one win, three draws and one loss from five fixtures. The side’s first win came in impressive fashion last week, when the Miners notched a 2-1 away victory against the Gold Coast Stars. The Mackay club’s first three-point haul will give them confidence for their trip south to Kawana, but the Miners will need to be at their best to pierce the Sunshine Coast defence.
The Fire have yet to concede a goal at home this season, dispatching of both the Gold Coast Stars and defunct Southern Cross United 3-0 in their last two home games.
Kick-off for the Round 8 fixture is set for 2pm on Sunday May 8, at Stockland Park’s Western Fields in Kawana.
Both of the Fire’s youth teams were in action last weekend, with the Sunshine Coast Under-19s extending their winning streak to five games with a hard-fought 1-0 win over South West Queensland, courtesy of a first-half strike from Kaine Frew. The boys will be looking for six on the trot when they take on the Sunshine Coast Zone 16s on Sunday. Kick-off will be after the seniors game, at 4pm on Stockland Park’s Western Fields.
As for the Gympie Fire, the boys are still searching for their first win after suffering a 2-1 home defeat to the Sunshine Coast Zone 16s last Saturday. Gympie are at home again this weekend, taking on the Bundaberg Spirit youth team at 3pm this Saturday at One Mile Ovals.
