Under 12 Boys – Brisbane Strikers (2) v Sunshine Coast FC (2)
A top of the table clash between Fire and Strikers had everyone sitting on the edge of their seats on Sunday.
Fire came out strong, holding majority of possession and dominating the game for the first 15 minutes. Fire placed continuous pressure, with shots at goal by Kyan Bryant, Kane Gibbs, Nathan Weckert, Maxx Demerutis and Flynn Faulkner but couldn’t capitalise on their opportunities. A lapse in concentration saw Strikers break away, with Fire’s defence scrambling, resulting in a fantastic save by keeper Ben Nassiep. Fire recomposed after the near miss and finally hit the back of the net at the 18th minute with a goal by Gibbs. Fire 1-0.
Both teams continued to compete with Strikers scoring on the 29th minute and heading into half time 1-1.
Strikers returned to second half determined to place pressure on Fire, resulting in a goal on the 38th minute. The 40th minute saw the return of keeper Nassiep as keeper Riley Schamburg left the pitch injured after a courageous save. Despite the 2-1 deficit and Schamburg’s injury, Fire kept their heads high and their fighting spirit alive. The 57th minute saw Fire’s hard work pay off with a corner by Weckert, followed by Jake Rocker equalising the scoreboard, 2-2.
The last 3 minutes saw Fire give everything they had in the hope they could sneak away with the win. The whistle blew with the final score 2-2.
Player of the Match: Kyan Bryant – worked hard on the wing.
Under 13 Boys – Brisbane Strikers (3) v Sunshine Coast FC (3)
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Under 13 Girls – Sunshine Coast FC (3) v SWQ Thunder (0)
Round 18 saw Sunshine Coast Fire take on SWQ Thunder at Kawana Sport Precinct. Conditions were ideal for the game with a perfect temperature and a great surface to play on. Both teams started off the game quickly however it was Fire that struck first with a goal in the 9th min off a cross that found Jordyn Weckert unmarked at the back post and placed the ball in the back of the net. Both teams battled to take hold of the game and Weckert missed two opportunities by striking the cross bar on both occasions.
SWQ were very physical which made Fire realise exactly what they were up against. It wasn’t until 5 mins before half time that Fire found the net again with a corner for Weckert who found Audrey Upston unmarked in the box who then tapped the ball into the back of the net. Vikki Holowko and Sommer Jordan were kept on their toes and both held the defensive structure together. The score at half time was 2-0.
The second half started and SWQ dug in and put on a good defensive display, however Fire once again managed to find the goal through a great passing sequence between Weckert and Courtney Brunner. SWQ didn’t make it easy on Fire as it was a good display by both teams and in the second half they began to stretch Fire’s defence but credit must be given to Fire as the girls were the stronger team and continue their winning streak.
Player of the Match: Vikki Holowko
Under 14 Boys – Brisbane Strikers (2) v Sunshine Coast FC (1)
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Under 16 Boys – Brisbane Strikers (2) v Sunshine Coast FC (2)
Sunshine Coast FC went into the game against Strikers with 3 players out and was a game that needed to be fought hard to come home with a result.
On the 5th minute, Terone Wattegedara took the ball through the centre of the field and laid it onto Kurtis Modlin who dribbled into the area and shot but the ball went wide. Brisbane Strikers attacked with some good passing to beat the Sunshine Coast FC backs through the midfield. Brisbane Strikers got a free kick in the 14th minute which was struck firm and hard to the corner of the goal but dipped over the post.
Brisbane Strikers were awarded a penalty when Nathan Foster brought their attacker down just inside the goal area in the 19th minute. Foster redeemed his mistake by making a superb save to stop the penalty that was going low and hard to the corner of the net.
Tom Croft crossed a gliding ball from a corner to the back post and Kurtis Modlin ran into the path of the oncoming ball and headed it hard into the back of the net in the 44th minute.
Brisbane Strikers got a free kick on the left hand side just outside the 18 yard box and Joshua McLuckie shot over the wall and the ball curved into the corner of the net.
On the 66th minute Jared Schultz overlapped his winger on the right hand side to run onto the ball, Jared crossed the ball into the goal area and Terone Wattegedara beat his defenders to head the ball but unfortunately it went over the bar.
Brisbane Strikers played a long diagonal ball across to the left winger but the ball rebounded off a Sunshine Coast FC player onto the path of Joshua McLuckie who shot hard and low from outside the box to score Brisbane Strikers second goal for the game.
Sunshine Coast FC attacked with Bailey Waern who dribbled through the centre of the field and passed it on to Suffolk and the ball was played from side to side until Dylan Mountain placed the ball through to Suffolk who was one on one with the goalkeeper, kept his cool and placed the ball past the goalkeeper to make it a well-deserved 2-2 score line.
Player of the Match: Taj Suffolk
Under 18 Boys – Sunshine Coast FC (0) v Brisbane Strikers (5)
The Fire 18s were looking to follow up their good midweek win with a strong performance against the more fancied Brisbane Strikers. With a number of forced changes to the Wednesday night team, Fire lined up for an early 10am start but were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes when Zachary Maltby put Strikers ahead 1-0 after two minutes.
Strikers could have gone further ahead after 4 minutes but Sam Porter in goal for Fire came off his line well to deny the Strikers’ attacker. Fire were struggling to settle into any pattern of play and kept turning over possession too easily as Strikers were sharper and quickly closed down the Fire options and Fire were too often caught in possession.
Strikers went further ahead after 15 minutes when Connor Cosgrove scored to make it 2-0, with Fire offering little resistance to the advancing attack.
It wasn’t until the 30th minute when Fire created their first threat to the Strikers goal when Sebastian Festa played a ball for Jez Lofthouse breaking on the right. An early cross from Lofthouse into the box left Tomislav Mesaric in goal for Strikers stranded, but no one for Fire was there to finish.
Strikers put the game out of reach of the Fire in the 37th minute when a ball from a Strikers corner bounced twice in the box before Aniss Laghai made it 3-0.
Despite a half time rev up the Fire showed little improvement in the second half despite individual flashes of potential. There was no pressure on the Strikers and they were in cruise control as the game wore on.
In a late surge the Fire had chances to Taj Hudson and Lofthouse with no reward. When it looked likely that Fire could hold Strikers scoreless in the second half, in the 76th minute a free header from a Strikers corner saw William Hobbs make it 4-0.
Hoping that Fire could pick up a late consolation goal or two for their efforts, the rout was complete in the 87th minute when a fairly innocuous Strikers attack ran out of room at the near post and the ball slowly deflected off the post unexpectedly back into play, unluckily hitting Porter on the chest and trickling over the line out of reach as he dived to cover his post. 5-0 was the final score.