Under 12 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (3) v Brisbane City FC (2)
A tough game was expected, following the earlier season draw.
Fire started well and nearly repeated the last game (vs Thunder) with a goal within 40 seconds. A good move, from the team and shot just missing the left hand post.
This set the tone for the game, with Fire controlling for big chunks of the game.
First goal was a high quality team move. Starting on the left wing, Smith played a smart ball inside, into the midfield. Camm saw the opportunity and played a quick accurate ball to right winger Debbage who skinned his player in a 1v1 inside the box, before finishing powerfully high into the net. (1v0, 8mins)
Fire remained on top with many good attacks. Two top-drawer saves from the City after good moves from Fire. Great movement and possession from the Fire and the ball worked to Patterson on the edge of the box who evaded the first challenge before firing a goal bound shot which was headed for a certain goal, but for a cracking save from the City GK diving high to his left to tip the ball over the bar.
City battled hard and created a few chances, but GK Salih was up to the task, making two good saves of his own. One crucial one with his legs in a 1v1, and then a diving save to his right.
City hit back with a long ball and sprint from half way before finishing well. (1v1, 14 mins)
City grabbed the lead after a good move down the left wing, before crossing for a well-timed run and the city player side footed into the goal. (1v2, 22 mins and HT)
Once again the Under 12 Fire boys delivered. GK Salih making zero saves in the entire 2H. Fire were in control and executed the game plan. We kept possession; we got the ball wide and early. We matched in the midfield, with strong and skilful moved and strong tackles. The defence looked strong across the back.
The ball played from defence to Rzoska who drove and rode a strong challenge before bouncing to Gaske who released Debbage. Debbage stayed calm, drew the GK before chipping the ball over him (2v2, 37mins)
Four minutes later the pressure paid off. Emery pressurising the City defence, and when the ball was played back to their GK, Sunny Law read the opportunity and closed the kick, and had a slice of luck as the ball deflected into the net. (3v2, 41mins)
Fire continued in this vein for the whole second half. Winning the ball back and then looking to build, always with a tight defensive unit behind.
Player of the Match: Byron Rzoska. Byron was tireless and was creative and solid in the middle of the park today.
Under 13 Girls
Sunshine Coast Fire (1) v Souths United FC (4)
It was a fine but windy day at Western Fields. Earlier in the season, the U13 Girls lost 6-4 to Souths United. The opening goal from Souths was scored early in the games but shortly after a penalty was given in Fire’s favour. Abbey Hutton stepped up and placed the ball in the bottom left corner of the goal, which put us back on level terms. Nine minutes later, Souths slipped a through ball past Fire’s defence line in which Souths’ centre forward player was able to chip the ball over the Fire keeper and into the goal which gave them a 2-1 lead.
The Fire girls quickly turned over and pressured Souths back line but were denied the goal chance by the keeper. A free kick was given to the Fire girls on the edge of the box caused by the keeper leaving the 18 yard box with the ball still in her hands.
Abbey Hutton was called upon to take the free kick, it was a great opportunity but it was just off target and the ball came back into play after rattling the cross bar. Souths later scored after Charlotte Lutz (GK) was substituted due to injury but Fire continued to attack to bring the score back but couldn’t find the net. Another goal from Souths meant that the score was 4-1 at the final whistle.
Player of the Match: Abbey Hutton
Under 13 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (1) v Brisbane City FC (2)
*Not yet submitted
Under 14 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (3) v Brisbane City FC (0)
With a break over the holidays and the squad being limited to only one training session this week, the team knew they would have to come out firing and be on top of their game to contest a quality team like Brisbane City.
From the first minute, the game was physical with a few hard tackles coming from both sides. City was finding it difficult to break through the defence and there were calls from the City coach for his team to get the ball to Hayden Russell so he could have a 1v1 with the Fire keeper.
However it would be the Fire to open the scoring in the 5th minute, when Harrison Hooper kicked a clearance ball up field for Tom Whittaker. Whittaker had a clash with the City GK and the ball fell to the ground for Owen Brader to pick up the scraps and finish into goal. (1-0)
Budd Baublys was doing well in shutting down City’s leading goal scorer Hayden Russell and was also making a few good challenges of his own. Oil Williams was also a stand out in controlling the midfield and passing some great through balls.
Harrison Hooper again drove the ball up field to Owen Brader in the 20th minute. Brader then passed the ball across for Tom Whittaker to chip an advancing keeper and bring the scoring to 2-0.
In the 21st minute, a Yellow Card was awarded to Sean Bentley for a foul tackle and a free kick was awarded to City; GK Kurt Moore-Barnard secured the ball comfortably.
With a heavy pitch under foot and desperation coming in the form of sloppy tackles, both Captains were brought in by the referee in the 23rd minute and told to calm their sides down.
However another Yellow Card was given just a minute later to Daniel Cuttler after being previously warned for his challenges.
Fire should have extended their lead in the 30th minute after a combination play up field led to Tom Whittaker place a ‘sweaty’ ball in for Daniel Cuttler to finish easily into goal, but Cuttler was ruled offside.
Harrison Bowen had done well to keep his cool with several harsh tackles on him going unchecked. However, he would be the one to receive a Yellow Card in the 31st minute for a foul tackle. City player Noah Hitchcock was finally awarded their first Yellow Card in the closing minutes of the first half.
Fire had done well in the first half with their intensity and pressure in winning the ball. However, they were making it difficult for themselves with getting into battles over the ball instead of playing the passes. The play was getting congested up one side of the field and the team was instructed to get the ball down and move it into space to create the opportunities.
A change in field positions saw City come out with better intensity in the second half and they were on the hunt early. However their tackles hadn’t improved with a hard challenge forcing Harrison Hooper to leave the field for medical attention and City was again awarded a Yellow Card in the 40th minute for a late challenge. However, a foul tackle on Oli Williams would go unchecked.
City was now pushing high and rattled the Fire defence a little. A few errors in defence and a play out saw the ball come straight back to GK Kurt Moore-Barnard, who did well to drop to his left and parry the ball away. Again in the 54th minute, the Fire keeper was forced into a drop save when a ball was shot from an unmarked player.
Fire managed to regain control over the next ten minutes, starting with a precision 1-2 combination play between Tom Whittaker and Owen Brader in the 57th minute, forcing City’s GK Lachlan Hunter into a great drop-save to his right.
A free kick in the 59th minute was beautifully struck by Tom Whittaker and held up by the wind to find the head of Daniel Cuttler but it went over the crossbar.
City’s fate was sealed in the 64th minute, when Kaelan Debbage won the ball just before half way and passed it through for Daniel Cuttler to have a 1v1 with the keeper. The ball deflected off the keeper and Cuttler shot the ball across goal to clinically finish in the bottom right corner. (3-0)
There were some great individual performances in the game and a special mention must go to Harrison Bowen for his resilience and hard work that would have otherwise been a Player of the Match had the team not lifted to the performance and tasks of the game. Therefore, there is no Player of the Match as the whole team stepped up and worked as a unit to get the final result.
Under 15 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (1) v Brisbane City FC (0)
A cold and windy day saw Sunshine Coast Fire meet Brisbane City in an important clash for the Under 15 Boys. In difficult conditions neither side started all that well with passing and control of the ball difficult on a bumpy, wet pitch.
Fire created the best chance early as a good through ball from Mitchell Bridge found Kurt Modlin, however his cross/shot was off target. On 11 minutes the best move of the half saw Dane Dawson find Tyson Williams who played a nice ball towards Kurtis Modlin. Modlin combined well with Terone Wattegedara, but the resultant shot was scrambled wide by a desperate City defence.
On 13 minutes, City had their best chance as they found space in the centre of the park, dribbled to the edge of the box and fired a quality shot that was heading towards goal, but was very well tipped over the bar by Bosworth in acrobatic fashion.
With a strong wind behind them, Fire controlled the majority of possession, but lacked the final ball to convert their superiority into goals. Chances came for Wattegedara, Tom Croft and Mitch Bridge but all their efforts were well saved and the match remained 0-0 at half time.
Playing into a strong breeze made the second half difficult, however the Fire boys defended resolutely in a half with few chances.
In the 45th minute Lachlan Bosworth saved a good shot from City before the match became a battle with both teams nullifying each other.
Sunshine Coast finally took the lead after a 60th minute free kick was quickly taken by Mitchell Bridge. His pass found Wattegedara on the edge of the area and he turned his opponent expertly before placing his shot into the bottom corner.
More chances fell to Fire from set pieces, but we wasted opportunity with long-range efforts not troubling the goalkeeper.
In the final minutes City put the Fire defence under a little pressure but the back four, led by Max Foottit did well to keep them out, as did goalkeeper Bosworth who had a good game in goal.
Player of the Match: Terone Wattegedara
Under 15 Girls
Sunshine Coast Fire (1) v Souths United FC (2)
After a couple weeks off for school holidays the girls were very excited to get back to the field. Fire started the game with lots of possession in South’s half, executing some very good passing combinations in the final third. Their hard work was rewarded when they scored off of a throw-in, which got to Hannah Taylor at the corner of the 18. Hannah turned a defender and scored with a right-footed shot to the left side-net. The girls continued to build throughout the half, finishing strong. They continued with intensity in the second half. They scored another goal when Chloe Isbel put an excellent killer-ball through the defence to Jazmyn Rogers who passed it off to Alex Cannons for the goal. Souths did manage to score off a pass from a free kick. The Fire midfield worked very hard on both sides of the ball which made a big difference on offence and recovering the ball on defence.
Player of the Match: Lara Vochteloo
Under 16 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (0) v Brisbane City FC (2)
After a week off with the school holidays Fire hosted Brisbane City. Despite sunny, clear blue skies a cold SW wind swept across the ground. The wind however was not as strong as they experienced in their first round clash in Brisbane in which Fire came out deserved winners 3-1.
City won the toss and kicked with the wind in the first half. The ground was soft and damp from recent rain and players were having difficulty keeping their feet at times. For the first 10 minutes there was very little pattern to the play from either team. Fire gave away a lot of possession by playing too direct at goal into the wind and the City defence were able to deal with the limited Fire attacks.
In the 11th minute Jack Bowen made a break down the right and crossed to find Aiden Ward at the top of the box. Aiden cut onto his favoured left foot but his shot was deflected for a corner by the City defence.
From the resultant corner Fire easily lost possession and were caught out on the break by City. The ball was moved quickly into the Fire danger zone down the middle and Liam Byrnes in a desperate covering tackle inside the box managed to get his foot to the ball but the ball hit the City attacker and fell kindly for him in his rush forward. The City attacker made no mistake and happily slotted home to put his side ahead 1-0.
Fire were stunned by conceding a goal against the run of play but City took the initiative and grew in confidence. City enjoyed their best period of play as they out enthused Fire and they struggled with the basics and couldn’t find any rhythm to their game.
In the 23rd minute City could have gone further ahead as the City attacker easily turned his Fire defender but he didn’t make the most of the space he created just inside the box and could only manage a poor shot straight at Josh Wall in the Fire goal.
In the 25th minute Josh Nisbett came off the bench for his first game of the season after an extended break due to injury. He immediately made an impact as his enthusiasm and his touches were good. He was able to find space and was looking to build attacks. He also put in a solid tackle to test himself.
Fire however could not create a serious threat to the City goal before half time and Fire went to the break 1-0 down.
Fire have been making a habit of coming from behind in the second half as they finish games strongly and they set out with renewed purpose from the kick off in the second half. There immediately was more structure to their game and they held possession for longer periods as they tried to find a way through the City defence.
It was City who created the first real chance of the second half however but the shot was put wide.
The Fire frustration grew as the half wore on as they created few clear chances and City were able to defend with grim determination at times as they sensed an upset was on the cards. The bottom-of-the-table City were looking to record their first win of the season against the more fancied Fire at home.
Fire were resorting to long shots and the City keeper was more than a match for anything the Fire was able to launch at him.
The closest the Fire came to scoring was in the 60th minute when Jack Bowen dribbled at the City defence and his low shot forced the City keeper to pull off a full length save diving low to his right.
City were able to seal their win in the 70th minute again in what seemed against the run of play. Fire were stretched at the back and City won possession inside the Fire half and poured through in numbers. The finish was unspectacular but effective to make it 2-0 to City. City hung on to celebrate their deserved win from the unpredictable Fire.
Player of the Match: Josh Nisbet
Under 18 Boys
Sunshine Coast Fire (0) v Palm Beach Sharks (6)
*Not yet submitted
Youth Women
Sunshine Coast Fire (1) v Souths United FC (1)
The Fire girls had several excellent passages of play where they created a lot of promising opportunities against a very physical South’s team but were unfortunately unable to finish on all but one occasion.
Teyana Bielby scored in the 34th minute of the first half after the ball was won by the defence just inside the Fire half, playing through the middle to Madi Warren who struck a well-timed and weighted pass through to Lisa Van Hooijdonk on the right wing. Lisa then made an excellent run up the wing into the corner and crossed the ball into the goal area where Teyana showed great skill and composure to control the high ball and finish under pressure from the South’s defence.
South’s scored mid-way through the second half to equalise.
The most disappointing thing was another serious injury to a Fire player with Madi Warren requiring ambulance transport after suffering a serious knee injury.
Player of the Match: Teyana Bielby
