In Wednesday night’s exhibition match, the Sunshine Coast Fire were defeated 1-0 by A-League club Gold Coast United at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
An early goal from Daniel Severino was enough to separate the two sides in the evenly-poised friendly.
With the Fire facing the Brisbane Strikers in a vital semi final on Sunday, the squad was heavily rotated for the friendly against the Gold Coast. A number of Under-19, Gympie Fire and invitational players helped make up the squad for the match, with injured players given the night off to recuperate for Sunday.
After holding the Brisbane Roar to a 1-1 draw in a similar friendly in June, the Fire would have been confident of holding their own against the Gold Coast. With both sides taking a little while to warm to the contest, Gareth Musson went close to opening the scoring when he connected sweetly with a volley from the edge of the penalty area, but United keeper Glen Moss pushed it over the bar to safety.
Minutes later, Gold Coast hit the front through Daniel Severino. An accurate shot from distance could only be pushed into the upright by Fire keeper Sam Nickolls, with Severino on hand to knock home the rebound and set United on their way.
The Gold Coast had chances to add to the scoreline in the following minutes, with Joel Porter missing the target from 12 yards, and Peter Jungschlager sending in a low shot from distance that Nickolls dealt with easily.
Midway through the first half, the pace of the game was decidedly slower than in recent QSL games. The Fire were getting their fair share of possession but mostly seemed content to attack on the break. Meanwhile, United were looking dangerous and creating chances in their attacking third.
Joel Porter combined well with Robson in the middle of the pitch, with Robson sending in a shot from 18 yards that hit Nickolls on the chest. On the counter-attack, the Fire moved well down the left wing with Sam Knight sending an accurate cross to Musson, who forced a save from Moss with a header.
Soon after, Tyson Holmes chipped a free-kick from the left touchline into the penalty area, where Alex Henderson got a free header but missed the target to the right. The Fire’s best chance of the game came on 40 minutes, when Jason Hicks was dispossessed but the ball was only cleared as far as Musson, who shaped to shoot from close range. Luckily for United, Adama Traore came from nowhere with a sliding block to deny the striker and keep Gold Coast ahead at the break.
The match continued at a slow tempo in the second half, with both sides looking to hold possession and not throw themselves into unnecessary tackles. Early on, a clever through ball from Dylan Roberts was well anticipated by the Gold Coast defence and cleared to safety.
The Fire continued to substitute heavily as the second half wore on, with first team regulars taken from the field with one eye towards Sunday’s game.
After 70 minutes of play, United went close to doubling the lead when a good cross from Traore found Ben Halloran six yards out, but Halloran could only rattle the crossbar with his header. Halloran was denied again moments later, when Tahj Minniecon moved well down the left flank before sliding a pass to him, but the ball took an awkward bounce on the turf and Nickolls made an interception.
As the match moved into its final minutes, Shaun Blackman and Tim Hollingworth combined well, but the last defender made a classy interception to avert the danger. Kota Shibahashi tried his hand with a 30 yard free-kick soon after, but his shot went well clear of the crossbar.
Gold Coast again hit the crossbar as injury time loomed, when Minnicon found space in the left of the penalty area, shaped to shoot and drove a shot into the bar and out of play.
The Fire had one last chance to equalise in injury time, when Aaron Brazendale skipped down the right wing before knocking in a low cross, but Leon Dwyer didn’t make proper contact with the half volley and missed the target.
The final whistle sounded for a 1-0 victory to the A-League club, despite a solid display from the young Fire side. Fire coach Richard Hudson was pleased with the hit-out and the opportunity to give many squad members a run before the weekend.
“The Gold Coast looked sharp; obviously their pre-season is well underway. I thought we could have nicked a draw, but at least we managed to give plenty of players a run. We didn’t want to concede early, we got caught cold a little bit, but overall, it was pleasing, it’s good for the public to see A-League sides up here and we want to see more of it. We’ve done it twice now, and we’ve shown that we can hold our own.
This Sunday will see the Fire needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit in the Major Semi-Final second leg against the Brisbane Strikers, with the winner claiming Grand Final hosting rights and the loser facing a knockout Preliminary Final. Kick-off is set for 2pm at Sunshine Coast Stadium, with the Under-19 Fire also facing their Brisbane Strikers counterparts in a HQSYL catch-up match at 4pm.
FINAL SCORE – Sunshine Coast FC – 0
Gold Coast United – 1 (Severino, 6)
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