A disappointing first half, and a series of missed chances, has proved costly for Brisbane Roar Youth as they went down 1-0 to Sunshine Coast FC in their PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Round 5 clash today.
A late penalty from Paul Mikula proved enough for the Fire to see off the Young Roar in an arm-wrestle at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
The result left Young Roar Coach Josh McCloughan unimpressed.
“In all honesty we carried too many players today,” he said.
Mikula delivered the winning strike entering the final 10 minutes of a tight contest that saw the hosts hold firm despite Young Roar controlling extended periods of possession.
However Mikula went from hero to villain in the final minutes when he was red-carded for a second bookable offence forcing Fire to see out time added on with 10 players.
The win is Fire’s second of the campaign and continues their perfect record at home so far this season, lifting them to seventh on the table.
Young Roar drop back to 10th in the standings – their lowest position of the campaign so far.
Key Moments
15’: CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – Nicholas D’Agostino with the first opportunity of the contest but he sends it over the top from the edge of the box.
27’: CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – Nicholas Panetta shoots from long range and forces Fire goalkeeper Samuel Nickolls to tip the shot over the crossbar.
64’: CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – A series of quick-fire of shots at close-range calls for repeated saves by Samuel Nickolls before the offside flag ceases the barrage.
81’: GOAL FOR FIRE – Brady Cronk feeds the ball into Jeremy Stewart inside the area and he is brought down allowing Paul Mikula to score from the spot-kick.
88’: CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – Jesse Daley gets a sight on goal from the edge of the area but his strike keeps rises and clears the crossbar.
90’: RED CARD FOR FIRE – Paul Mikula is dismissed after picking up his second yellow card forcing Fire to see out the result with 10 players.
Quote unquote
Young Roar coach JOSH McCLOUGHAN: “In all honesty the first half of football is one of the worst first halves of football I have had to watch in a long time. I reflected that to the boys at half-time and we tried to change a few things but in all honesty we carried too many players today. We created enough chances to win the game but I wasn’t happy with the performance at all.“
Sunshine Coast FC’s MATTHEW LYELL: “It was a great performance from the team as a whole. I thought we played well together. We stuck to the plan and got a goal in the end. We got then on the break but we peppered their goal box for most of the game and were hoping to get a flick-on in the end. It was a great cross (for the goal) and we got the penalty and Paul capitalised in the end.”
What’s next
The Young Roar host Western Pride next Saturday (6pm KO) at Cleveland Showgrounds.
Match stats
PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016, Round 5, Sunday, April 3, Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast FC 1 ( Paul MIKULA 81’pen)
Brisbane Roar FC Youth 0
Young Roar: 1. Andre JANNESE, 3. Cameron CRESTANI, 4. Mark RODIC, 5. Matthew SCHMIDT (19. Daniel LECK 52’), 7. Dane INGHAM, 8. Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 9. Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 12. Joseph CHAMPNESS (22. Dylan WENZEL-HALLS 65’), 23. Nicholas PANETTA (14. Daniel DRIVER 56’), 24. Danny KIM
Young Roar unused substitutes: 16. Thomas MILLER, 20. Tomislav BILIC
Yellow cards: Danny KIM 29’; Red cards: Nil
Fire Squad: 1. Samuel NICKOLLS, 2. Timothy HOLLINGWORTH, 4. Christopher JANCEVSKI, 6. Connor HANCOCK, 8. Grant DE CHASTEL, 9. Brady CRONK (7. Cameron NAIRN 90’), 11. Jeremy STEWART (3. Giacamo MELLINO 82’), 15. Jordan LOY, 16. Matthew LYELL, 17. Paul BROWNLIE (13. Blake HUSTON 73’), 18. Paul MIKULA
Fire unused substitutes: 5. Kyle TOWNSEND, 20. Josh WALL
Yellow cards: Paul MIKULA 30’; Red cards: Paul MIKULA 90’ (second yellow)
Match Officials: Trent SLEEMAN (referee), Ben COOK (assistant), Tarran RICHARDS (assistant), Albert KRAUSE (fourth)
