The young Academy side had a great start to the match and looked dominant throughout the first half which ultimately translated into going one-nil up in just the 14th minute, courtesy of a Kenneth Dougall strike.
The QAS players looked confident as they headed to the sheds after the first half and hopes were high that they could deliver the first blow to the 2010 Hyundai Queensland State League Champions title defence.
But lack of match fitness proved to be the downfall of the QAS, having only trained as a team for three weeks, and the Fire capitalised on the tired defense with speedy pair Tyson Holmes and Jason Hicks who provided the Sunshine Coast’s three goals, sealing another three points for the early league leaders.
Sunshine Coast almost had the opening goal on the 6th minute when they were awarded a free kick 20 yards out directly in front of goal. Tyson Holmes laid it off for Dylan Roberts who drove a low shot towards goal but QAS ‘keeper Matt Acton was quick to react and managed to deflect the ball away from goal.
A few minutes later it was the home side’s turn to come close when Mitch Cooper found space to fire off a shot but it rocketed into the side-netting.
Five minutes later, however, the QAS did take the lead when a loose ball in the penalty area fell to Kenneth Dougall who made no mistake and fired the ball home from point blank range, putting the home side ahead.
Sunshine Coast continued to push for an equalizer before the break when a number of chances fell to Tyson Holmes but the midfielder was denied by Matt Acton taking the one-nil score line into the half time break.
Just five minutes after the restart, the Sunshine Coast had the chance to equalise when a ball was cut back to Shaun Blackman on the top of the six yard box who cheekily tried to chip an advancing Matt Acton but Blackman’s chip stayed afloat long enough for Acton to reclaim his footing and claim the ball.
However the Fire didn’t have to wait long to find the equaliser when substitute Jason Hicks injected his pace and linked with Holmes who fired home the Coast’s first goal of the night.
A couple of minutes later, the Fire again surged forward when a quick free kick, taken in their defensive half, sent James Stinson down the wing before crossing it into the goal area where it proved to be slightly too high for Acton to hold onto and the resulting deflection landed at the feet of Jason Hicks who slotted the ball home.
The Fire sealed the game in the 74th minute when striker Jason Hicks again put his speed and fresh legs to use by getting behind the QAS defence and putting home the Fire’s third and final goal of the night.
QAS Coach, Darren Davies, was disappointed for his side who he believed deserved to be rewarded with some points based on their efforts.
“I think the boys performed particularly well this evening, especially in the first half.
“It was clear I think that only one team looked to play football, if you look at the possession stats at half time, we absolutely dominated the first half”.
“Unfortunately we could only convert that dominance into only being one-nil up going into the second half and the game is about making the most of the chances you create.
“Unfortunately we didn’t do that and the Sunshine Coast came in and capitalized on that.
“Our young lads got tired after 65 minutes, which is understandable, we’ve only had them in for 2-or-3 weeks training and we will get better and we learn from this but I’m not too disappointed with the performance, in fact I’m very happy with the performance, in particular, the first 60 minutes.
“Like I said, I think that if we had scored the goals that our possession and play deserved then we would have been out of sight by half time.
