MATT Thurtell again haunted Bundaberg Toyota Spirit in their Hyundai State League clash with Brisbane Strikers at Perry Park on Saturday night.
The sharp shooter had bagged a hat-trick to spearhead the Brisbane side to a 5-1 victory when they previously met on 24th April, but the Spirit were coming off their first win for almost two years, and they had been hopeful of at least matching the Strikers.
But Thurtell had other ideas, making lethal strikes in the 11th, 24th, 55th and 64th minutes to star in a 7-1 demolition job and again send Bundaberg back to the drawing board.
Spirit coach Richard Mitchell said they “played some good football at times’’ but some bad old habits returned as they “gifted goals’’ time after time. “They scored first (with Thurtell opening their account) but we did well to equalise through Shane Youngberry (in the 23rd minute), but then 15 seconds later, whether it was a penalty or not – I’m not a 100% sure – but we let the boy run all the way to the box and they replied,’’ Mitchell said.
“Then they scored 20 seconds before half-time (via Chay Hews) and just after the break (46th minute own goal) and that was it,’’
A real blow-out was on the cards after Thurtell’s next two goals, but the Spirit picked up the pieces and prevented any further carnage until Jordan Farina added his name to the list of scorers in the 87th minute. Despite conceding that they were simply outplayed, Mitchell said that the score-line was “not a fair reflection of the game’’.
He also said Adam Ormsby “did okay at the back’’, as did Sydney FC Youth Division recruit Ray Miller on club debut, but that keeper Luigi Cordova, who was trialing with the club from Brisbane Lions, “tried hard but had a hard day at the office and knows that he made a couple of mistakes’’.
“But we had no stand-outs and no shockers – at different times, different players did some good things – effort and enthusiasm-wise, the boys were fine, but the good stuff and the mistakes were across the team, but the boys are not mugs – they know what they did wrong and we can work on that,’’ Mitchell said.
With Laurie Stephenson, Nick Fitzgerald and hopefully Elliot Causer set to return from injury, Mitchell is hopeful they can put the performance behind them quickly.
“If we can cut out our moments of madness, we are a half-decent side, and I’m confident we can bounce back next week, but there are no easy games in this division, and Whitsunday Miners are flying high at the moment,’’ he said.
“But with three home games coming up, I’m hoping we can get another big home crowd and repay them with some goals and a win.’’
The Spirit were also beaten by the Strikers in their Youth League clash 3-1 but their coach Steve Bates said their performance “against the top-of-the-table team was very good considering (they) played the last 30 minutes with nine troops after captain Josh Metcalf and centre-back Michael Coleman each incurred red cards for second yellow card infringements with the score at 2-1, which was also the half-time score.
“Their first goal came from a keeper error, but we equalised with a cross from Mitchell Broom finding Brendan Davis who headed it into the back of the net, but their second goal was also very soft – we let a few guys free,’’ Bates said.
“To concede just one extra goal with nine men was a great effort – we compressed and zoned up in defence and shut them down but the goal was a run-away when our boys were trying to attack.
“To compound our problems, we lost Lukey Leggett five minutes after half-time with a knock to the shin.’’
Bates named Jacob Miles as their best on the day. “Jacob had a good game at fullback. Also Brendan Davis up front was very strong, Mitchell Broom was very strong in the midfield, and Lynton Seary played with a bit of an injury for the second week in a row and had a quite outstanding game in place of injured players at left back, and it was a gutsy effort from him,’’ he said..
