Fire's streak broken
Travis Meyn | 21st June 2010
THEY may have had their 12-game winning streak broken yesterday but Sunshine Coast Fire coach Aston Bell says it's not time to hit the panic button.
Sunshine Coast Fire’s Aaron Brazendale under attack from North Queensland.
Jason Dougherty
THEY may have had their 12-game winning streak broken yesterday but Sunshine Coast Fire coach Aston Bell says it’s not time to hit the panic button.
The Fire ran into a committed North Queensland outfit at Kawana who eventually held out the ladder leaders 2-1 in a seesawing affair.
The Razorbacks strangled Sunshine Coast and gave them no room to move, with North Queensland striker Josh Searle bagging a memorable double.
But despite the loss in which his side was well below its best, Bell said the Fire were still carrying momentum into the back half of the year.
“We spoke about playing with more intensity during the week,” he said.
“What we found was another team that’s come along here with great will and intensity as well.
“For me it (winning streak) was never in my minds. They often say ‘the more you win, the closer you are to losing’.
“It’s not the end of the world, we’re still 12 points clear at the top of the table and we’ve still got a lot of great momentum.
“Each week we’re going to face teams that are going to be that competitive and chance their luck.”
Both sides had numerous chances early but failed to find the final touch needed to gain ascendancy.
It was the Razorbacks that capitalised first when Searle beat Fire goalkeeper Anthony Hall in a one-on-one after running onto a supreme through-ball.
Fire captain Shaun Blackman used his height when he headed a Tyson Holmes free kick but the ball just sailed over the crossbar.
Searle nearly had a second goal just before half-time but Hall was able to snatch the ball out of the scramble and keep the score at 1-0 heading into the break.
The second half started much like the first with Searle missing another opportunity before Holmes got his head to a well weighted corner kick to get the Fire on the board.
The ball went from end to end as each team looked for their second goal but it was Searle that came up with the goods when he timed his run perfectly to latch on to another through-ball and beat Hall in similar circumstances.
There were calls for offside in Searle’s second goal but the Fire’s central defenders looked to have kept the speedy striker onside.
The Razorbacks found themselves with 10-men on the park when Jacob Crowley was sent off for a Tim Cahill-style slide tackle but the Fire weren’t able to capitalise in the final 15 minutes as North Queensland held on for a memorable victory.
Bell said his side struggled to adapt to North Queensland’s style of play which choked them of room for Holmes and Yuta Gonai to work their magic.
“They showed their hand pretty early. They were going to set a high line in defence and try and squeeze from the front as well,” he said.
“There was about 30 or 40 yards between their back four and front two.
“It was up to us to break it down and the disappointing thing for us today was we didn’t execute it as well as we can.
“We got carried away with trying to push up high and denied ourselves room to use the ball.”
The Fire will be looking to return to the winners’ list with a strong victory against bottom-placed Bundaberg next weekend in Bundaberg.
NORTH QUEENSLAND 2
Josh Searle 2
SUNSHINE COAST 1
Tyson Holmes
Other results: Bundaberg 2 draw Whitsunday 2; FNQ 4 draw Strikers 4. Standings: Sunshine Coast 36 points, Strikers 24, NQ 23, FNQ 19, QAS 13, Whitsunday 12, Capricorn 11, Bundaberg 5.
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2010/06/21/fires-streak-broken-but-dont-panic-yet/