Words: Michael Flynn
Additional Reporting: Paul Smith & Brian Marriage
Images: Paul Smith

Substitute Kobe Fuller struck the decisive goal – his second in five days – as Sunshine Coast FC saw off a determined SWQ Thunder 3-2 in a see-sawing contest at Clive Berghofer Stadium.

Fire held the lead at half-time when Paul Mikula struck his third goal of the campaign from the penalty spot, however were reeled in only minutes into the second stanza as Mustafa Jafari levelled terms.

The to-and-fro continued as Jeremy Stewart restored Fire’s advantage only for Kevin Doyle to once again level terms approaching the final quarter hour – the goals marking each player’s first ever in the national second tier.

However, Fuller backed up his midweek goal in the Westfield FFA Cup with the match-winning strike just minutes later to seal Fire’s first win in four league outings - but second straight win all competitions.

Thunder’s third straight league defeat sees them drop to ninth place in the league standings – one point behind Fire, who move to eighth.

Key Moments

8' - CHANCE FOR THUNDER - Tom Fanning calls upon Fire goalkeeper Samuel Nickolls who can only parry the effort straight to waiting Mustafa Jafari but the striker’s follow-up shot goes high

27' - CHANCE FOR THUNDER – a second corner in quick succession sees Sam Nickolls called on to save Rowan Solomon's close range header

43' – GOAL FOR FIRE – Jeremy Stewart is felled inside the penalty area by Lachlan Atkinson following a long ball out of midfield; Paul Mikula then sneaks his penalty past Thunder goalkeeper Luke Borean to open accounts

49’ – GOAL FOR THUNDER – Mustafa Jafari latches on to Fanning’s nod-on to get one-on-one with Nickolls before drilling his shot into the bottom corner to level the scores

56’ – GOAL FOR FIRE – Borean hits the ball straight to Stewart who takes advantage of the goalkeeper’s poor position to convert the finish

72’ – GOAL FOR THUNDER – the ball falls invitingly for Kevin Doyle amidst a congested penalty area and he places a curling finish in off the right upright to again draw Thunder level

74’ – GOAL FOR FIRE – a rapid-fire series of shots sees Alexander Warrilow strike the post before Christopher Jancevski is denied by the crossbar; ultimately Kobe Fuller pounces on the loose ball and tucks it home to restore Fire’s lead

85’ – CHANCE FOR FIRE – Shoichi Koshimizu pulls the trigger from outside the penalty area but sees his strike come off the crossbar where is collected by Borean

What They Said

“At the end of the day, if we put in a performance that pleases the home crowd and they see the effort and the attitude then I’m not disappointed. At the end of day we want to win games of football but sometimes you don’t get rewarded for your efforts. To a man we were brave and we kept going to the final whistle and we might’ve got something out of it.“ – Chris McLeod, SWQ Thunder FC coach

“We played well and we’re getting better every game. We’ve been threatening to score more than one goal for a long time and today we’ve done it. We’ve scored three and really could’ve had six. “ – Sam Saif, Sunshine Coast FC coach

Match Details

PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016 – Round 9

Saturday, April 30
Clive Berghofer Stadium, Toowoomba

SWQ Thunder FC – 2 (Mustafa JAFARI 49', Kevin DOYLE 72')
Sunshine Coast FC – 3 (Paul MIKULA 43’p, Jeremy STEWART 56’, Kobe FULLER 74’)

CLICK HERE for the official Match Centre

Match Officials – Drew NINNES (referee), Alex HOHN (assistant), Sitha MEAD (assistant), Ethan QUINLAN (fourth)