The pre-season battle between Hyundai A-League champions Brisbane Roar and current Queensland State League premiers Sunshine Coast Fire has ended in a 1-1 draw at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
Brisbane dominated the opening proceedings with lively striker James Meyer and defender Matt Mundy both testing Fire goalkeeper Antony Hall with half-chances early in the match.
Soon after, Chris Bush tried his luck with a well-timed shot from the edge of the penalty area before Meyer unselfishly found teammate Shane Stefanutto in clear sight of goal but Ange Postecoglou-s men struggled to find the killer instinct in the attacking third.
Despite the Hyundai A-League side-s overwhelming share of possession, it was the home side that broke the deadlock after 39 minutes, courtesy of a long range free-kick from captain Tyson Holmes.
Almost 30 yards out from goal, Holmes picked Roar gloveman Michael Theoklitos off his line to give his side a shock lead heading into the interval.
A meandering run down the left wing from Fire midfielder Jason Hicks almost doubled Sunshine Coast-s advantage with the last play of the first half but the powerful shot flew the wrong side of the post and the teams went into the changing rooms with just the one goal between them.
Both sides came out with intent in the second stanza, the Fire giving the Roar another scare four minutes in after a quick pass from Holmes almost gave a Fire striker an easy tap inside the six yard box.
Brisbane-s dominance started to draw more clear-cut chances with only a goal line clearance denying Matt Smith a goal just after the hour mark but Brisbane only had to wait a short while before finding themselves on level terms.
A deft through ball from Thomas Broich found Nick Fitzgerald close to goal, the trialist calmly slotting past Hall at his near post to hand his side a deserved equaliser with almost half an hour left to play.
The closing stages saw plenty of chances for either team to secure a winning goal but solid defending from both ends saw the end result stand at 1-1.
Brisbane Roar 1 (Nick FITZGERALD 65-)
Sunshine Coast Fire 1 (Tyson HOLMES 39-)
Sunday 12 June 2011
Sunshine Coast Stadium, Kawana
Referee: Alan Milliner
Brisbane Roar line-up: 1. Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2. Matt SMITH, 4. Shane STEFANUTTO, 5. Ivan FRANJIC, 7. Kosta BARBAROUSES, 9. Thomas BROICH, 12. Matt MUNDY, 15. Matt McKAY (c), 18. Luke BRATTAN, 19. Chris BUSH, 21. James MEYER
Substitutes: Daniel ANGELUCCI, Nick FITZGERALD, Daniel BOWLES, Nikolas SMIDTZ, James DONACHIE, Alistair QUINN, Brandon BORELLO, Jack BLADEN, Jason GERIA, Jake McLEAN, Ken DOUGALL, Stefano SALANDRA
Sunshine Coast Fire line-up: 1.Tony HALL, 2. Stinson JAMES, 4. Sako TAKANORI, 5. Greg HENSLEE, 6. Dylan ROBERTS, 7. Jason HICKS, 10. Tyson HOLMES (c), 13. Sam KNIGHT, 19. Mitch BROOME, 17. Ryan SMITH, 22. Gareth MUSSON
Substitutes: Alex HENDERSON, Tim HOLLINGWORTH, Kaine FREW, Sam NICHOLLS, Judd MOLEA, Kota SHIBAHASHI, Aaron BRAZANDALE
