Words: Michael Flynn

Brisbane Roar continued their strong pre-season form with a solid 5-1 win over Northern Fury in the Wingate Properties Townsville Football Cup on Wednesday night.

New star signing Mensur Kurtisi delivered a second half hat-trick for the visitors, adding to Corey Brown’s first half penalty and a second half strike from Kofi Danning.

Fury were good value prior to the hour, levelling terms early in the second half through captain Jacob Crowley before fading late in the contest against the defending A-League Champions.

Both sides made goalkeeping changes after Sunday’s opening round of matches, with Matthew Symes taking the gloves for Fury and Michael Theo in goal for Roar.

Theo was the first called into action as Caleb Hobson fired a floating strike from 20 yards four minutes into the contest.

Roar soon fashioned their first chance as Jai Ingham blazed well over the bar from Jack Hingert’s low cross.

Theo survived a brain snap shortly after when he used his hands to shut down Kevin Fraser’s break outside the penalty area – referee Kris Griffith Jones deciding to not issue a card of any colour for the blatant handball.

Fury’s pressing in defence produced a number of cheap turnovers of possession before Roar finally started to settle into the match.

18 minutes in Mattieu Peyre was adjudged to have fouled forward Jai Ingham, allowing Corey Brown to open accounts from the penalty spot.

Kevin Fraser continued to prove a handful for the Roar backline but shots on target proved elusive.

Roar’s best chances continued from set pieces as Luke Brattan curled his shot just wide of the near post from a 25 yard free-kick.

Syme produced a sharp save to deny Ingham on 28 minutes after the young forward met Brown’s cross on the burst near the penalty spot.

Fury remained well in the contest though as centre half pairing Peyre and Ari Isman combined well to deny genuine scoring chances for Roar while forwards Fraser and Crowley continued to offer outlets up front.

Scoring chances proved hard to come by for the hosts until five minutes prior to the break, Fraser picked up a loose ball in midfield to unleash Crowley, however the striker’s attempted chip proved easy pickings for Theo.

In the final minute of the half, George Lambadaridis spurned a chance to double the advantage when he miscued his strike well wide following a flowing Roar counter-attack.

Roar added Liam Miller and Mensur Kurtisi to the mix for the second half and as well as replacing Theo with Matt Young in goal.

However, Fury levelled terms four minutes after the restart as Waple’s free-kick picked out the run of Jacob Crowley, the Fury skipper heading the ball between the legs of Young

Buoyed by the equaliser and the small but parochial home crowd, Fury displayed a huge amount of energy to keep Roar under pressure before the visitors delivered a quick-fire triple punch.

On 54 minutes, Solorzano beat defender Chris Figg before cutting back for Kurtisi to deliver a first-time, low finish into the bottom corner.

Less than a minute later Danning doubled Roar’s lead after running onto a through ball and finishing assuredly past Symes with the one on one.

Kurtisi secured his second just after the hour, controlling well on the turn before slotting his shot between the legs of Syme, effectively wrapping up the win.

Roar saw the best of the remainder of the contest as Ferguson introduced local premier league players Jonathan Bagley, James ARtis and Valentine Akem into the mix.

Symes denied Kurtisi his hat-trick twelve minutes from time with a sharp close-range save, however he was outclassed by the Macedonian’s well-placed header from a Shannon Brady’s corner to secure his hat-trick

Fury weren’t disheartened and continued to defend valiantly as Symes tipped a Solorzano bicycle kick over bar in the final ten minutes.

Brady spurned the chance to cap off his productive cameo down the right, when he struck his shot into the side netting in the final minutes.

Roar continue their Townsville Football Cup campaign against Sydney FC on Saturday, while Fury will head to Brisbane to face Olympic FC in the final match of their NPL Queensland campaign.

NORTHERN FURY 1 (Jacob CROWLEY 49’)
BRISBANE ROAR 4 (Corey BROWN 19’pen, Mensur KURTISI 54’ 63’ 80’, Kofi DANNING 55’)