Words: Michael Flynn
Additional Reporting: Sam Attwood
Images: Sam Attwood

A late penalty from Paul Mikula proved enough for Sunshine Coast FC to see off Brisbane Roar Youth in a 1-0 arm-wrestle at Sunshine Coast Stadium.

Mikula delivered the winning strike entering the final ten minutes of a tight contest that saw the hosts hold firm despite Young Roar controlling extended periods of possession.

However Mikula threatened to turn from hero to villain in the final minutes when he was red-carded for a second bookable offence forcing Fire to see out time added on with ten players.

The win is Fire’s second of the campaign and continues their perfect record at home so far this season, lifting them to seventh on the table.

Young Roar drop back to tenth in the standings – their lowest position of the campaign so far.

Key Moments

15’ – CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – Nicholas D’Agostino with the first opportunity of the contest but he sends it over the top from the edge of the box

27’ – CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – Nicholas Panetta chances his arm from long range and forces Fire goalkeeper Samuel Nickolls to tip the shot over the crossbar

64’ – CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – A series of quick-fire of shots at close-range calls for repeated saves by Samuel Nickolls before the offside flag ceases the barrage

81’ – GOAL FOR FIRE – Brady Cronk feeds the ball into Jeremy Stewart inside the area and he is brought down allowing Paul Mikula to score from the spot-kick

88’ – CHANCE FOR YOUNG ROAR – Jesse Daley gets a sight on goal from the edge of the area but his strike keeps rises and clears the crossbar

90’ – RED CARD FOR FIRE – Paul Mikula is dismissed after picking up his second yellow card forcing Fire to see out the result with ten players

What They Said

“It was a great performance from the team as a whole. I thought we played well together. We stuck to the plan and got a goal in the end. We got then on the break but we peppered their goal box for most of the game and were hoping to get a flick-on in the end. It was a great cross (for the goal) and we got the penalty and Paul capitalised in the end.” – Matthew Lyell, Sunshine Coast FC

“In all honesty the first half of football is one of the worst first halves of football I have had to watch in a long time. I reflected that to the boys at half-time and we tried to change a few things but in all honesty we carried too many players today. We created enough chances to win the game but I wasn’t happy with the performance at all.“ – Josh McCloughan, Brisbane Roar FC Youth

Match Details

PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016 – Round 5
Sunday, April 3
Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast FC 1 defeat Brisbane Roar FC Youth 0

Fire Goals – Paul MIKULA 81’p
Fire Yellow Cards – Paul MIKULA 30’
Fire Red Cards – Paul MIKULA 90’

Fire Squad – 1. Samuel NICKOLLS, 2. Timothy HOLLINGWORTH, 4. Christopher JANCEVSKI, 6. Connor HANCOCK, 8. Grant DE CHASTEL, 9. Brady CRONK (7. Cameron NAIRN 90’), 11. Jeremy STEWART (3. Giacamo MELLINO 82’), 15. Jordan LOY, 16. Matthew LYELL, 17. Paul BROWNLIE (13. Blake HUSTON 73’), 18. Paul MIKULA
Fire Unused – 5. Kyle TOWNSEND, 20. Josh WALL

Young Roar Goals – none
Young Roar Yellow Cards – Danny KIM 29’
Young Roar Red Cards – none

Young Roar Squad – 1. Andre JANNESE, 3. Cameron CRESTANI, 4. Mark RODIC, 5. Matthew SCHMIDT (19. Daniel LECK 52’), 7. Dane INGHAM, 8. Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 9. Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 12. Joseph CHAMPNESS (22. Dylan WENZEL-HALLS 65’), 23. Nicholas PANETTA (14. Daniel DRIVER 56’), 24. Danny KIM

Young Roar Unused – 16. Thomas MILLER, 20. Tomislav BILIC

Match Officials – Trent SLEEMAN (referee), Ben COOK (assistant), Tarran RICHARDS (assistant), Albert KRAUSE (fourth)