Missed opportunities prove costly for Thunder
Missed shots prove costly in NPL loss
FOOTBALL: The South West Queensland Thunder tested the resolve of their more fancied rivals on Saturday night.
For large periods of the second half they controlled and dominated possession against the Western Pride.
However, it was the Pride who landed the telling blows in their 4-1 win.
In a first half that offered little in the way of real excitement, it was the Pride who opened the scoring in the 24th minute.
Latching onto a long ball out of the midfield Alex Parson neatly placed his shot into the bottom corner to beat Thunder keeper Luke McDonald.
Travis Cooper had an opportunity to equalise shortly after but his shot, after he cut inside his defender, went over the bar.
Neilen Brown then doubled the Pride’s advantage when he scored in the 43rd minute.
Brown’s goal proved to be a sign of things to come in the game with Pride taking their chances and the Thunder wasting theirs.
Chris Hatfield dragged the Thunder back into the match with a superbly struck free kick in the 54th minute, but late goals to Mitchell Bird (86th) and Parson (93rd) sunk the home side.
“I think we played really well but we could’ve done a lot better,” Thunder player Lathan Dunn said.
“We just need to finish off our chances.”
With a week off before facing top-of-the-table Lions, Dunn said the Thunder will use the break to re-focus and recover.
“We want to be more consistent week to week,” he said.
“We beat some teams that are on top of the ladder and then we will lose or draw to someone near the bottom.
“We’re having a little bit of a rough patch but I think this weekend off will really help us.
“It’ll help some of the boys to recover and focus, I think we’re going to finish the season.
“The club and the fans have done a lot to support us and we want to repay them for that.”
Women show fight
Once again the Thunder women showed patches of brilliance in their match with Lions.
Ladder leaders Lions opened the match strongly establishing a 4-0 lead by halftime.
The Thunder however showed some spirit slowing down Lions and scoring two goals of their own.
The game finished 7-2 in favour of Lions.