Lions claw out big win
Set piece errors hurt Thunder
Visitors Lions FC exposed the South West Queensland Thunder’s achilles heel to brutal effect at the weekend.
Successfully defending set piece situations has been an issue for the young Thunder side and they were made to pay again on Saturday night falling to a 5-1 defeat.
An unmarked Marek Maddle headed in at the back post to open the scoring for Lions in the fifth minute before Jheison Macuace double their advantage in the 17th minute.
Striker Chris Hatfield pulled one back after his 19th minute shot cannoned off the post but that would be the last time the Thunder troubled the scorers.
The men’s competition leaders didn’t let up with Macuace scoring his second goal on the half hour mark and Shaun Carlos adding a goal to send their team into the halftime break up 4-1.
“Conceding goals from set pieces has been a bit of a problem for us this season,” Thunder assistant men’s team manager Kris Hemmerling said.
“It’s been an achilles heel of ours for a little while.
“If you have a look at the game tonight most of their goals came from set piece situations.”
The Lions didn’t have it all their own though according to Hemmerling.
“We created a number of chances tonight,” he said.
“Even after we were 2-0 down early we were still playing positive football.
“We got it back to 2-1 and we were looking pretty good.
“We had a few good chances and obviously if one of those goes in and we equalise it’s a different game.”
Despite conceding a fifth goal shortly before the hour mark Hemmerling said the Thunder took plenty of positives away from the game.
“It shows you the gap in the league,” Hemmerling said.
“They bought on (former ALeague player) Jean Carlos Solorzano as a second half sub.
“We bought on teenager Riley Sears. We’re not complaining though, they (Lions) are top for a reason.
“It’s been a good season for us, we’ve blooded some great young players and we’ve been competitive – especially over the last few weeks where we’ve faced the top four teams.
“We’re still a shot at finishing top six as well which is our goal.”
Photo: Kevin Farmer