Thunder punished by long-time rivals
Ill-discipline and a “well versed” opposition proved to be the SWQ Thunder’s downfall at the weekend.
Unbeaten in their previous 10 games, including a 5-0 demolition of their opposition, the Thunder were favourites heading into the clash.
Western Pride exacted a bit of revenge on Saturday with a 6-1 defeat of their longtime rivals.
Nathan Yoon had the home side in front early. Capitalising on a Brady Mason-mistake, his low-curling effort found the back of the net with 13 minutes gone.
Jacob Advaney doubled the Pride’s advantage in the 26th minute.
Veco Serugo dragged the Thunder back into the match shortly after the half-hour mark.
However, the Thunder’s hopes of recording a positive result took a major dent five minutes before halftime when Jacob Bigby was shown a straight red card for foul language.
The visitors; resistance lasted 10 minutes in the second half.
Yoon (55) and Advaney (56) added their second goals before Yuta Hirayama rounded things out with a second half double.
Western Pride coach Andrew Catton said his side was well prepared for the Thunder but the extra man helped.
Catton spent time with new Pride shot-stopper Jace Hudson, who started the season with the Thunder, devising a plan to defeat the FQPL ladder leaders.
“The (South West) red card helped, but we were in a good position (up 2-1) before the red card and we’d done a lot,” he said when speaking the QT post-game.
“Having Jace (former South West goalkeeper Jace Hudson) helped as we had a fair bit of intel on them which was nice.
“I’ve watched so much video of them (Thunder), and I think we’ve got a little blueprint now to show how to beat them.
“But the fact is they only had 10 (men), so we’ve got to look at it with perspective.
“In the first half, there were still moments where we struggled.’’
The Thunder women lost 4-0 to The Gap on Saturday.
The visitors trailed 2-0 at halftime with Laini Freier (2), Sharn Freier and substitute Christina Amajouyi scoring goals.