The last day of summer delivered a perfect opening to the new football season for the Noosa Lions, as both senior men’s sides produced emphatic wins under a night sky marked by a rare six planet alignment.
Any early questions about how the revamped squads would perform were answered decisively: a 5–0 victory for the Under 23s and a 6–1 triumph for the Men’s team set a strong tone for the season ahead. Unfortunately, the wet weather had led to the postponement of the Women’s teams games on Friday night.
Double winners last season, the Under 23s had a number of new players making their debuts for Noosa.
The young Lions started strongly and an early goal for Cayden Archer, who finished with a hattrick, was followed by a well-placed shot from Samuel Giove to give the side a two-nil lead at the break. Despite conceding a third at the start of the second half, Coolum continued to press and drew two excellent saves from the Noosa ‘keeper, Tom Mason. After Archer completed his treble against his old club, Blake Ellis completed the rout with a brilliant shot into the top corner to leave Coach, Phil Oyston delighted with his new look team’s impressive start.
Four well-taken goals for Oli Williams ensured the Noosa Lions Mens team had an emphatic win over a hard-working Coolum side. The Lions started slowly, with misplaced passes and errors hampering their attacking threat. In the 34th minute, Oli Williams left foot shot into the bottom corner settled the team and after the lively Sam Boldy broke through the Coolum back line a couple of times, with his shots being well saved, T latched onto a defensive error to give the home side a 2-0 lead at the break.
Oli Williams moved up front for the second half and following a lovely interchange of passes on the edge of the area, he made it 3-0 with a sharp finish. Williams and Blackmore then combined again to set up Boldy, who was a constant threat, for a shot, but it was well saved. Coolum’s ‘keeper then had an assist with a long punt forward being latched onto and dispatched to make the score 3-1.
Some great dribbling into the box by Boldy set up Williams for his hattrick in the 65th minute and he scored his fourth from the penalty spot 10 minutes later. Debutant, Zac Savage rounded off the scoring, heading home after Mitch Bridge had headed back across the goal from a corner.
Coach, Michael Williams, was happier with the second half performance of his team.
This weekend, Noosa host Beerwah with Under-23s kicking off at 4pm and the Men’s at 6pm. The Women’s Teams play on Friday night at Nambour Yandina United, kicking off at 6.30pm and 8.30pm respectively.
