Thistles thrash Panthers

On the ball: Jake Marcus (left) attacks the ball for the Pottsville Panthers against Lismore Thistles on Saturday at Koala Beach Sports Grounds.

Blainey Woodham

POTTSVILLE Panthers’ successful Football Far North Coast (FFNC) premier division season ended in disastrous circumstances at Koala Beach Sports Grounds on Saturday.

Lismore Thistles, a side the Panthers beat 4-0 in their last encounter, ran out 5-2 winners after taking a big 3-0 lead into the halftime break.

The Panthers mounted a courageous comeback but couldn’t recover from the first half’s galeforce winds and a red card to their goalkeeper. Even the side’s first goal early in the second half was tinged with bad luck, with Josh McQueen breaking his collarbone in the process of scoring.

“It was just a tough day,” was Panthers’ captain-coach Dave Lonie’s assessment.

Pottsville’s forgettable day started when opponents Lismore Thistles won the toss. The wind was howling and the natural decision for Lismore’s captain was to run with the wind. Lonie said his side couldn’t get the ball out of its own half in the conditions.

Lismore was peppering the Pottsville goal and in a sensational incident, Panthers goalkeeper Nathan Wilson became involved in a scuffle in the box at the 20 minute mark and was red carded. Thistles slotted the first goal of the match via the subsequent penalty.

The Panthers brought in a replacement keeper but with only 10 men, conceded another two goals to end the first half trailing 3-0.

Lonie, the FFNC coach of the year, made an impassioned plea to his players to stand up in the second half and they delivered.

“We can come back,” he told them.

The Panthers returned in an aggressive, goal-scoring mood and it only took three minutes for McQueen to hit the ball into the back of the net.

But in the process of scoring, he ran into the post. He went down and had to be taken by ambulance to hospital suffering a suspected broken collar bone.

But Pottsville didn’t let the setback hinder its momentum and only two minutes later, Mike Kolovos brought the Panthers back to 3-2 and the large home crowd was urging the side on to an unlikely victory.

However, the side failed to convert a number of opportunities and with its depth tested, soon became tired and the Thistles kicked in another two goals to win 5-2.

The Panthers finished third in the regular season in its first year in the FFNC premier division.