Thunder hit hard in difficult round

Thunder men and women suffer heavy defeats at the weekend

ON THE BALL: South West Queensland Thunder player Jess Fry (left) battles her Gold Coast opponent for possession of the ball. Picture: DSL Photography

FOOTBALL: It was a tough day at the office for the Thunder at the weekend.

Both the men's and women's teams suffered heavy defeats at the hands of quality opposition.

In the women's game, the Thunder had to battle a classy Gold Coast outfit.

Gold Coast attacker Meaghan McElligott ran riot in the match scoring six goals in her side's 8-1 victory.

"It's an unfortunate result and obviously one we're not happy with,” women's coach Scott Teakle said.

"Our biggest problem this season is not showing enough fight in the key moments.

"The thing I'm really trying to instil in the girls is to not drop their heads.

"Too often we compound our errors, we go behind, we get a little negative and the opposition score two or three goals.”

That lack of fight was evident in the Thunder's game at the weekend.

"There was a 10-minute period in the first half where they scored a few goals,” Teakle said.

"We showed some fight for the first 20 minutes or so and then they scored a few. Gold Coast made the most of their chances.

"But aside from that period we played okay - we certainly improved a lot more in the second half.”

Facing NPL heavyweights Olympic FC, the men were beaten 5-0.

With a 2-0 lead at halftime, Olympic pushed on with a further three goals after the break to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

Originally published as Thunder hit hard in difficult round