A hat-trick is a celebrated but rare event in football. Two hat-tricks from the same team in a single match seems the stuff of fantasy, while three is simply unthinkable, yet that was the reality for Brisbane Roar’s National Youth League team.
A hat-trick is a celebrated but rare event in football. Two hat-tricks from the same team in a single match seems the stuff of fantasy, while three is simply unthinkable.
Yet that was the reality for Brisbane Roar-s National Youth League team when they secured a record-shredding 11-2 victory over the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra last weekend.
New Brisbane signing Anthony Proia, his second-half replacement Matt Thurtell and Hyundai A-League recruit Issey Nakajima-Farran all hit trebles in a performance that lifted the Roar to third on the ladder.
The performance of Prioa and Thurtell all the more remarkable given they featured for just a half each. The latter replacing the former at the half-time break.
Never before in 35-seasons of senior national league competition in Australia has such a feat been achieved.
Yet, remarkably, the Westfield W-League witnessed similar scenes as recently as December when Sydney FC routed Perth Glory 11-0, with Renee Rollason, Kylie Ledbrook and Leena Khamis all scoring hat-tricks.
The Roar led 5-1 at the interval and 8-1 within the hour, only for the scoring to mercifully slow against what was a new intake of AIS scholarship holders.
Yet Roar coach John Sime remained unimpressed at the conclusion of the first 45 minutes ripping into his charges at half-time saying they were “lacklustre” and “lacking in concentration”.
Ange Postecoglou-s philosophy in evidence amongst the Roar-s young brigade, with the focus very much on performance rather than result-driven.
Nevertheless, the evidence of last Saturday in the nation-s capital suggests the production line of young talent in the Sunshine state is set to continue unabated.
