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The Fire had been reduced to ten men early in the second half when their captain Tyson Holmes received his second yellow card for a deliberate and inexplicable handball in the Striker’s six-yard box. His first booking came from a reckless sliding challenge in the first half.
The dismissal changed the balance of a hard fought and entertaining encounter that see-sawed unpredictably throughout.
Both teams started frenetically, employing quick movement and one-touch passing before the pitch succumbed to rain that had been falling steadily for the past two days. It resulted in few clear cut chances and an increasing reliance on long balls by both teams.
While the pace and control of Sunshine Coast’s right-winger Dakota Lucas created early headaches for the Brisbane defence, his crosses repeatedly failed to find the isolated target-man Blackman.
At the other end, Greg King and Sean Burke were combining well for Brisbane , but couldn’t get in behind a near impregnable Fire defensive line led strongly by visa-player Greig Henslee.
It wasn’t until the 35th minute that Brisbane created the first genuine scoring chance, Burke shaking his marker before unleashing a low shot which Fire keeper Dale Hill did well to hold in the wet conditions.
Four minutes later, Burke got in behind the Fire defence for the only time in the match, deftly chipping the surging Hill only to see the ball cleared off the line by a desperate James Stinson.
The balance of the match altered again shortly after though as Blackman was played in behind the high Brisbane line from the goal kick. The veteran striker then dribbled at speed before calmly chipping the advancing goalkeeper, much to the delight of the travelling Fire fans seated nearby.
Twelve minutes later the Fire faithful thought they had scored a second from a corner, substitute Kaine Frew’s shot at the far post appearing to have crossed the line before being cleared by Sipi.
There was controversy at the other end not long after, with Striker’s fans and players appealing loudly for handball following a Chay Hews’ shot on the edge of the area.
The see-sawing nature of the match continued as Brisbane again took advantage of the extra man and the Fire defensive line dropped deeper. The home side’s attacking forays were quashed by the ever-present Henslee though, who, in addition to bravely blocking several shots, also diffused repeated crosses into the box.
In the final ten minutes the rainfall intensified and a series of opportunities presented themselves at either end.
The Fire’s Stinson, who was switched from fullback to a lone striking role following Blackman’s substitution, had two shots saved by Striker’s keeper Dave Chambers in successive minutes.
Meanwhile Brisbane deployed defender Alex Henderson further forward, the strong centre-half missing a close range header just before the end of regulation time.
The former Fire player made amends shortly after though, heading a Sipi cross back across goal to an unmarked Thurtell who drove home the equaliser at the far post.
After the match, both coaches were full of praise for their sides but both singled out Fire defender Henslee for special recognition.
“We found it very hard to get around them,” said Strikers coach David Large, “A player like Henslee, who scrambles and scrambles and scrambles, I thought he was sensational for them tonight.”
“Week in and week out he leads this side around the park,” he enthused. ”He should be in the A-League, without a doubt.”
The praise seemingly caught the centre-back off guard and he wouldn't be drawn on a possible A-League future. “It’s not something I’ve really thought about,” Henslee conceded.
The result sees Sunshine Coast