HE warned them what would happen if they did – but FNQ Bulls coach Peter Tokesi still believes his players underestimated the QAS in their Queensland State League clash at Borzi Park on Saturday night.

The consequences of the complacency were high – a 3-1 defeat and a missed opportunity to make up ground on the top four.

It was a case of men versus boys in age only as the talented teenagers of the QAS upstaged their more experienced rivals with superior technical ability and ruthlessness in front of goal.

Tokesi said the Bulls found out the hard way what type of ability their opponents had.

"They (the QAS) are the best players we’ve got and they obviously surprised our players who, even after all my warnings, weren’t clear and comfortable with how quick these guys are," he said.

"They (the Bulls) definitely did underestimate their ability. All these boys apart from being fast, they’re quite good on the ball, which was quite evident tonight."

Comparative skill levels aside, the Bulls’ problem was not creating chances but rather finishing them.

The home side nearly scored in the fourth minute, through Steven Cater, but the 19-year-old’s low shot was well saved by QAS custodian Matthew Acton.

The early opportunity might have lulled the Bulls but any notions of an easy night vanished less than a minute later when QAS striker Jordan Mason slotted home a cross to make it 1-0.

Falling behind spurred the Bulls and the chances followed. The crossbar denied an air-tearing shot from George Koroma while Cater would have been disappointed not to have found the net after he was gifted the ball from a lazy clearance.

The Bulls’ wastefulness was punished when the QAS took a 2-0 lead after Kenneth Dougall headed home a cross in the 29th minute.

The home side eventually found the net in the 83rd minute when Cater flicked home a cross and suddenly the scramble to find the equaliser was on.

Tokesi pushed his men forward and it looked inevitable the QAS would concede a second but the youngsters proved their mettle when substitute Josh Brillante expertly exploited the extra space in the Bulls backline to score the winner in the final minute.

Disappointed but not disheartened by the result, Tokesi said his players still had much to learn.

"(We) set out this year not to use missing chances as an excuse but tonight we had enough chances to win two games," he said.

"Even with five minutes to go I thought we had the capability of scoring goals but it wasn’t to be tonight."

The biggest injury concern from the game for the Bulls was Anthony Mete, who limped off in the second half with a knee injury.

QAS 3 (Jordan Mason 5, Ken Dougall 29, Josh Brillante 90) d FNQ BULLS 1 (Steven Cater 83)

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