Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC climbed to eighth on the table on Saturday night after defeating a ten-man Sydney FC 5-3 in their National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s clash at Valentine Sports Park.
A Fabricio Fernandez hat-trick helped the Rangers punish the Young Sky Blues who went a man down after only 15 minutes into the contest.
The Uruguayan was at his devastating best in the match also set up Mirijan Pavlovic for a goal who himself finished the match with a trio of assists.
Sydney FC went down fighting with goals to Ryan Teague, Marco Tilio and Jordi Swibel setting up a thrilling finish to the match.
However, it was Fernandez’s match as he wrapped up the win for Mt Druitt, and his hat-trick, with a cool finish eight minutes out from full-time.
Sydney FC’s chances of turning their poor form around took a turn for the worst only eleven minutes in. Anton Lenaric was given his marching order after bringing down the last Rangers forward bearing down on goal.
Sydney’s reshuffle did little to stem the tide of Mount Druitt’s pressure when Mirjan Pavlovic set free Fabricio Fernandez who side footed into Thomas Heward-Belle’s near post to make it 1-0.
Heward-Belle was keeping Sydney in the match with a top notch one-on-one save against Toufic Alameddine shortly after the goal.
Joeys captain Ryan Teague, who was Sydney’s best on the park in the first half, equalled the ledger, flicking a ball at the near post over the head of Carlos Saliadarre.
The ten men of Sydney FC thought they might be able to sneak a point from the match, but Mount Druitt’s pressure and numbers quashed that optimism.
Alameddine’s pinpoint delivery to Fernandez saw his header saved onto the crossbar by Heward-Belle, but nothing could be done to stop the follow up of Pavlovic who scored his ninth of the season.
Seconds after the re-start Alameddine went clear through on goal but only the post stopped him from hitting the score sheet.
Fabricio Fernandez took the honours after Jordan Roberts’ outside of the foot switch found Pavlovic who took Callum Talbot to task. He set up Fernandez again who slammed home his ninth of the season.
Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC kept the pressure on and were rewarded with a fourth as Nicholas Trimble pounced on a failed clearance by Luke Ivanovic to make it four.
Fernandez and Roberts had guilt edged chances to make it five but substitute Jordi Swibel pulled one back for Sydney, finishing one-on-one after a delightful ball through by Teague.
It was game on with just over 15 minutes of football to play on a cold night in Gleenwood.
Swibel nearly pulled another back after his shot was saved by the foot of Saliadarre but Marco Tilio brought it back to 4-3.
Sydney’s hard work was undone by Paolo Bonanni who attempted to dribble the ball out his own box and was dispossessed by Pavlovic who set up Fernandez for his hat-trick.
Sydney FC forward Luke Ivanovic lamented Sydney FC’s costly mistakes at the back
“With ten men we kept the ball well”, said Ivanovic.
“Felt like we played alright, silly mistakes cost us the game”
Mount Druitt Town Rangers boss Aidan Desmond sang the praises of his dynamite front two Fabricio Fernandez and Mirjan Pavlovic.
“We stopped playing, we sat back and let them play, they got a sniff and kept running for the whole ninety minutes”
“Scoring goals is not a problem here, Fernandez is a special player and when you have players like him (Pavlovic) who can link up, they’re dangerous.”
Sydney FC remain in second last spot after four losses in a row. They are seven points clear of Hakoah Sydney City East while the Rangers have hit some great form these past few weeks as they await whom they will get in the upcoming FFA Cup draw next week.
Match Stats
Sydney FC: 3 (Teague 38′, Swibel 74, Tilio 81′)
Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC: 5 (Fernandez 23′,43′, 82′, Pavlovic 39′, Trimble 49′)
Saturday 22nd June 2019
Valentine Sports Park, Glenwood
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: S. Edeling, A. Giev
Fourth Official: I. Covic
Sydney FC: 1. Thomas Heward-Belle (GK), 16. Paolo Bonanni, 24 Jake Hollman, 11 Luke Ivanovic, 8 Joel King, 18 Benjamin Koop, 54 Anton Milnaric, 5 Patrick Scibillo, 17 Callum Talbot, 15 Ryan Teague, 6 Harry Van Der Saag.
Substitutes: 14 Thomas Fay, 30 Adam Pavlesic, 13 Jordi Swibel, 12 Giuseppe Tilio, 6 Harry Van Der Saag
Yellow Cards: 16. Paolo Bonanni (61’)
Red Cards: 56. Anton Milnaric (13’)
Mt. Druitt Town Rangers: 1. Carlos Saliadarre, 3. Jacob Esposito, 4. Solomon-John Monahan-Vaika, 5. Jake Mammone, 6. Blake Thompson, 10. Fabricio Fernandez, 11. Toufic Alemaddine, 12. Nicholas Trimble, 14. Mirjan Pavlovic, 16. Joshua Gould, 19. John Roberts
Substitutes: 9. Alex Boyadjan, 15. Cooper Coskerie, 17 Jordan Gomez, 23. Lachlan Roberts
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings have now been hidden due to the second half of the season commencing.
By National Premier Leagues reporter Nicholas Rupolo (@BigRoopa)
