Mt Druitt Town Rangers have secured a valuable victory away from home on Saturday night, with a 2-0 win over Marconi Stallions at Marconi Stadium.
The victory extends Mt Druitt’s unbeaten run to four games as they continue to claw their way up the NPL NSW Men’s ladder as Stewart Montgomery’s side have become one tough team to take on.
Goals to the in-form Jack Stewart and Takumu Tsujimura were unanswered by the home side, who struggled to convert their multitude of opportunities throughout the match and have now gone almost a month without a victory in the NPL NSW Men’s competition.
Both sides came onto the field ready for a battle and the first 45 minutes delivered just that.
Mt Druitt custodian and skipper Carlos Saliadarre was called into action in the opening stages of the match, rejecting strikes from Marconi’s Anthony Frangie and Connor Evans.
Marconi looked poised to get on the scoreboard in the 19th minute as Marko Jesic and Brandon Vella combined to create a goal-scoring opportunity, however Vella’s strike flew wide of the sticks.
Mitchell Mallia had a chance for home side in the 27th minute, playing through Mt Druitt’s defence to chip a ball over Saliadarre, however his effort rebounded off the woodwork to the feet of Frangie.
Frangie fired a strike from the rebound but it was deflected by Mt Druitt to the head of Jesic, whose header soared over the crossbar.
Mt Druitt put together some brilliant combination play in the 30th minute to set up Cooper Coskerie, however Nenad Vekic pulled off a tremendous save to deny the visitors.
Despite an action-packed first half of football, neither side was able to take hold of the game in the first 45, heading to the sheds in a goalless deadlock.
The first goal of the match came the 53rd minute through Mt Druitt’s Jack Stewart.
Marc Warren made an impressive intercept before passing to Stewart, who fired from close range to secure the lead for the visitors. It was his fourth of the season.
It wasn’t long until the visitors would extend their lead, with a second goal in the 67th minute through Takumu Tsujimura.
Stewart sent a ball through Marconi’s defensive line to Tsujimura, who cleanly put away a goal to extend Mt Druitt’s hold on the game as well as scoring his maiden goal for his new club.
Marconi continued to mount pressure and create chances in the final stages of the match, but Mt Druitt was able to hold strong and keep a clean sheet.
Mt Druitt coach Stewart Montgomery was pleased with his team’s performance to secure a valuable three points as they gain momentum.
“We knew what they were going to try and do, and they’re a little bit more on the counter in transition moments so we sat in and made sure we played our shape and, in the end, kept another clean sheet,” he explained.
“We’re four games unbeaten, we’ve rolled Olympic, Blacktown, drew with United and just beaten Marconi so we’re ready for the rest of the season.”
Marconi coach Peter Tsekenis placed emphasis on results over performance, explaining that “at this point performance is not really important, it’s about getting the result and we didn’t get the result.”
“I thought it was a bit of an arm wrestle today, I though both teams went at each other.
“I believe that whoever took their chance at the right time would win the game and they did.
“We hit the post, we did create a lot of chances and that’s a confidence thing I believe.
“We’ve just got to work hard and keep working harder.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions FC 0
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 2 (Jack Stewart 53’, Takumu Tsujimura 67’)
Saturday 24th April, 2021
Marconi Stadium
Referee: S. Kelly
Assistant Referees: J. Adabjou and M. Staples
Fourth Official: B. Merchant
Marconi Stallions FC: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 4. Roberto Speranza, 6. Mark Rodic, 8. Connor Evans, 10. Marko Jesic, 11. Mitchell Mallia, 14. Anthony Frangie (21. Emmanuel Peters), 16. Liam Youlley (17. Martin Fernandez), 23. Brandon Vella
Substitutes Not Used: 19. Zac Cairncross, 20. Dion Shaw, 25. Blake Ilitch, 39. Jay Hirschowitz
Yellow Cards: Emmanuel Peters 64’, Marko Jesic 88’
Red Cards: Nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 1. Carlos Saliadarre, 3. Travis Oughtred, 6. Blake Thompson, 7. Jack Stewart (18. Jared Macerola), 8. Jason Perez (4. Mitchell Smith), 9. John Roberts, 10. Takumu Tsujimura (2. Solomon-Johnn Monahan-Vaiika), 14. Fumoto Kamada, 17. Cooper Coskerie, 21. Tarek Elrich, 33. Marc Warren (5. George Tuson-Firth)
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Robert Fanella, 22. Jake Mamone
Yellow Cards: Tarek Elrich 72’, Mitchell Smith 85’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Jack Stewart (MD)
2 – Travis Oughtred (MD)
1 – Carlos Saliadarre (MD)
– By Football NSW Reporter Madeline Riley (@madelineriley23)