Late Rory Jordan equaliser breaks Rangers hearts
Northbridge Bulls and Mt Druitt Town Rangers have played out a thrilling 2-2 draw at Sydney United Sports Centre after a goal from Bulls skipper Rory Jordan in the dying stages of the game forced both sides to share the spoils.
Jordan’s 90th-minute strike completed a sensational comeback for the Bulls to end the side’s four-game losing streak.
Goals to Jack Stewart and Takumu Tsujimura cancelled out Lachlan Sepping’s first-half strike to give Mt Druitt a 2-1 lead at the interval.
With the Rangers eyeing victory, Northbridge refused to quit as Walter Scott sent a perfect ball into Jordan who fired past the keeper to secure a last-gasp draw.
The opening goal came in the 8th minute of play as Suman tried to play a ball out of his box and across the field, however, his attempt only went as far as the oncoming Stewart who got a foot to it and had his side’s opener and his fifth of the 2021 season.
Stewart was in inspired form and was unlucky to not have doubled his tally after firing wide twice soon after.
The Bulls weren’t thrown off by Stewart’s chances and began to create for themselves catching the Rangers’ defence off guard on a few occasions after the opener.
Jordan’s shot from the edge of the box agonisingly sailed inches over before Scott hit the crossbar
Moments later Northbridge was dealt a huge blow after imposing defender Theph Theph was forced off due to an injury.
Carlos Saliadarre proved his worth for Mt Druitt after denying Stephan De Robillard from the edge of the box.
The Rangers shot-stopper was called into the action again shortly after, this time defusing a powerful effort from Michael Ruhs.
It all came unstuck for Saliadarre in the 43rd minute when he conceded the ball near the corner post for Moudi Najjar to pinch possession and set up Sepping to chip into the back of the net.
Mt Druitt wasted no time getting back in front from the ensuing restart.
An impressive lead-up play saw John Roberts put Takumu Tsujimura through on goal where he slotted his shot past the out-coming Suman, sending them 2-1 up heading into halftime.
Both sides started the second half more conservative after a blistering opening 45 minutes.
Stewart picked up where he left off in this first half, he played a tantalising ball across to Travis Oughtred, he just overpowered his shot and sent it out for a goal kick.
Oughtred found himself on the opposite side of a chance this time playing a dangerous ball through to Tsujimura who was met by Suman as he denied the shot before it could get going.
Najjar had the best chance for the Bulls in the second, however, he was denied by a resurgent Saliadarre who did his best to block the shot.
Northbridge pushed hard until the final minutes of the game, pushing men forward in a desperate bid for an equaliser. They were rewarded at the start of injury-time after Scott gave Jordan a precise cross at the front post where he neatly put away the chance. Jordan has again been in dynamic form and will no doubt be knocking on Ante Milicic’s first grade A-League door for an opportunity shortly.
Rangers were determined to regain their lead and came within inches in the final seconds of play. George Tucson-Firth gave Stewart a golden chance at the edge of the box, however, his shot went too wide as play came to a close.
Mile Sterjovski was proud of his side’s comeback and took the positives from a resilient performance
“We started off pretty slow and weren’t reacting to everything,” he said.
“I think the second half was a more spirited performance and more like us. We took the game to them and we probably had a few chances where we could of won.
“I’m proud of the boys for coming back and still believing, that’s the kind of mentality I want to instil in these guys.”
Mt Druitt boss Stewart Montgomery rued two points lost but credited a tough Bulls outfit.
“On reflection, it was a poor performance, it was like a training game almost like SOS at times,” he said.
“Our defence and midfield did their job, we locked them up but our transition forward was rushed and we didn’t take our chances.
“Credit to them, we knew they were a dangerous side.
“You look at their results over the year, they’re scoring late in games all the time, we knew that we just didn’t deal with it.”
On a side note, the Rangers and the NPL NSW Men’s family bided farewell to John Roberts who departed the club for family reasons as he relocates to Melbourne.
Match Stats
Northbridge Bulls FC 2 (Sepping 43’, Jordan 90’)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 2 (Stewart 8’, Tsujimura 43’)
Sunday 9th May 2021
Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Referee: M. Riedy
Assistant Referee: H. Fenton-White & E. Kocbeck
Fourth Official: I.Covic
Northbridge Bulls FC: 3. Theph Theph, (2. Jack McLoughlin), 5. Keanu Ismic (30. Olli Jones), 6. Lachlan Sepping, 10. Rory Jordan, 11. Stephen De Robillard, 13. Walter Scott, 15. Nick Suman, 16. Jake Jovanovski (12. Brodie Clarkson), 17. Yianni Nicolaou, 24. Moudi Najjar (18. Diego Bonilla), 26. Michael Ruhs (9. Bul Juach).
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Ryan Wood
Yellow Cards: nil
Red Cards: nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 1. Carlos Saliadarre, 3. Travis Oughtred, 6. Blake Thompson, 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Jason Perez (4. Mitchell Smith), 9. John Roberts (5. George Tuson-Firth) 10. Takumu Tsujimura (2. Solomon-John Monahan-Vaiika), 14. Fumuto Kamada (22. Jake Mamone), 17. Cooper Coskerie, 21. Tarek Elrich, 33. Marc Warren
Substitutes Not Used: 11. Ahmed Algarawi, 18. Jared Macerola,
Yellow Cards: Monahan-Vaiika
Red Cards: nil
Player Ratings
3 – Jack Stewart (MD)
2 – Rory Jordan (NB)
1 – John Roberts (MD)
By National Premier Leagues NSW Reporter Dominic Criniti (@DominicCriniti)
