New recruits ready to rock Popondetta Park
Mt Druitt Town Rangers will feature as many as seven fresh new faces as coach Stewart Montgomery has commenced the club’s rebuild in the hope of clinching silverware for the 2022 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season.
“We are here to win the NPL NSW Men’s competition”, Montgomery stated to Football NSW.
“We aren’t here to make up the numbers.
“We want to improve our consistency and ensure once again that Popondetta Park will be a fortress for anyone playing in our den.
“We also want to continue to promote and develop our youth players coming through the system.”
With one high profile signing to come before the competition kicks off, the Rangers have been busy recruiting some quality talent that could pave the way for a successful season at Mt Druitt.
Former Blacktown City young gun Rhett DeSilva will call Mt Druitt home as will former Central Coast Mariners whiz-kid striker Louis Khoury.
Nineteen-year-old Goalkeeper Jerome Narayan has made the move from the Bonnyrigg White Eagles as has twenty-year-old Rocco Fragale, while former St George FC defender Jake Trajkovski will also call Popondetta Park home.
One player to keep an eye on will be former Monaro Panthers striker Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu. The 29-year-old marksman caught the attention of many whilst playing top-flight NPL football in the nation’s capital with Montgomery hoping he can replicate that success in Australia’s top tier NPL competition.
The club’s biggest announcement was the departure of legendary goalkeeper, “King” Carlos Saliadarre. The 32-year-old shotstopper was the club’s regular number one for several seasons and featured heavily as one of the best custodians in the NPL NSW Men’s competition. Relocating to the Gold Coast for work reasons, the club moved swiftly to sign former Port Melbourne Sharks and Preston Lions number one Matt Symes. Growing up in Townsville, Symes moved to Sydney in 2014 where he played for Sydney FC’s NYL side during the 2014/15 season before joining the Western Sydney Wanderers for the 2015/16 season after a stint with Hakoah Sydney City East. Symes was also part of the Blacktown City setup in 2017.
Along with Saliadarre, the likes of players such as Jake Mamone, Toufic Alameddine and Takumu Tsujimura also parted company with the Rangers.
Montgomery announced that five of the club’s rising young Under 20’s stars Yinka Sunmola, Brayden Burr, Leo Abdo, Mo Sabbough and Ngor Deng were all rewarded with senior contracts.
Some of the club’s 2021 players will once again line-up for Mt Druitt with the likes of Tarek Elrich, Marc Warren, Travis Oughtred, Blake Thompson, Cooper Coskerie, Fumoto Kamada, Jack Stewart and Solomon Monahan Vaika ready to do their bit in 2022.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers 2022: Tarek Elrich, Marc Warren, Travis Oughtred, Solomon Monahan Vaika, Blake Thompson, Jason Perez, Jared Macerola, Cooper Coskerie, Fumoto Kamada, Jack Stewart, Robert Fanella, Jerome Narayan, Mitchell Smith, Yinka Sunmola, Brayden Burr, Leo Abdo, Mo Sabbough, Ngor Deng, Matt Symes, Jake Trajkovski, Rocco Fragale, Lukman Ahmed-Shaibu, Rhett DeSilva, Louis Khoury.
