Marconi Stallions continued its winning form with a 4-2 victory over the Mt Druitt Town Rangers in a rescheduled round 6 fixture on a rain sodden Popondetta Park thanks to a hat-trick from skipper Marko Jesic and some wizardry from Domenic Costanzo.
Stewart Montgomery’s men had their chances and all looked promising when Jason Perez equalized just before the break.
But the Stallions proved too strong thanks to a lethal hat-trick from Jesic who played well but the game belonged to Costanzo who pulled the visitors strings on the left flank for ninety minutes.
The Stallions got off to a blistering start after a delightful ball from Giorgio Speranza found Costanzo in behind who was fouled in the box.
Jesic dispatched the penalty to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
Costanzo was a constant thorn on the left side for the former NSL giants in the first half.
The 20-year-old moved down the wing before he ended up having a shot at the near post which was saved by Rangers custodian Robert Fanella.
Mt Druitt had their first shot in anger close to the half hour mark. Diogo Barbosa found some space in midfield before he unfurled a wicked shot which crashed off the post.
Stallions continued to enjoy most of the possession in the contest as Thomas James tried his luck with a chance that was easily claimed.
Mt Druitt Town Rangers found the equaliser just before the break. A superb cutback from Jack Stewart found a wide-open Perez who shaped home for 1-1 and it was game on.
Coming out of the break, Marconi Stallions felt just fine taking the lead in the 52nd minute. Jesic stood tall from a free-kick and nodded home to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
The Stallions doubled their advantage just after the hour mark. A surging run from Costanzo produced a save from Fanella, with the ball falling to Jesic who made it 3-1.
Searching for a way back into the contest, the Rangers did pull one back in the 74th minutes. Jack Stewart’s left sided cross was nodded down by Barbosa into the path of Cooper Coskerie to make it 3-2 and again the hosts were chipping at Marconi.
Peter Tsekenis’ men looked to restore their two-goal advantage as the game headed into the final ten minutes. Both Charles Lokolingoy and substitute Christopher Hatfield had shots which whizzed wide off the post.
After his wonderful performance, Costanzo got the goal he thoroughly deserved and put the contest to bed for the visitors. He drove into the area after a cheeky Giorgio Speranza chip to thrash home for a 4-2 victory.
The visitors had a pair of chances late in the contest to make it a five-star performance. Substitute Samuel Gulisano rounded the keeper but poked wide then Lokolingoy fired over.
Speaking post-match, Mt Druitt Town Rangers coach Stewart Montgomery once again felt like it was a missed opportunity for his side.
“Story of the season really,” he stated to Football NSW.
“We’ve come away with a defeat where we’ve given them four goals on four individual errors.
“Our general play was a high standard so it’s back to the drawing board for us.
“We must continue to be brave and push forward. I think we play the same way against everyone and got into an attacking position to score twice tonight.
“Unfortunately we gave up four.”
For Marconi Stallions coach Peter Tsekenis, it was another three points following on from their victory against Sydney United 58 in round 8.
“I didn’t think we were at our best, but we scored four goals.
“We were disappointed to concede two goals and I think if we did a few more things right, we could’ve run away with it.
“It is all about confidence at this point of the season. We know we can score goals but haven’t had a clean sheet thus far this season.
“Now we work towards that but its good to take three points at this time of the season.”
Match Stats
Mt Druitt Town Rangers 2 (Perez ‘41, Coskerie ‘74)
Marconi Stallions 4 (Jesic ‘15, ‘52, 62, Costanzo ‘88)
Tuesday 26 April 2022
Popondetta Park, Emerton
Referee: Michael Weiner
Assistant Referees: Brodie Merchant & Joe Crawford
Fourth Official: Matt Staples
Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 4. Travis Oughtred, 7. Jack Stewart, 8. Jason Perez (13. Tavares ‘75), 9. John Roberts, 10. Diogo Barbosa (23. Leonard Abdo ‘87), 11. Fumoto Kamada, 12. Jake Trajkovski, 17. Cooper Coskerie, 19. Bul Juach (18. Olayinka Sunmola ‘64), 20. Robert Fanella, 21. Tarek Elrich
Unused subs: 25. Mohommed Sabbouh, 30. Jerome Narayan, 41. Ivan Sunjic
Yellow cards: Perez ‘51
Red cards: nil
Marconi Stallions: 1. Nenad Vekic, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza, 4. Roberto Speranza, 6. Domenic Costanzo, 8. Connor Evans (23. Brandon Vella ‘90+1), 9. Thomas James (7. Hatfield ‘74), 10. Marko Jesic (17. Fernandez ‘90+1), 11. Charles Lokolingoy, 16. Liam Youlley (13. Samuel Gulisano ‘66), 22. Taylor McDonald
Unused subs: 19. Zac Cairncross, 21. Ashton Maher
Yellow cards: Youlley ‘40, Jesic ‘51, Evans ‘54, Vekic ‘80
Red cards: nil
Player Ratings
3 – Domenic Costanzo (MS)
2 – Marko Jesic (MS)
1 – Cooper Coskerie (MDTR)
By Justin Davies (JustDavies90)