Honours even as Frangie stuns with audacious ‘Goal of the Year’ contender

The Easter long weekend kicked off in style on Thursday as the Mt Druitt Town Rangers played out an entertaining 1-1 all draw against Sydney Olympic at Popondetta Park in a match that saw a ‘Goal of the Year’ contender thanks to a stunning overhead kick via Rangers star Anthony Frangie.

The hosts put together one of their best footballing displays of the 2023 National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s season and kept the Sydney Olympic attack at bay for the majority of the match.

The Rangers opened the scoring through a jaw dropping bicycle kick from Frangie but didn’t much to the dismay of the home fans, did not carry that momentum into the second half.

For Sydney Olympic, Labinot Haliti’s side had to dig deep to take the point. The visitors struck right after half-time through Sam Mcillhatton which earned them a share of the spoils.

Sydney Olympic FC buoyed by back-to-back wins had a chance within the first 60 seconds with Roy O’Donovan unable to crane his header into the net.

The visitors used the left channel as an avenue for their work through Adam Parkhouse. He whipped in a well timed cross onto the head of Oliver Pufflet to nod over.

Mt Druitt Town Rangers found their rhythm in the game and had their chances. Nikola Skataric tried from a difficult angle but it flew wide.

They continued to push forward and went close again. Kotaro Katsuta cut the ball back to Frangie who went first time and had his effort saved.

Mt Druitt were on the front foot and looked the likelier side to open the scoring. Nikola Djordjevic headed over then Rhett Desilva’s strike deflected wide of the mark.

The hosts did open the scoring in spectacular fashion just before half-time. Frangie with an acrobatic overhead kick which flew into the top corner made it 1-0 for Mt Druitt Town Rangers.

Stung by conceding late in the first half, Sydney Olympic had the first chance of the second half. O’Donovan found Nick Fitzgerald with the pass and he fizzed it over the bar.

The visitors continued to surge forward for an equaliser. Darcy Burgess had a shot which was well saved by Mt Druitt custodian Dylan Niski.

From the resulting corner, Sydney Olympic did equalise. Sam Mcillhatton hit a venemous strike from deep which rolled into the bottom right corner and it was game on with the scores locked at 1-1.

It looked like Frangie might have given Mt Druitt Town Rangers the lead again. He unfurled a strike headed for the top corner before Olympic goalkeeper Nicholas Sorras tipped it over.

Both sides tried to search for the winner as the clock ticked into the final ten minutes. Sydney Olympic’s Parkhouse flicked a shot wide from substitute Fabio Ferreira’s pass.

Mt Druitt Town Rangers had a late chance from a free-kick in striking range. Frangie stood over the ball but couldn’t bend his effort over the wall.

The final whistle sounded as the points were shared with the Rangers taking points off last season’s Premiers.

Post-match Mt Druitt Town Rangers coach Stewart Montgomery reflected on the game and a point well earned by his side.

“It was a fantastic first half.

“We worked all week on discipline in possession and transition which the boys did well.

“We gave Olympic little opportunity and scored a great goal.

“Like all good sides, Olympic came back into it and it became transitional.

“We now need to go back and work on putting two good halves together with some home games coming up.” said Montgomery.

While Olympic coach Labinot Haliti, although dropping points, was pleased with his side’s fightback.

“Look, we had our chances and they scored a goal of the season to take the lead.

“We showed what we were about in terms of playing and dominating.

“Popondetta Park is a tough place to play but like I said a few weeks ago, we just need to keep going until the final whistle.” said Haliti

Match Stats

Mt Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Frangie ‘42)

Sydney Olympic FC 1 (Mcillhatton ‘61)

Thursday 6 April 2023

Popondetta Park, Emerton

Referee: Danny Horstead

Assistant Referees: Logan Jones & Amber Morris

Fourth Official: Matthew Harris

Mt Druitt Town Rangers: 2. Solomon-John Monahan-Vaiika, 3. Nikola Djordjevic, 4. Cooper Coskerie, 7. Nikola Skataric (5. Jacob Esposito ‘76), 10. Kotaro Katsuta , 11. Jackson Bandiera, 20. Dylan Niski, 21. Tarek Elrich, 22. Rhett Desilva, 23. Daniel Dias (15. Anthony Gallo ‘90), 44. Anthony Frangie

Unused subs: 1. Robert Fanella, 6. Jared Macerola, 27. Stefan Nikolic, 43. Abdelelah Faisal

Yellow cards: Monahan-Vaiika ‘50

Red cards: nil

Sydney Olympic FC: 1. Nicholas Sorras, 3. Michael Neill, 5. Zygmunt Gordon, 8. Sam Mcillhatton, 9. Oliver Pufflet, 10. Darcy Burgess (24. Hagi Gligor ‘71), 11. Adam Parkhouse, 12. Matthew Buettner, 23. Jakob Cresnar, 29. John FitzGerald (22. Fabio Ferreira ‘71), 99. Roy O’Donovan

Unused subs: 4. Benjamin Van Meurs, 14. Michael Vakis, 20. Christopher Parsons

Yellow cards: Neill ‘47, O’Donovan ‘54, FitzGerald ‘63, Ferreira ‘87, Mcillhatton ‘90+1. Cresnar ‘90+3

Red cards: nil

Player Ratings:

3: Anthony Frangie (MDTR)

2: Adam Parkhouse (SO)

1: Tarek Elrich (MDTR)

By Justin Davies (@JustDavies90)