Stallions suffer shock loss to Rangers
The Mount Druitt Town Rangers have caused a major upset downing the Marconi Stallions 1-0 at Marconi Stadium halting its run to the top of the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s ladder.
It was the third win and by far the most important this season for the visitors who were up against a hungry Stallions outfit that failed to take advantage of APIA Leichhardt FC dropping points on Friday night.
Marconi would have ascended to the top of the NPL NSW Men’s ladder with a victory, but Mt Druitt managed to maintain their lead after an early goal from former player Anthony Frangie to claim an important three points for their 2023 campaign.
On a wet and gloomy evening at ‘The Palace’ Mt Druitt Town Rangers kick-started the action very early on.
Just five minutes into the match Frangie scored a sensational bicycle kick from close range to get on the scoreboard against his former club.
Following on from scoring one of the goals of the season a few weeks back against Sydney Olympic, Frangie repeated that effort with a brilliant effort against his former teammates.
The action continued in the fast-paced match as Mt Druitt looked to extend their lead, but in their efforts, Jared Macerola made a dangerous tackle in the 7th minute which resulted in a yellow card from referee Adrian Arndt.
Frangie looked for another goal in the 17th minute as he sent the ball towards the target from near the halfway line, but his effort lacked enough power to challenge Marconi keeper Jack Gibson.
Hirokai Aoyama had an opportunity to level the score in the 19th minute as he played off Daniel Bouman and let off a shot, but his effort flew above the crossbar.
Bouman came close in the 31st minute as he got on the end of a corner from Aoyama, but his header couldn’t meet the target.
Both sides continued to apply pressure in the rest of the first stanza, but they headed to the sheds with the visitors ahead by one as the upset was on the cards.
Both sides returned to the field with vigour as they looked to make an impact early, but it wasn’t until the 61st minute that a dangerous opportunity arose through Marconi’s rising young gun Justin Vidic.
The young attacker had a golden opportunity as he sent a strike from prime position towards goal, but his effort went wide, and the linesman’s flag went up.
Marconi substitute Aleksandar Duricic made an immediate impact to put pressure on Anthony Gallo in the 66th minute as the visitors made a fast-paced forward play, with the defender stopping Gallo from being able to execute the shot he desired.
The hosts had their fans holding their breath in the 85th minute as Domenic Costanzo played a ball to a diving Kyle Cimenti in front of the goalmouth, but he couldn’t make the connection.
Mt Druitt’s Jackson Bandiera made a forward run in the 89th minute and sent a strike towards goal from outside the 18-yard box but his effort flew high.
Marconi continued to pepper the visitors until the end but failed to salvage something from the match while Mt Druitt held strong to take a huge three points from the clash.
Mt Druitt Assistant Coach Andrew Montgomery was pleased his side were able to execute the game plan they had worked on coming into the match that stunned the Stallions.
“I think we came with a game plan to expose a lot of their deficiencies and I thought that we did that,” he explained.
“It’s no secret Marconi like to play long, load up the front lines, bang it and play first and second balls and I think we nullified that and caught them in dangerous areas with some overloads.
“We had a shadow team banging long balls, competing for the first one, chasing out the second one and I think it paid dividends tonight, we kept our second clean sheet for the season.”
Match Stats
Marconi Stallions FC 0
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 1 (Frangie 5’)
Saturday 29th April, 2023
Marconi Stadium, Bossley Park
Referee: Adrian Arndt
Assistant Referees: Amirhossein Hosnani and Thomas Bury
Fourth Official: Hayden Michlmayr
Marconi Stallions FC: 20. Jack Gibson, 2. Nathan Millgate, 3. Giorgio Speranza (18. Luka Knezevic 82’), 4. Roberto Speranza, 6. Domenic Costanzo, 8. Hirokai Aoyama, 11. Daniel Bouman (43. Jonathan Soares 48’), 19. Kyle Cimenti, 21. Justin Vidic (13. Aleksandar Duricic 64’), 22. Taylor McDonald (17. Martin Fernandez 45’), 23. Brandon Vella
Substitutes Not Used: 5. Liam McGing, 24. James Hilton
Yellow Cards: Soares 62’
Red Cards: Nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 20. Dylan Niski, 3. Nikola Djordjevic, 4. Cooper Coskerie, 5. Jacob Esposito, 6. Jared Macerola (27. Stefan Nikolic 84’), 10. Kotaro Katsuta, 11. Jackson Bandiera, 15. Anthony Gallo (7. Nikola Skataric 76’), 21. Tarek Elrich, 23. Daniel Dias, 44. Anthony Frangie
Substitutes Not Used: 1. Robert Fanella, 12. Will Harvey, 22. Rhett Desilva, 41. Abdelelah Fasial
Yellow Cards: Macerola 7’, Esposito 41’, Dias 69’, Djordjevic 78’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings
3 – Nikola Djordjevic (MDTR)
2 – Anthony Frangie (MDTR)
1 – Tarek Elrich (MDTR)
-By Madeline Riley
