Rangers sunk by energetic NWS Spirit FC
NWS Spirit FC produced a confident performance as they took care of a stuttering Mt Druitt Town Rangers 3-1 in an entertaining battle at Christie Park on Saturday.
An early goal changed the context of the fixture with Ollie Wiggin, Luiz Lobo and Musashi Kokubo all finding the back of the net while Will Harvey scored for the visitors.
Chance wise, the first half saw the hosts take complete control from early on with a goal in the 11th minute.
Their build up coming down the left, reaching Lobo whose initial effort was saved by Dylan Niski into the path of Wiggin who made no mistake with the side footed finish.
In between chances, the game was being played at quite the intensity with no team getting a foothold in midfield.
The next chance for the hosts coming ten minutes later in the 21st minute, Corey Kavanagh had his shot saved after patient build up from his side, before Richie Darko followed up shortly after which was saved again.
While the most dangerous that Mt Druitt looked followed soon after. Breaking from a corner at the other end saw Will Harvey send in a dangerous ball across the face of goal from the right.
That marked the beginning of a good ten-minute period for the visitors who spent plenty of time in the hosts half.
They couldn’t find a route to goal however and Spirit were able to double their advantage before the break, 42 minutes in. Activating the press high up-field with a cutback from the right finding Wiggin who saw his shot blocked into the path of Lobo.
Lobo had his initial shot saved back to him, before he was brought down for a penalty. Lobo then stepped up to the spot rolling the ball into the bottom left corner to double their advantage.
The hosts took a 2-0 lead at the break and got off to a flyer in the second half when they made it three, this time via the set-piece.
Musashi Kokubo with the simplest of finishes inside the box 52 minutes in after a Jordan Gomez delivery caused all sorts of problems for the Rangers defence.
Despite that goal, it was a more positive Rangers outfit after the break as they grabbed their first goal on the hour mark through Will Harvey. Harvey was found by Kotaro Katsuta with an in-swinging delivery to the near post.
Spirit keeper Chris Marques had to be alert soon after in the 64th minute as a delivery from the right found Rhett Dasilva free at the back post. His effort was well saved.
While Peter Kekeris nearly announced himself to the home crowd in style. Following his mid-season move from Rockdale Ilinden, the nifty midfielder took it from the left byline for his shot to be saved sharply by Niski 68 minutes in.
The Rangers were now having the more chances as they chased the game with a couple of opportunities to halve the deficit.
Firstly with a long range effort in the 77th minute before a long direct ball finding Olayinka Sunmola who shot from the byline which hit the post from an unlikely angle in the 83rd minute.
Speaking after the game, Spirit coach David Perkovic emphasized the importance of an early goal that ultimately set the trend for the entire match.
“I though we were really dominant in the first half, obviously it was really good to get in front early to settle the nerves and it changed the way the game played.
“We were good enough to get the three goals today, disappointing we conceded the goal but in the context of the season it’s a very important victory.”
Mt Druitt Town Rangers head coach Stewart Montgomery rued his sides slow start to the fixture.
“We started slowly, we were slow to the ball and second best in the contest. We have to be better than what we showed tonight.
“At the end of the day, we left ourselves a lot to come back from but we had a much better second half and we probably should have done better with our chances in the second half.”
The loss for the Rangers heaped pressure on the side as they look to distance themselves from the dreaded relegation battle involving both the Western Sydney Wanderers and Bulls FC Academy.
Match Stats
NWS Spirit FC 3 (Ollie Wiggin 11’, Luiz Lobo 42’, Musashi Kokubo 50’)
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC 1 (Will Harvey 59’)
Saturday 24 June, 2023
Christie Park, Macquarie Park
Referee: Sam Kelly
Assistant Referees: Anastasia Filacouridis and Lindsay Edmonds
Fourth Official: Mitchell Renton
NWS Spirit FC: 1. Christopher Marques, 3. Musashi Kokubo, 4. Kota Odakura, 5. Jordan Gomez (20. Jared Lumb 72’), 6. Corey Kavanagh (2. Blake Ilitch 46’), 7. Richard Darko, 11. Ollie Wiggin (10. Peter Kekeris 61’), 13. Simon Nicholas, 16. Kyle Shaw, 17. Matthew Cahill (9. Mitchell Davidson 72’), 21. Luiz Lobo
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Jacob Madden, 26. Maisam Awaz
Yellow Cards: Kokubo 34’,
Red Cards: Nil
Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC: 20. Dylan Niski, 2. Solomon-John Monahan-Valika, 4. Cooper Coskerie (42. Bailey Jacobs 70’), 5. Jacob Esposito, 6. Jared Macerola (15. Anthony Gallo 46’), 10. Kotaro Katsuta (43. Abdelelah Faisal 80’), 12. Will Harvey, 21. Tarek Elrich, 22. Rhett Desilva, 23. Daniel Dias, 27. Olayinka Sunmola.
Substitutes Not Used: 25. Vasos Kartambis, 19. Junyong Jin, 41. Ivan Sunjic, 42. Bailey Jacobs, 43. Abdelelah Faisal.
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Luiz Lobo (NWS)
2 – Jordan Gomez (NWS)
1 – Will Harvey (MDTR)
By Justin Smith (@smiththejustin).
