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Rangers Vs Dimbulah
In Another tight encounter for the Rangers it wasn’t to be there night again as they were beaten by a different Dimbulah side that they had lost to last season against.
A new looking line up for Dimbulah in which including a few ex – Mareeba players, Notably ex – Mareeba Bulls premier captain Angelo Tatti made the switch to Dimbulah, it was with doubt that his experience on the field would lead his team to a 5-3 over the Rangers on Friday night.
A fast paced and physical match both teams needed time to find there feet and gather momentum for the game. Both sides created early chances by the shots were high and far of the goal. But it was to be Dimbulah to break the goal drought as they took the lead mid way through the first half. With in a few minutes from the restart Rangers were level from a Kamal Singh goal. With 5 minutes to go the Dimbulah keeper caught napping as a the goal keeper had the ball brought it up to his 18 yard box before his clearance kick landed at Rob Agostino who needed two touches looked up and chipped the goalie from about 30 meters out and turn the game in favor now of the home side. Once again the lead was short lived as on the stroke of half time Dimbulah equalised and made it 2-2.
With both sides entering the field in high hopes it was Dimbulah who crashed the party. With Captain Angelo Tatti showing his years as a premier player it was he who helped set up the 2 goals and for him to score one as well to leave a marlin coast side now sitting forth from the bottom. Rangers did manage to salvage a goal late on through a corner and for Allan to score from a few yards out with his left foot.
Rangers Vs Edge Hill
After Losing the 3 points against Stratford a week ago due to playing an un-registered player, Marlin coast were looking for some revenge and needed the 3 points against Edge Hill to stay in the top four on the ladder. In which this game was to be the crucial encounter to see which teams would be looking like a top 4 finish for the season.
It was not to be the nigh for the home side after they were left thinking what went wrong as they lost 5-0. The opening 45 minutes seen Edge hill hit 4 goals past rangers to leave them with an unlikely come back.
The second half seen few changes made to the line up and it had worked as Marlin Coast found there rhythm and started playing ball to feet and mixing up the attack nicely. Unfortunately with the experience of the Edge Hill players coming through the home side were unable to break down a solid defence. The solitary goal in the second half came with 15 minutes to go via a free kick which the keeper had stood there and watched the ball fly past him and into the top right hand corner of the net.
Coach Ken Gibbs was not happy with the result as Edge Hill would be one of the teams to bet this season and to lose 5-0 goes to show that the team has a lot of work left to do. Also the fitness of some of the players were not there, “ if most of the boys come to training and not the usual 6 or 7 then the game would have been a different story” states Gibbs. The team next week now plays another front running team Dimbulah in whom the Rangers lost to last season to knock them out of the finals series.
2nd Division Week Rap up from Stratford Vrs Marlin Coast Rangers
A wet Friday night saw the home side beat Stratford 3-0. In a game where the score line should have been much more if it wasn’t for the Stratford goalie having a blinder in goal in which he made save after save as the home side slaughtered the goal area.
Rangers dominated play from the opening whistle and looked comfortable on the ball. Inside the opening 10 minutes Rangers should have been 3 – 0 up, but some brilliant goalkeeping made sure that it stayed nil all. Marlin coast dominated in every place on the park but the finishing wasn’t there. The opening goal of the game arrived 1 minute before halftime as a Matt corner was headed away by the defense only to fall at the feet of Rob who put the ball onto his left foot and hit home the opener just outside the box.
The second stanza was much the same in dominating play, Stratford testing the Rangers goalie only twice in the second half. A Few changes were made at the start of the second half and Coach Ken Gibbs brought himself on and a new signing Collin. It was to be a choice from Ken as within minutes of being on the park as Rob hit a long ball through to Collin who went one on one with the goalie only to see his shot hit off the goalie and into the oncoming Kamal who made it 2-0.
Late in the game Rob beat 2 defenders before running the ball into the box with a one on one with the keeper, he looked up to find Collin in front of goal, Rob put a square ball across the face of goal and for Collin to tap it in. The referee called no goal as Collin was in an offside position.
The Final goal came in the 85th minute of the game when midfielder Renzo started and finished off his set up. Gathering the ball inside the Stratford half, He played a one – two with Allan before beating two defenders and then cleverly playing another one –two with striker Colin. Renzo’s first shot was saved but the keeper fumbled the ball and Renzo was there to tap in the third goal from 3 yards out.
Coach Gibbs was Happy with the victory, said the boys played well in every position of the park, and was great to keep a clean sheet aswel for the first time this season. He said that “ I’ll be looking forward to the game against Edge Hill on Friday as that will be our first real test to see if we can play excellent football, come away with the 3 points and stamp our authority in the League as the team to beat”
2nd Division First Week Rap up from Game 2 Souths Vrs Marlin Coast Rangers
The Rangers kept their good start to the season on track with a 6-1 thrashing of South’s on Sunday morning in Gordonvale. In a game in which is very physical from the opening whistle both sides were out to grab the vital 3 points. South’s who drew with last seasons champions Leichhardt had a hard fought 2-2 draw a 2weeks earlier while the Rangers were out to make it 2 wins on the trot.
With only 2 changes made to the team that beat Douglas, as Nick Salmon was missing with a knee injury coach Ken Gibbs opted for super –sub Paul Goodie to Lead the attacking team after his fine display in the opening game as a substitute. It was to be a good choice for the Coach as Goodie netted twice in a close first half encounter.
Inside the opening 10 minutes of play the home side already had 2 yellow cards to their name for some back chatting to the referee. Rangers who yet again controlled most of the possession for the first half were rewarded 25 minutes in, when they built up from the back line to the midfield where Roberto Agostino sent in a through ball for Kamal Singh who beat the offside trap only for his shot to be deflected by the keeper and land at the feet on Striker Goodie who made no mistake from scoring 6 yards out.
The second goal this time was a pinpoint pass from Renzo Will who found striker Goodie unmarked outside the box. Goodie only needing 2 touches to bury the ball past the keeper to make it 2-0. The home team then had something to cheer for as they pulled a goal back with 10 minutes left in the first half. A quick counter attack from them seen Rangers out numbered in the back line leaving two South attackers nothing but an empty net to hit home the goal from the cross. At the half time whistle rangers took a 2-1 lead.
The Second half kick into gear in the 10 minute when Agostino was bowled over in box and was awarded a penalty. Agostino slotted home the penalty only to be re-taken after Goodie had entered the box befor the kick was taken and received a yellow card for the incident. Agostino re-took the penalty only for the keeper to get his finger tips to it but could not keep it out as Rangers now went 3 –1 up.
The fourth arrived 10 minutes later as Christian Fallea’s fancy footwork beat two defenders before unleashing a thunderous drive outside the box and into the back of the net with the keeper left helpless. The game by now was dead and buried as South’s got bad to worse as their striker received his marching orders for a second yellow card offence. A man down and now on the back foot Rangers surged forward and it was Fallea again who made them pay. From the Corner kick the ball drop in at near post where Fallea was awaiting, he turned his man and let fly again his shot to make it 5-1.
The final goal came from striker Kamal Singh, after some nice playing football down the left hand side Fallea this time then turned provider, Fallea broke down the left got himself into the box he looked up to find Singh unmarked on the penalty spot, who had no problem making it 6-1.
Ken Gibbs was proud of the boys for the discipline and attitude that they had taken towards the game. “it just goes to show if you keep your cool and play your own game goals will sure to follow” Gibbs stated. Rangers now are currently in 3rd spot on the table behind League leaders Innisfail and 2nd spot Dimbulah only on goal difference.
GOAL SCORES LEADER BOARD
2nd Division First Week Rap up from Game 1 - Douglas Vrs Marlin Coast Rangers
Marlin Coast Rangers 2nd division kick off their campaign with a 3-2 victory over Douglas on Friday night. The 2 sides met a week earlier in a practice match with Douglas coming away with a 2-0 victory. With a new formation in place coach Ken Gibbs knew that the side could come away with the 3 points.
Rangers held most of the possession in the first half as few attempts from both sides rarely troubled the keepers. The passing from the home side was great as they built up from the back making the way up the forward line. Rangers had most of the scoring opportunities in the first half. Roberto Agostino created the first couple of chances in the game when he broke down the middle of the park beating 2 defenders in his way before being fouled outside the box. His resulting free kick saw his shot sail over the bar. Moments later Agostino then again beat 2 defenders to draw out the last man in the dragons defense, only to see his through ball for striker Kamal Singh to be flagged offside as his shot beat the keeper and into the net. The best chance of the first half fell to striker Singh after some great individual work by fellow striker Christian Fallea. Fallea received the ball on the edge of the penalty turned his man and delivered a cross into the box to find Singhs head, only for the ball to hit the bottom of the crossbar and land in he keepers hand. Rangers played the last 10 minutes of the 1st half with 10 men as Coach Ken Gibbs was sent from the field with a blood nose.
The second half started the same way as the first with Rangers dominating play from the get go, it was to be a 5 goal haul in 45 minutes of play. It had taken the home side 10 minutes to open the flood gates, as Fallea once again received the ball at his feet, turn his marker and then go on to beat two other defenders before hitting a hard low left foot shot past the keeper just outside the 18 yard box. Persistence had finally paid off but they were to come undone by the fighting Douglas. With the Dragons defense on the back foot for most of the game, Douglas went in search of a goal and starting playing the long balls. It paid off as the Dragons defense sent a ball up field a miss headed back pass from Gibbs was found by the Douglas striker who had no problem beating out of position Brett Atkinson to level up the game.
Things got worse for the home side when yet again another long ball sent up the field, this time a pass made back to keeper Atkinson only for him to miss kick the ball and land into the feet of a Douglas player who shot into an open net to make the 2-1 with half an hour to play. Rangers now pushed looking for a equalizer as time was ticking. Renzo Will sent a through ball down the wing for Matt Graham as he kept the ball alive and delivering a low cross it found Leon Mcelhinney who's shot deflecting out for a corner. From the resulting corner, the dragons defense cleared to ball but only to as far as midfielder Nick Salmon who was waiting outside the box, he hit the ball back towards and through a crowded box and into the net to make it 2-2.
Having fresh subs available, the coach was forced in subbing 2 new players for the last 15mins as goal scorer nick limped off with possible knee injury. With 8 minutes on the clock left Rangers yet again pushed for a winner. John Rachards sent the ball up field to new striker Paul Goode, In which he took the ball up the field then delivered a perfect low hard cross into the six yard box where Singh got in front of his man to and beat the keeper at his near post to score the winner.
Special Thanks to Roberto Agostino for this wrap up, we look forward to hearing from you each week!
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Marlin Coast Rangers | (07) 4055 6432 | PO Box 212, Trinity Beach QLD 4878 | email:marlincoastrangers_admin@bigpond.com | ||||||||||||||
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