Balgownie Rangers have kept their final aspirations alive with a dominant 3-1 win over University F.C, with Kooloobong Oval presenting perfect conditions for Sunday afternoon football.

The Round 19 make-up clash was a critical win for Balgownie who dropped vital points against Helensburgh on Saturday, meaning they are well and truly in the race for a top 5 position alongside Kiama Quarriers, Helensburgh Thistle and Berkeley Sports.

Balgownie coach James Dummett felt execution was lacking in today’s fixture against ‘The Students’.

“First half we probably could have finished it. We had a lot of opportunities, blew a lot of chances and that really kept them in the game,” Dummett said.

“All we can do is have a win next week [against Oak Flats Falcons] and put us in the mix.”

It was a positive start for University FC with a dart downfield in the opening 30 seconds through Luke Vanderbergh who cut back for striker Evan Fitzsimmons, who sent a dangerous strike whistling past the right post.

It was all downhill from here, as poor pass selection from University goalkeeper Jake Howard found a hungry Mitchell Hoswell who had no trouble returning the ball low and left into the netting for the opening goal on the 4th minute.

It was all Balgownie attack from here, with silky passes between Jordan Scott and Anthony Vardareff testing the University defence.

In the 25th minute Balgownie X-factor Vardareff showed his twinkle toes as he danced towards the penalty area with defenders all over him until the defensive pressure finally forced a feeble strike wide of the goals.

It appeared Balgownie had doubled their lead minutes later, with a Jackson Dummett ball allowing striker Mitchell Hoswell to take it forward and unleash a shot, with the goalkeeper’s glove slowing the ball before University’s Liam Daley cleared the ball only centimetres away from the line.

The Students had a chance to equal before the halftime break, with a corner finding Dane Hamilton whose header was defended to only fall at the feet of centre-back Liam Daley who failed to control the volley 6 yards out as it soared over the goals.

At halftime, the travelling Balgownie Rangers held a narrow 1-0 lead but execution in front of the goals was the only reason the margin was tight.

Leading Student goalscorer Evan Fitzsimmons put through a classy ball to Dane Hamilton on the 53rd minute, but strong Ranger defence tackled the ball and player to end the Student attack.

University FC began to find more space in the game with the ball starting to move up and down the park, while Balgownie struggling to stay onside with the linesman flag raised countless times through the fixture.

In the 70th minute, off a Balgownie corner kick the Students mounted a classy counter attack through defender Alex Purves finding space and with vision sent a lovely ball to Dane Hamilton who powered a lovely strike into the bottom right corner to equalise the match.

The celebrations were short-lived, with a Balgownie free kick courtesy of Jordan Scott found the head of Matthew Bubb who calmly headed it home to regain the Ranger lead two minutes later.

Balgownie’s dangerous Jackson Dummett iced the game in the 84th minute with speed racing around the University goalkeeper to knock it into the netting with ease for the final score to read 3-1 for the Rangers.

Next week is the final round of the WGC Cranes District League, with Balgownie fighting for a top 5 position by hosting Oak Flats Falcons at Judy Masters Oval on Saturday afternoon.

University FC will farewell their 2016 campaign by returning to Kooloobong Oval to play last placed Bellambi Rosellas.

 

 

 

Sunday 21 August, 2016

Kooloobong Oval

 

Referee: R. O’Sullivan

Assistant Referees: D. Moreia & C. Blanch

 

 

University FC 1 (Dane Hamilton 70’)

Balgownie Rangers 3 (Hoswell 4’, Bubb 72’, Dummett 84’)

 

University FC: Jake Howard, Nick Djokic (David Pitt 81’), Liam Daley, Alex Purves, Scott Mawbey, Dane Hamilton, Russell Crighton, Luke Foscanini, Michael Pitt, Evan Fitzsimmons (Ryan Kurtz 56’), Luke Vanderbergh

Yellow Cards: Dane Hamilton

Red Cards: Nil

 

 

 

Balgownie Rangers: Chad Huckel, Matthew McCoy, Lachlan Veney, Benjamin Keartan, Matthew Bubb, Michael Todd, Jordan Scott (Luke Mora 88’), Kurt Dorahy, Jackson Durrett, Mitchell Hoswell (Keiren Duggan 65’), Anthony Vardareff (Connor Hawken 90’)

Yellow Cards: Anthony Vardareff

Red Cards: Nil

 

 

Report by Daniel McGookin

Twitter: @mcgoookin93

Photo courtesy of Pedro Garcia (libary archive)