Balgownie Rangers got their season off to a flying start, coming back to down Oak Flats Falcons 2-1 at Judy Masters Oval on Saturday. The Falcons took a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to a wonderful goal from midfielder Christian Cappetta, but a second-half brace from Balgownie forward James Seymour secured all three points for the home side.

The Rangers were looking for their first competitive win against the Falcons since August 2016, having tasted defeat in their last two clashes against the side. But it was the Falcons who started the stronger of the two, Balgownie taking their time to warm up to the match and this helped the Falcons greatly in the opening minutes, controlling possession and forcing the Rangers to play on the backfoot.

Despite this slow start, Balgownie had the first solid chance of the match in the 12^th minute, when a clever through ball from Jackson Dummett allowed Anthony Vardareff to fly into a 1-on-1 chance against Falcons keeper Jake Webster, but Webster timed his charge perfectly and shut down any chance of an early Balgownie goal.

After a prolonged period of attacking play in the 20^th minute, it was Oak Flats who finally broke open the scoring, with Christian Cappetta netting his first goal of the league campaign. Having pushed up to provide more attacking options outside the Balgownie box, Cappetta would receive the ball off some smart passing play by the Falcons forwards, and then with a wonderfully executed turn, Cappetta would twist past the Rangers defender marking him and fire off a shot to the top left corner, beating the glove of Rangers keeper Hugh Bahnert and giving the visitors an early lead.

A corner six minutes later would give the Falcons a golden chance to go two goals up, when Daniel Munilla’s corner was met by the head of Jack Madgwick, but his shot was saved by a well-positioned Bahnert to keep Balgownie in the match. The Rangers would have their best chance of the half in the 37^th minute, where a breakaway pass allowed Anthony Vardareff to force another 1-on-1 chance against Jake Webster, but Webster again won the battle, pulling off a great save before being forced to pull off another save to stop the follow up attempt from James Seymour.

With Balgownie slowly starting to wake up, Oak Flats took their 1-0 lead into the break, but their lead was quickly evaporated in the second half, as Balgownie came out with attacking intent and were quickly rewarded in the 47^th minute. With a smart pass out of the Rangers midfield, James Seymour found himself alone with the ball rapidly approaching the Oak Flats box, where Jake Webster had been putting in a strong performance so far during the match. However, Seymour would level the scores thanks to a smartly placed chip that flew over a retreating Webster and into the net.

With Balgownie now starting to push their way back into the match, Oak Flats had a golden chance to take the lead again in the 57^th minute when the Falcons had three unmarked players in the box after a smart run from Ryan Franks, but Franks solo attempt left a lot to be desired and fluttered wide of the goal.

As the second-half wore on, Balgownie made more and more of a presence in the match, and with Oak Flats pressing high to recover the ball, the Rangers were able to exploit this and got agonizingly close to taking the lead in the 80^th minute when a cross from Anthony Vardareff fell just out of the reach of James Seymour and he was unable to tap the ball home.

However, the Rangers would finally break through and take the lead just four minutes later. After a good defensive recovery from the Balgownie midfield, Jim Youssef played a smart through ball to James Seymour, who managed to keep his composure and slot the ball past Falcons keeper Jake Webster to give the home side a 2-1 lead with minutes to play.

Balgownie would come close to wrapping up the match again in the 87^th minute, when Seymour looked ready to complete his hat-trick after breaking away and creating another 1-on-1 chance, but his effort was saved by Webster and Seymour’s follow-up was unable to cause any more damage, Balgownie leaving it late to secure a 2-1 win.

With Balgownie taking all three points, the Rangers will be hoping they can continue their winning start to the season when they travel to face Berkeley Sports next round. However, Berkeley were also Round 1 victors, with Sports going 2-1 up against Unanderra Hearts, so a perfect start to the season will be on the line for both sides. Meanwhile, Oak Flats will seek to brush off the defeat in their first home match of the season, hosting Coniston at Keith Bond Oval. Coniston will be going into the match off the back of a strong 6-1 win over Kiama so the pressure will be on the Falcons to ensure their losing start to the season doesn’t get worse.

Saturday 11 March 2018 at Judy Masters Oval.

Balgownie Rangers – 2 (Seymour 47’, 84’)

Oak Flats Falcons – 1 (Cappetta 20’)

Balgownie Rangers: Hugh BAHNERT, Frank TIMPANO, Lachlan VENEY, Ben KEARTON, Jim YOUSSEF, Tom SHANNON, Sebastian DALLAS, Jackson DUMMETT, James SEYMOUR, Anthony OLIVER, Anthony VARDAREFF

Subs: Mark JONES (89’ SEYMOUR), Martin LUSKIN, Thomas HOBBS, Ryan TREVOR (78’ OLIVER), Liam STEVENSON

Oak Flats Falcons: Jake WEBSTER, Alan WARBURTON, David KISS, Jamie STEVENSON, Brenton LLOYD, Christian CAPPETTA, Jarryd VINTON, Daniel MUNILLA, Ryan FRANKS, Jack MADGWICK, Lee GILROY

Subs: Ross GRAHAM (79’ MADGWICK), Brenton BOURKE (89’ WARBURTON), Michael WILSON, Dominic GIUSTINIONI (73’ FRANKS), Chris JARMAN

Referee – Bobby MAZEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Graeme CHARKER and Steven BOZIC

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photo courtesy of Noel Wynn