Picton Rangers rebounded from a heavy opening day defeat to beat Berkeley 4-0 at Berkeley Sports with the visitors netting two goals either side of halftime to secure the result.

 

The hosts got off to a horrendous start conceding with less than two minutes on the clock. A ball was played into the area from the right with Matt Mears losing his bearings and heading the ball into his own net.

 

The Rangers came close to scoring a couple more in the opening 10 minutes but goalkeeper Chris Lazerevski was able to make a one on one save against Ben Roberts before tipping Key Mitchell’s free kick over the bar.

 

In the 12th minute, Berkeley had what would prove to be their best chance of the match when Adam White weaved into the right of the area, he cut inside his defender, leaving him on the floor before toeing the ball wide.

 

Mitch Hall nearly got on the score sheet in the 15th minute when he pounced on a fumble from Lazerevski but Michael Perinich was able to retreat and clear the ball from inside the six-yard box.

 

The wind was in Picton’s favour for the entirety of the first half with Berkeley struggling to get the ball to their midfielders. The gusty conditions played a major factor in Picton’s second with Connor Dymond’s low drive seemingly going wide before the wind pushed the ball on to the left post with Roberts charging in to fire home giving the visitors a 2-0 lead at halftime.

 

The Rangers remained in control of the match from the beginning of the second half even though the wind was now blowing against them. Come the 55th minute, they all but put the match to bed when Hall played Dymond through on goal with the wideman slotting the ball into the bottom right corner from a tight angle.

 

Only five minutes later, the visitors had their third when Perinich turned the ball over on the edge of his box for Mitchell to scot through on goal and bury his shot into the bottom right corner.

 

The Goats backline, with little protection from those in front of them, continued to cop waves of attacks with Hall, Roberts, Mitchell and Dymond all having decent opportunities to net Picton’s fifth in the final half hour.

 

The 4-0 win moves Picton into sixth place ahead of a tricky home match against Helensburgh Thistle while Berkeley remain pointless and they will have their third straight home tie against Oak Flats Falcons next weekend.

 

Saturday 30 March 2019 @ Berkeley Sports, Berkeley

 

Berkeley - 0

 

Picton Rangers - 4 (MEARS OG 2’, ROBERTS 30’, DYMOND 55’, MITCHELL 61’)

 

Berkeley - Chris LAZAREVSKI, Matt MEARS, Eren KUTUP, Jarryd KING, Michael PERINICH, Brad FISHER, Dylan EVANS, Hugo CORONEL, Adam WHITE, Jayson ATANASOSKI, Greg MOON

 

Substitutes - Heath SHEPPARD (on for PERINICH), Michael FLOOD (on for CORONEL), Jon ADAMS (on for FISHER), Mitch O’NEIL, Justin MEARS

 

Picton Rangers - Robert CRUIKSHANK, Samuel DICKSON, Scott MIRANDA, Michael HEYHORN, Sebastian MYERS, Connor DYMOND, Brenden BERKELEY, Joshua MAIOLO, Key MITCHELL, Mitchell HALL, Benjamin ROBERTS

 

Substitutes - Guy LEE (on for BERKELEY), Connor O’NEIL (on for MIRANDA), Aaron WHITTINGHAM, Daniel NEILSON (on for MAIOLO)

 

Referee - Brodie MERCHANT

 

Assistant Referees - Robert SINDEVSKI, Italo RONACATO

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela