Photo: Northern Rangers' Joe McCormack on the attack outpaces Nelson's Tanaka Madzikanda and Steve McClarin [PlessPix]
Nelson
beat Northern Rangers 3-1 in a pre-season friendly between the two Championship
sides at Wentworth Park today.
Nelson
will compete in the Southern Championship this season, while Northern Rangers,
who withdrew from the NPL Tasmania competition, will be in the Northern
Championship.
Playing
with a stiff breeze behind them and organised at the back by player-coach Chris
Barrell, Nelson took the lead in the 18th minute through a penalty
for handball. Moses Kangogo scored
easily with his spot-kick.
Photo: Kangogo's penalty easily beats the Rangers keeper, Zac Chugg as Nelson's Will Stalker (No.8) and Matt Graham (No.29) look on. [PlessPix]
Three
minutes later, Dennis Onuigbo made it 2-0.
Northern
Rangers finally started to threaten near the end of the first half and created
a couple of half-chances that came to nought.
Nelson
defended stoutly in the second half against the wind but Northern Rangers got
themselves back in the game when Joe McCormack scored from 25 metres with a
free-kick, assisted undoubtedly by the wind.
The
ball whistled through the outstretched arms of Nelson’s substitute keeper,
Ollie Burdon, and into the net to make it 2-1.
Photo: Ollie Burdon is unable to keep out the free-kick asnd Rangers' Dan Sparshott watches the outcome [PlessPix]
Burdon
had to be substituted shortly after when he injured a previously dislocated
finger while diving to make a save.
Photo: Nelson coach Chris Barrell (right) helps Ollie Burdon off the pitch [PlessPix]
Try
as they might, Rangers were unable to find an equaliser and, to their credit,
Nelson finished the game strongly and even found a third goal through Will
Stalker in the dying minutes.
Nelson
managed to counter-attack a couple of times before the final whistle and
threaten their opponents’ goal without finding the net, but they were well
worth their 3-1 win.
Photo: Rangers' Joe McNevin crosses the ball into the danger zone [PlessPix]
Northern
Rangers had a young side on view, with several 16-year-olds and some under-18s
in their line-up.
Rangers
coach, Rod Fulton, said they were missing as many as half a dozen players who
were attending the ‘Party in the Paddock’ event in Launceston.
Photo: Burdon comes off his line as Rangers' Chad Honey cuts inside and Nelson's Matt Graham awaits the outcome [PlessPIx]
Photo: Nelson's will Stalker takes on a Rangers' Bill Searson [PlessPix]
3 comments:
Great to see Chris coaching again. Top coach and a top person.
I won'der if Dreamer is going to pull the boots on and play in the Champ this year. That would be a great clash between Chris and Dreamer
Sincere thanks for the comments.
I was only playing to coach players in real time match practise.
Dreamer would be too quick for me though I enjoyed the match as sweeper.
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