Corrimal Rangers started their campaign in District League with a resounding 9-3 thumping of Fernhill Foxes at Ray Robinson Oval on Sunday.
The Rangers opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute when a cross from the left was not dealt with. The ball fell favourably to Jackson Dent who lashed the ball past Chris Wearing making it the ideal start.
That lead lasted just a few minutes as Fernhill leveled through Mitch Turner. A clearance fell to Turner on the edge of the box. He took a touch and curled an effort that went over Ryan Noronha finding the bottom corner of the net.
With both teams trading goals early, the game settled into a battle in midfield.
Midway through the first half, some neat link up work between Kyoga Kobayashi and Brodie O’Neill saw the latter drive towards goal. With work to do, he got a shot away that forced Wearing into a fine save with his legs.
Just a minute later, a long ball over the top from Corrimal saw Wearing come flying out however Jake Gander beat him to it and chipped it beyond the advancing goalkeeper and into an empty goal. It was 2-1 Rangers at this point.
On 28 minutes, a slip by Jake Wilson saw Daniel Djukic jump on it however his shot from just inside the penalty area failed to have the purchase required to beat the goalkeeper.
One could argue, this was a turning point in the game because just a few minutes later, we saw the start of a flurry of goals that turned the game on its head.
Corrimal pushed forward again down the left hand side. The ball was played to Dent who from 10 yards out laid off for Gander who slotted it home making it 3-1 to Rangers.
Less than a minute later, Dent found Wearing again well off his line sending it past the keeper and in the blink of an eye, it was 4-1 to Rangers.
Just three minutes before the break Fernhill won a penalty kick. Aidan Breslin stepped up and firmly dispatched it into the roof of the net to perhaps give the home side some hope. That hope was all but extinguished when Kobayashi danced around a couple of players before striking a shot into the bottom corner. At the break Corrimal incredibly led 5-2.
A reaction was expected from the Foxes after the break however, it was the Rangers that started the second half much like how they ended the first. Gander with an early chance that saw Wearing smother before Cooper blasted over.
On 49 minutes, Dent found himself skipping past a defender and one on one with Wearing. He rounded the goalkeeper however, his shot from an acute angle hit the outside of the post.
Just two minutes later, Dent breezed past Jake Webster, rounding Wearing and this time, making no mistake as he rewarded his solo effort with a goal. It was 6-2 and many of the Corrimal faithful were pinching themselves.
It didn’t end there. On 63 minutes, Jaaron Faux-Collard showed some nifty footwork to breeze past Ashley Hawkes. His cross found Gander directly in front of goal who crashed his shot up into the underside of the cross bar. The rebound fell favourabily back to Gander who headed into an unguarded net thus securing his hat-trick.
At 7-2, the game was all but over however on 85 minutes, Jordan Hughes received and controlled the ball on the junction of the halfway line and side line. He used skill and pace to beat the defender and drive towards goal. He beat Noronha on the near post with what was a terrific solo effort which essentially was just a consolation goal at 7-3.
Despite the game being well out of reach, the Rangers weren’t finished yet. On 88 minutes, Kobayashi looked to curl a shot past Wearing who saved well however it fell to Gander who smashed it into the roof of the net and improving his personal goal tally to four.
In injury time, Kobayashi produced some magic as he weaved past a couple of defenders and had his shot go across Wearing finding the bottom corner rounding out a comprehensive 9-3 win for the Rangers.
It is a result that very few people saw coming especially given the Foxes conceded just seven goals at home all season.
New Rangers coach Stan Pappas was both delighted and surprised by the result. “I thought we played really well and thoroughly deserved the win however, if someone told me before the game we would win by six goals, I would have told them they have rocks in their head”.
The Rangers face Gerringong next week with both teams coming off solid wins whilst Fernhill need to dust themselves off quickly as they play Wollongong United midweek in the Australia Cup before facing Thirroul next weekend.
Report by Bobby Mazevski
Photos courtesy @Gragrapix
