Rangers Into Grand Final As Champions Beaten
St George Willawong 1 (Krkeljas 33’)
Samford Rangers 3 (Gleeson 54', 72'; Forsyth 66' pen')
HT 1-0
Played at St George's Park
Samford Rangers produced a performance which will be remembered for many years to come when they came from behind with only ten players and beat Capital League 4 Champions St George Willawong 3-1 at St George’s Park on Sunday evening. Rangers like to sit deep and release their speedy strikers but things unravelled tactically when goalkeeper Cameron Johnston was red carded for a late challenge in the box. Aleksa Krkeljas dusted himself down and nervously put teh Saints ahead at the second attempt after a fortunate rebound following an excellent save from reserve keeper Lachlan James. But it was a lead which was only to last until Ryan Gleeson netted to give his side hope of holding out for a draw but fate had something else in store for the noisy crowd of travelling supporters. In the 66th minute Dane Forsyth got the perfect ball he’d been searching for all night and won a penalty which he duly slotted away to put the underdogs up 2-1.
Four minutes later it got even better when another fast break fell to Gleeson who put the result beyond doubt with a smart finish and a suitably joyous celebration. St George miss out on a Grand Final and on their post-season performances don’t deserve to be there anyway. Despite having the lion’s share of possession and pushing some good chances wide of the goal, they were largely bereft of ideas and were unable to tactically make a dent in their opposition. Samford were overflowing with heroes this evening as they defended like their lives depended on it. Liam Harris and Wade Godsell controlled the central spine providing their team mates enough time and space to do their own jobs against the odds. They rode their luck at times but with James providing an inspired performance between the sticks the cracks never opened enough for the walls to come tumbling down. Even if they lose next weekend, Samford are guaranteed a medal which seems a fair enough outcome considering there were three standout teams leading all season in the division, and they will undoubtedly be promoted next season if they can keep their squad together. The Saints bow out for the season but there was a feeling amongst the crowd that promotion and premiership was their prime goal and that box has been well and truly ticked.
FBMedia Player Of The Match: RGK Lachlan James - Samford Rangers
Football is a funny old game sometimes. Substitute keeper James came off the bench and was far and away the best player on the field. If the game had gone on for another week he still wouldn’t have conceded another goal.
Team line-ups
St George: Music (gk), Graovac, Grecl, Jankovic, Kantaric, Krkeljas, Perkic, Radmilovic, Sarramea, Stevens-Robert, Zonjic. Subs: Beaman, Borojevic, Opacic, Stojanovic, Yanik.
Samford: Johnston (gk), Crooks, Cross, Forsyth, Gleeson, Godsell, Gray, Harris, McKee, Stansfield, Steele. Subs: Broughton, Callaghan, C.Gleeson, James.
Referee: Tony Sarai
