Late Thrills And Spills As Rams Beat Metro
Bethania Rams 2 (Birch 77’, R. Mohammadi 83’) Logan Metro 1 (Manayiro 81’) HT 0-0 Played at Kurrajong Park
Bethania Rams reversed the pre-season loss against Logan Metro with a bruising 2-1 win over their local rivals at Kurrajong Park on Saturday afternoon. It took until the 77th minute before the deadlock was broken when Jason Robinson broke free but was denied by an excellent save from See Nyo Myint who could only look on as a fortuitous rebound allowed Ryan Birchto slot home an easy chance. Four minutes later Logan Metro were back into the contest through substitute Jean-Claude Manayiro who crashed the ball home through a crowded penalty box. Thoughts of a tied contest were ended within two minutes when Robinson played a sensational long ball to Rohholla Mohammaddi who ran in on goal, jinked around the keeper and planted the ball into the empty net. Metro started better on the day and could easily have been up in the first fifteen minutes if they had been more clinical in front of goal but at least until the hour mark there were few genuine chances created by either side. The narrow pitch played it’s part in keeping shots on target to a minimum as well as giving both teams the opportunity to have a real go at each other, echoing some of the notorious battles between them in their short history. With plenty of aggression and untimely challenges flying in, the game threatened to boil over and credit must go to all players for keeping their discipline when an indiscretion could easily have reduced their side to only ten players. There were negatives of course; passing accuracy and turnovers of possession plagued the game ensuring flowing passages of play were hard to come by. Flooding devastated Opperman Park and forced a switch of venue, thanks to the generosity of Jimboomba United, and also had a roundabout effect on the players who haven’t trained for some time with them noticeably tired towards the end. With a congested midfield slugging away at each other, special mention should go to both keepers as well as defenders Joe Gasamira for Metro and Masta Worku for the Rams. Ultimately, Bethania were marginally the better side and deserved three points which will go a long way towards promotion with Logan Metro sure to be a genuine title contender alongside them.
Coaches Reactions:
David Coles (Bethania Rams) - “It was a tough game and we haven’t been able to train with our pitch being flooded. Thanks to Jimboomba for letting us play here. It was good to get a win after losing to them 2-0 in pre-season and I thought the ref did his best to let the game flow. It kept my heart pounding and we’re happy to take the three points and sit top of the table. ” Pat Castillo (Logan Metro) - “I thought we started well and for the first 10-15 minutes we were all over them but we let them back into the game. The rest of the game was fairly even but they took their chances better than us. We’re now looking forward to turning things around when we play away at Samford Rangers after Easter.”
FBMedia Player Of The Match: Jordan Scott (Bethania Rams)
Scott was crucial to the result because he completely shut out his opposition striker, effectively changing the way Metro had to go forward. There was no width available and he let nothing through the middle.
Team line-ups
Bethania Rams: Connell, Fisher, Worku, Scott, Schleemann, R.Mohammadi, Robinson, Steven, M.Mohammadi, Shepherd, Birch.
Subs: Karger, Vasquez, Adarkwah.
Logan Metro: Myint, Lopez, Mesbah, Gasamira, Eastwood, Rubilar, Viphakone, Jabo, Eremugo, Chouchane, Wani.
Subs: Manayiro, Shaka, Mokrani. Referee: Peter Sams.
