KPR Keep Falcons at Bay
Kangaroo Point Rovers 4 (OG 27’, Scott 60’, Austen 85’ [P], Macumi 90’) Logan Village 0 HT: 1-0 Played at Raymond Park Overcast conditions threatened at Raymond Park but rain did not eventuate as Kangaroo Point Rovers ran out comfortable winners in the end, although Village made them work for it. KPR should probably have opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Peter Scott beat the offside trap and was through on goal in a central position. Falcons keeper Jack Hulme came out and forced Scott wide of the goal and in doing so, he became off balance and his shot sailed wide to the right. Three minutes later Rovers had another great chance when Chris Dovey found Scott who passed the ball on to Andrew McCall but, with the goal open, he scooped the ball over the bar from about eight yards out. Village’s first chance came on 10 minutes when Jamie Street put Bayley Lowe through but before he had a chance to strike, Rovers keeper Kane Turner was out to smother. Rovers started to assert superiority but could not get an end product and resorted to shots from distance on many occasions which did not trouble Hulme in the Falcons’ goal. Then on 27 minutes, Lauren Macumi crossed from the right with the ball being deflected into the net by a Village defender. This was almost replicated eleven minutes later but this time, Hulme was able to gather the ball and prevent a repeat. KPR had a succession of corners to end the half with Brendan Gillespie getting on the end of a couple but sent his headers wide. Second half and Rovers had an early chance with Scott through on the right side but his chip over Hulme was too strong and cleared the bar. A minute later, Rovers Nick McQueen had a chance on the left and struck the ball well on the volley only to clear the crossbar too. On 60 minutes, a good pass from Luke Gorman put Scott through on goal and he slotted the ball inside the far right hand post for Rovers second. Logan Village started to get back into the game after this and pressured Rovers but could not create any clear cut opportunities. Rovers then started to get back on top and on 85 minutes were awarded a penalty when keeper Hulme fouled his opponent on the right hand edge of the area. Ben Austen stepped up and drove the spot kick home. As time was running out, a long ball from KPR was chased by Macumi. A Village defender got a touch to the ball which wrong-footed Hulme and Macumi was able to walk the ball into the unguarded net. It was a deserved goal for him as he had worked hard all game and was a potent attacking threat for KPR. That is two wins in a row for KPR and two clean sheets but they had to work for the win. The Falcons had their moments but were just not able to make anything from the opportunities they had.
Coaches Reactions:
Russell Mapri (Kangaroo Point Rovers): “We’ve found some good form at the moment but this was always going to be a bit of a nervous one for us as we were expected to win. We had three of our first string strikers away but I was very happy with the boys in the end. In the first half we had too many wanting to go up and I had to remind them of what we needed to do to get the win. In the second half we were a lot more like our natural play.” Kyle Leech (Logan Village): “I honestly don’t think it was 4-0 game. I thought it was pretty even for most part. Their attacking ability from the wing is definitely their strongest point. Not taking anything away from them though, they deserved the win and played better than we did. We have improved but just not to the standard we need to reach and have plenty more to work on.”
Team line-ups
Kangaroo Point Rovers: Turner (GK), Gillespie, Dovey, Flynn, Da Cunha (45’), McCall (80’), McQueen, Gamez, Gorman, Scott (60’), Macumi,
Subs: Austen (45’), Garcia-Prieto (60’), Lacey (80’)
Logan Village Hulme (GK), Street (80’), Bernhagen, Clark, Sedman, Jones, Mackle, Hitchins, Lowe, Sear (68’), K Grayfoner
Subs: R Grayfoner (80’), Williams (68’) REFEREE: Max Crane
