Roos Stun Springfield For First Win Of The Season
Springfield United 1 (Loomes 9’ pen)
Mooroondu 3 (Anderson 4’, 28’, 35’)
HT 3-1
Mooroondu red card 47’
Played at Woodcrest College
Mooroondu collected their first win of the season in a huge upset when they beat Springfield United 3-1 at Woodcrest College on Saturday night. Alex Anderson opened the scoring in only the 4th minute when he pushed into the right hand side of the box, rode a heavy challenge and squirted the ball into the far post from a narrow angle. Five minutes later Springfield were awarded a penalty for a shirt tug and when Michael Loomes drilled the spot kick home it seemed as if normal service was about to resume. But Anderson had other ideas and doubled his tally with a confident finish after pressuring the home backline and taking advantage of an error. 2-1 was a handy scoreline but it got even better ten minutes before the break when Anderson completed his hat trick with a raking low drive from distance on the back of an excellent passing move. Two minutes into the second half it once again looked as if the game was about to unravel for the away side when right fullback Andrew Mangham was dismissed for a second yellow card, ensuring the rest of the contest was going to be one way traffic. But it didn’t come to pass as the Kangaroos defended as if their lives depended on it, sitting deep and rarely ever getting past the halfway line let alone coming up with a shot on target. Springfield were in control of possession but not of the result as chance after chance was blocked and on the rare occasion they were able to get enough space to get off a shot on target, they fired their finish high over the crossbar. With time running down, frustration started to become evident for United when twice they looked to have beaten Sam Wellham in goal only for the ball to skim narrowly wide of the uprights. Sensing their moment was about to arrive, Mooroondu won more than their share of the ball in the tackle and never looked beatable in the air even as a barrage of late corners rained in upon them. Even though the result didn’t go their way, Kevin Barraclough and Daniel Blake were the best performers on a losing side. With North Brisbane beating Samford Rangers and going top of the table, this result could be a disaster for Springfield further down the line, maybe even costing them promotion but almost certainly ensuring they’ll have to beat both of them if they are to go up to Capital League 3 Mooroondu were jubilant when the fulltime whistle blew and deservedly so after giving everything they had when victory was in sight for the first time this season. Springfield obviously have some quality players, probably more than their opponents, but talent doesn’t win games, goals do. Special mention should go to referee Bevan Ryan who stamped his authority onto a game which could easily have boiled over or turned into a hack fest.
Coaches Reactions: Anand Marraiya (Mooroondu) “Great three points, we really needed it. We had a full squad tonight and were unlucky to get a player sent off. The boys battled hard...credit to Springfield because they had their chances but we’re happy to finally get the win.”
No comment provided from Springfield.
FB Media Player Of The Match: Matt Mather (Mooroondu)
If the first half belonged to Anderson, the second belonged to Mather who doggedly refused to let anyone or anything get past him. It was an inspirational performance which drove the rest of his side to give their all.
Team line-ups
Springfield: Stephen, Blake, Brandt-Nichols, Callender, Shortman, McIntyre, Gill, Weedon, Loomes, Hilliard, Barraclough.
Subs: N.Crowley, S.Crowley, Birkett.
Mooroondu: Wellham, Mangham, Mather, Todd, Parups-Bishop, Norris, McLean, Fagerlund, Kelly-Bowers, Page, Anderson.
Subs: Parish, Campbell, Peterson, Marraiya, Hart. REFEREE: Bevan Ryan
