Spirit Prevail In Scrappy Clash At Rivers
Pine Rivers Utd 2 (Steep 21', 53’) Western Spirit 4 (Arena 40’; Jackson 57', 72'; Dunne 60') HT: 1-1 Played at Wendy Allison Park
Lachlan Jackson's second have double helped steer Western Spirit to a valuable 4-2 success away at relegation threatened Pine Rivers United on Saturday evening. In front of a fairly sparse crowd at Wendy Allison Park, it was the home side that opened the scoring midway through a scrappy first half. Nasir Khan worked his way to just inside the Spirit penalty area before firing a shot goal ward which Spirit keeper Gabriel Scully could only parry into the path of Jeame Steep who's follow up effort cannoned into the goal off of Scully for the hosts to take a 1-0 lead. Despite gaining plenty of possession, the visitors rarely threatened Rivers goal until with five minutes of the half remaining, Kurtis Walters made good headway down the right where he delivered in a powerful low cross that was met near the back post by Mauricio Arena who drilled the ball back across Byron Hope's goal and into the bottom corner to level proceedings going into the break. Rivers responded well after the interval with the impressive Khan going close with a header early in the half. A defensive error from Spirit gifted Rivers the lead once more with a mishit clearance finding its way to Steep her smashed the ball home for his second of the night. The lead though was short lived, lasting less than five minutes, when the hosts failed to clear Corey Dunne's corner and Jackson was hand to fire home from close range to level the scores once again. Just two minutes later and Spirit were ahead for the first time in the game with an absolute wonder strike from Dunne, who's free kick from some 35m out, flew into the top right corner of Hope's goal with the Rivers keeper stranded. A penalty claim from the home side midway through the half following a scramble in the box, saw referee David Porter unmoved as an offside flag also intervened to avoid any concern for the visitors. Steep ought to have notched his hat trick just before the 70 minute mark when he had an opportunity to level things from close range following a good ball into him. That miss would then prove costly as Spirit would extend their lead moments later. A chip over the top allowed Jackson to break the Rivers defensive line where he raced onto the ball, sprinted some 30 plus meters with it and managed to slip it between Hope's legs despite a desperate last ditch challenge from Carl Morandy. Spirit rounded out the rest game as they took full control of possession and managed to prevent Rivers from finding a way back into the match. The win lifts Spirit into 6th spot as they look to make a challenge for what looks set to be the final spot in 4th that's within their reach. For Rivers, it was their thirteenth loss for the season as relegation starts to stare them in the face. They had their chances today and with some better defending and determination to hold a lead, they could have gained points from this encounter. Instead, it's back to the drawing board for Glenn Turner's side.
Coaches Remarks:
Glenn Turner (Pine Rivers): “We've played much better last few weeks. We have been conceding a lot of goals in the second half of games. Today we condensed and played a higher line and made them play around us, but unfortunately it was tit for tat. We scored one and all of a sudden we drop off and we let them back into the game, then we score one and drop off again and let them back in again. We have to keep committing and keep going with it and pushing harder and harder. They did that, they kept pushing, moving and didn't give up until the very end. But it is what it is and we've done our best, I'm proud of our guys, they worked hard and didn't give up.” Matthew Raub (Western Spirit): “We haven't played for two weeks so it was a bit scrappy. I think we got what we deserved today. We dominated most of the game although we made it hard for ourselves.”
FB Media Player of the Match: Corey Dunne (Western Spirit) Earned an early rest from the game following a good display from the midfielder that was capped off with a superb free kick.
Team Line-ups
Pine Rivers: Hope (gk), Cumberpatch, Fenech, Khan, S Middleton (Turner 80'), Morandy, Radnedge (Struthers 75'), Skoda, Steep, Stuckey (Burton 83'), Boyd.
Subs: Wilson (rgk), J Middleton, Struthers, Burton, Turner.
Western Spirit: Scully (GK), Arena, N Muir (Ashcroft 30'), Ryu, Wybranowski, Dunne (Kljajc 72'), Goodman, Jackson (A Muir 89'), Jarrett, K Walters, T Walters.
Subs: Ashcroft, Kljajc, A Muir, Varkevisser. Referee: David Porter
