Rangers slam Cutters with eye on Stratford
Goals galore sets up mouth-watering clash between top contenders
MARLIN Coast coach James Tweed has forgiven his side for clocking off after steaming to a 4-0 lead over Innisfail United as he prepares his side to make a statement to the competition.
Liam White and Kyle Nichol made mincemeat of an offthe-pace Cutters defence to race to the eventual winning margin inside 24 minutes at Pennell Field on Sunday.
Tweed had called on his side to be more ruthless but was not perturbed after what he called an “easy win”, including a second clean sheet.
“When you’re up 4-0 up sometimes you’ve got to sit back. We’ve got a big game against Stratford next week and I told the players to take their time with it and there’s no need to push yourself too much,” he said.
“I felt the intensity did drop. It’s just one of those things.
“It happens everywhere, even in professional football.
“It’s not a problem as long as you’ve got the three points.
“We were dominant and we didn’t really give them many chances. It was an easy performance for us, easy win.
“I said to the players to try to get another goal but I’m more than happy with the performance.”
Competition for spots is fierce in the Rangers side with the likes of English import Dom Bottomley expected to return to face fellow unbeaten side Stratford this weekend, which Tweed expected to be a much tougher “battle”.
“We should be OK, but we can’t rest on our laurels. We’ve got to train hard this week, because they’ve got dangerous players,” he said.
Innisfail United coach Adrian Favero said the defeat was a lesson for his completely new side, but felt they had been better in their opening two fixtures than the results showed.
“We were just not good enough in defence the first 20 minutes,” he said.
“We weren’t tight on our man, and we gave away too many easy possessions.
“We talked about that at half-time and I thought we were actually the better team in the second half to tell you the truth. We had all the ball and all the possession.
“It’s something to build on next game, definitely.
“We’re a young side, so we’ve got a bit of developing and building to do but we’re happy, we’re progressing.”
Stratford flexed their muscles in a 4-0 win over Mareeba after starting with three goals in the first 18 minutes against an inexperienced back four.
The match was the first for midfielder Jamie Gosling since he played for FNQ Heat in 2016. He celebrated with a goal and when he attracted a penalty coach Joe Rusch converted.
“I was really happy with the performance from the boys. It was good to get back out there playing,” he said.
“I still think we need a bit of fitness. We’re not quite there yet, but I think in three or four weeks we’ll be ready to take on anyone.
“We’ve got some really good technical players and we play good football and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Leichhardt shocked Edge Hill 2-1 after earning a late penalty. But it was the first that caused the most contention, coming off the back of Tigers goalkeeper Kevin Ward picked up what was deemed to be a backpass to the surprise of players and spectators.
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Leichhardt 2 (Nucifora 10’ 90+4’(P)) d Edge Hill 1 (Murray 27’) Stratford 4 (Courtenay 12’ Rusch 15’(P) Gosling 18’ Roth 88’) d Mareeba 0 Marlin Coast 4 (Nichol 1’ 13’ White 7’ 24’) d Innisfail Utd 0
WE WERE DOMINANT AND WE DIDN’T REALLY GIVE THEM MUCH CHANCES. IT WAS AN EASY PERFORMANCE FOR US, EASY WIN