South Coast United travelled to Hume Oval to face Picton Rangers in an Illawarra Mercury Premier League clash where both teams were looking to pick up their first points of the 2018 season. Despite South Coast United getting off to an early start thanks to an Ivan Bratjanscak goal, the Rangers recovered and sent three past SCU to record their first win of the season and leave their opponents at the foot of the table.

Over the last ten seasons, this fixture has been dominated by South Coast United – winning seven of the 14 clashes between the two sides, whereas Picton has won only three – and this match looked like going the same way early on, with the visitors pushing hard and looking to break through the Rangers’ defence for an early chance.

That chance would come in the 7^th minute when Ivan Bratjanscak made a perfectly timed run to remain onside and receive a great through ball from the SCU midfield. Bratjanscak then pushed out slightly to the right to avoid being tackled before looping the ball around an oncoming Lauchlan O’Bree to slot the ball into the right corner of the net and give the visitors the lead.

But Picton would take this early setback in their stride and the team would get a good chance of their own seven minutes later. A great cross from Benjamin Roberts attempted to seek out Sebastian Myers in the box, but Myers just couldn’t reach the effort and when put under more pressure by a rushing Jason Bleakley, Myers shot would end up scuffing off his foot and to the right of the post.

However, Picton would level the scores in the 18^th minute after the side was awarded a penalty for a tackle made on a ball-carrying Jarred Morley in the box. Morley would step up himself to take the kick, which he would fire into the left corner, sending Bleakley the other way and locking the game up at 1-1.

Having fought their way back into the match, Picton would have a golden chance to take the lead in the 27^th minute when a sliding shot from Kazuma Nagaishi off a Sebastian Myers centre ball would beat Bleakley, but before the ball could go in play was pulled up for a foul committed by Nagaishi on the SCU keeper.

South Coast United were determined not to let Picton get on top after working their way back into the match, and while their task was compounded with a 33^rd minute injury to Chris Valic, SCU would have a strong chance of their own in the 35^th minute when a corner from Yuya Kotaki almost became a spectacular Olympic goal, his curling effort forcing a strong punch out from Lauchlan O’Bree to keep his side equal.

The visitors would have another huge moment five minutes later when a free-kick from Josh Brookes would force a stunning save from O’Bree, keeping Brookes’ curling effort out and ensuring that neither side would hold the lead going into the half-time break.

As the second-half got underway, both sides were fired up after a tense first half, and the building tension around the ground meant that something had to break in order to kick the contest to the next stage and just seven minutes into the second half, that catalyst occurred when a fantastic run from Benjamin Roberts would see him burst down the right side of the field and center the ball to a well-positioned Kazuma Nagaishi, who simply tapped the ball past SCU keeper Jason Bleakley to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

Going a goal down hit SCU hard, but the side was hesitant to call the match over and they would have a chance of their own in the 55^th minute when a ball from Ikumi Saito found Josh Brookes, but Brookes effort was deflected away by Dayne Morley, who quickly ended the oncoming SCU attack.

With Picton only a goal ahead, the side was not willing to rest on their laurels and instead continued to push for another goal and they came very close to having a third in the 61^st minute when a shot from Matthew Tesoriero forced a great sprawling save from Jason Bleakley to keep his side in the match.

However, Picton would finally break through for their third in the 75^th minute when a well-placed free-kick from Jarred Morley found the head of Dayne Morley, who managed to put the ball into the path of an incoming Benjamin Roberts, who fired home a powerful shot from just outside the six-yard box to shake the back of the net and give Picton a 3-1 lead.

SCU would have one final half-chance in the 84^th minute when an intended cross from Ivan Bratjanscak failed to connect with anyone in the box, but it was the Rangers who held onto the result, coming into their own in the final 15 minutes to ensure that they would hold on to secure their first win of the season, a huge 3-1 result for the club.

Picton’s win moves them off the foot of the table, shooting them past their opponents as well as Woonona Sharks, who went down 5-0 to a marauding Albion Park White Eagles side in round seven. The Rangers however now will face a big challenge against Tarrawanna, who will be still looking to be riding the high of their FFA Cup win over UNSW in the fifth round of that competition.

For South Coast, the loss means the side is yet to pick up any points after their opening seven matches, sitting at the foot of the ladder equal with Woonona on goal difference. The side will also have a challenge ahead of them next week as they take on a Wollongong United side who revived their season with a 1-0 win over Bulli this round.

Saturday 5 May 2018 at Hume Oval.

Picton Rangers FC – 3 (J. Morley 18’, Nagaishi 52’, Roberts 75’)

South Coast United – 1 (Bratjanscak 7’)

Picton Rangers FC: Lauchlan O’BREE, Sebastian MYERS, Key MITCHELL, Nathan MACGRAW, Daniel NELSON, Kazuma NAGAISHI, Benjamin ROBERTS, Jarred MORLEY, Matthew TESORIERO, Dayne MORLEY, Scott MIRANDA

Subs: Brendan BERKELEY (NELSON 62’), Connor DYMOND (MYERS 56’), Will MCLEOD (TESORIERO 90’)

South Coast United: Jason BLEAKLEY, Dylan MENA NAYDOVSKI, Chris VALIC, Greg VALIC, Josh BROOKES, Yuya KOTAKI, Ivan BRATJANSCAK, Oliver CARRASCO, Adrian AVELLO, Abdulsamiu LAWAL, Ikumi SAITO

Subs: Callum RUSSELL (C. VALIC 33’), Anton BATUR (LAWAL 74’), Domenico MARSALA (RUSSELL 84’), Ryan BEATTIE, Nick ARMAND

Referee – Peter ILCEVSKI

Assistant Referees – Stephen RAINEY and Cormack RAINEY

Report by Cal Behrendt, on Twitter @CalBehrendt

Photos by Noel Wynn