Dalyellup Ranger Jess Turner scored a much needed goal against rivals Bunbury United.
SOCCER: AN ugly scuffle, which resulted in two players receiving red-cards, couldn’t spoil the Dalyellup Rangers women’s team’s delight at taking a share of the points against Bunbury United, on Sunday.
Dalyellup, who entered the match sitting in last place on the ladder, were out to make the most of the game against fifth-placed Bunbury and took an early lead when 15-year-old striker Paige Couzner capitalised on a mistake from the United keeper.
However, Couzner was then involved in a brawl with Bunbury’s Alexandra Marra which saw both sent off by the referee.
This meant both Dalyellup and Bunbury had to play out the rest of the game with ten players, which would prove a stern test of their fitness.
Rangers were momentarily stunned by the incident which allowed Bunbury to level the match just before halftime.
During the break Dalyellup’s coach told his charges to put the incident out of their minds and focus on the job at hand.
Rangers responded by opening the scoring in the second half thanks to some excellent work from Jess Turner.
Turner pressured the Bunbury defence and slipped a pass past the Bunbury keeper for Paige Tracey to turn home, with about 15 minutes remaining.
Bunbury United, who had a full complement of substitutes, then piled on the pressure against the tiring Dalyellup side and were able to get one goal back with around five minutes to go.
However, Rangers were able to find one last effort and their defence, led by Sam Reeve and Rachael Davies, were able to hold on to claim a share of the points.
Dalyellup even had a chance to win the game in the dying seconds however a left-footed shot from Chantelle Warner drifted agonisingly wide.
Dalyellup’s league side rebounded from a disappointing defeat against Australind to draw with Geographe away from home.
After a goal-less first half Benji Kirk opened the scoring for Rangers from the penalty spot but Geographe were able to level through Steve Forbes
Both teams had chances to win the match but Rangers goalkeeper Callum Mahon and Geographe keeper Cohen Sadlier both made a couple of excellent saves.
Among the best players for Rangers was 15-year-old Josip Bebic and 17-year-old midfielder Iain Geare. Iain’s twin brother Scott also played well in his first match as captain.
Dalyellup’s men’s division one side faced up against Capel for the second week in a row and suffered a similar result. Last week they lost 4-1 and this time wasn’t much better as they went down 6-3. Raf Fuja and Matt Coppen were Dalyellup’s best players.