WARRNAMBOOL Rangers coach Cameron Pyke says the only direction for his side is up following its 5-0 drubbing of North United on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A dominant opening half helped the Rangers produce back-to-back wins in the Ballarat and District Soccer Association division one competition.
Pyke said Warrnambool’s response to its 4-1 round one loss to Sebastopol was encouraging.
The Rangers have kept their opponents goalless in the past two rounds and will take confidence into a match against Castlemaine this weekend.
Pyke labelled the rout of North United as the Rangers’ best performance of the season to date.
“We defended well, passed amazingly, ran and shot well,” he said.
“We have found our flow and mojo in how to play well together.
“Hopefully we can continue to play like that because it’s by far the best we’ve played all year and if we play like that we’re a chance to beat anyone.”
Warrnambool stormed to a 4-0 half-time lead to put the game beyond North United’s reach.
Josh Bourke, Isaac Slater, Jason Yau and Matt van Rooy hit the scoreboard.
An own goal made up the tally.
“I said to the boys that we needed to go out there and put in a good start and that it could give us the momentum at half-time and they did that,” Pyke said.
“I was able to sit back (in goalkeeper) and watch and help position the boys.
“Our passing up to our two strikers was really fluent and we were able to capitalise on really good opportunities.
“North United have lost a few players so they are not as strong as they were last year, but they’re still very tough opposition if you don’t bring your best football.”
Pyke was thrilled with his charges’ efforts and said naming a best player would be an “injustice to how well we played as a team”.
“Even the guys off the bench slotted straight in and did what we needed of them,” he said.
Warrnambool Rangers’ division two outfit fought back from a two-goal deficit to record a 3-3 tie with North United.
Josh Bourke, Chol Ajak and Nasim Yousif hit the scoreboard as the Rangers improved their record to two wins and a draw.
“We pegged two goals back … the last 20 minutes was all-out attack,” Pyke said.
“Their goals came from momentary lapses in concentration from our defence.”
Warrnambool’s women fought back from 2-0 down at half-time to defeat Forest 3-2, while its under 17 side notched a 4-1 triumph against Sebastopol Blue.