THE conditions were nothing short of atrocious, but the Warrnambool Rangers have laid their strongest claim to flag favouritism with a 1-2 defeat of league leader Forest in Wendouree.
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Buoyed by a goal in the first minute from in-form striker Ryan Bail, Rangers overcame a dire pitch to hand Forest their second defeat of the season.
Warrnambool coach Cameron Pyke was rapt with his side’s ability to adapt their normally slick passing game to account for the water-logged pitch.
“Considering the way we like to pass the ball around, we had to change up our style to be a lot more direct. There were a lot more long balls and our strikers had to be good in the air to bring the ball down,” he said.
“It was very back and forth between the teams. But I’m really happy with how we adapted to the conditions.”
Forest have now suffered just two defeats for the year – both at the hands of Warrnambool – and are a stunning nine points clear of second place heading into the final round of home and away competition.
Pyke said he was “flabbergasted” with excitement when Bail’s first effort hit the back of the net, gifting the third-placed Rangers a one goal buffer within just 50 seconds of play.
“Even though they pulled one back, we knew at halftime we were still in it,” he said. “When Ryan (Bail) scored the next one, we celebrated like it was a grand final win. When you play a team like Forest, you’ve got to put away every opportunity and it’s a confidence boost that we were able to do so.”
