Rangers climb up alongside Saints to join logjam of clubs mid-table

The cavalry is arriving at the right time of the season for Macleay Valley Rangers.

Rangers snapped a two-game losing streak with a hard-fought 3-2 win over rivals Kempsey Saints at Eden Street on Saturday.

Coach Jason Coleman said the “much-needed” victory allowed them to stay in a logjam of teams in the middle of the table but within striking distance of third-placed Bellingen.

“Every three points you can gather as you go along is very important in this competition,” Coleman said.

“It’s also nice when you’re playing the top four sides to get something out of the game as well, so you’ve got to be taking points where you can get them.”

Josh Munro, Chad Applegate and Troy Ward found the back of the net although they could have scored a few more.

“When we play well we’ll dominate teams,” Coleman said.

“We should have scored a few more goals to put it to rest and we allowed them to come back into the game with about 20 to go.”

The coach was also pleased with the way his team has played all season where they have been “fighting for each other”.

That wasn’t always the case last season.

“The boys have got a good morale with one another and they’re fighting for one another,” the coach said.

“They’re digging their heels in and sometimes it can be a bit scrappy, but they’re still fighting for one another and I think that’s a big key to it.”

Rangers are warming into the season with three wins and a draw from their previous six matches.

“Very confident, mate,” Coleman said when asked how confident he was the Kempsey side could continue their march up the table.

Saints coach Dan Baker said the match continued a theme which has become all too familiar this season.

“We had enough chances to win the game, we just didn’t score goals and there’s already been too many of those this year. It’s just another one to chalk up,” he said.

“We’re not scoring goals when we need to be and we just move on and try to keep playing good football which is what we’ve done all year.

“There’s already been too many of them this year.”

Evan Clarke and Corey Crotty scored Saints goals with the one-goal defeat allowing Rangers to climb up alongside their Macleay rivals.

“It’s not the one you want to lose, that’s for sure,” Baker said.