SAWTELL shared an eight goal thriller with Coffs United last Sunday at Toormina Oval to share the points in the Coastal Premier League with a 4-4 draw.

Sawtell stunned the reigning CPL champions with three goals in twenty minutes and led 4-2 in the second half before the resilient Lions clawed back into the game to salvage a draw.

Sawtell coach Joe Skyrtic was pleased how the team bounced back from last week’s loss.

“I’m very proud of my players, they put in a fantastic effort, we reacted from last week’s game and showed great quality and some great combinations in the final third to score three early goals in the first 20 minutes of the game.

“The intensity was high and we stuck to our game plan which caused them problems.

“Credit to Coffs they kept on applying pressure to finish the game with a draw,” said Joe.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man as seventeen year old Mabior Garang stepped up for the Lions, scoring four goals to get his team back into the match.

“We started slowly and got pinned by mistakes and then punished, their enthusiasm was intense and they made us pay,” said Coffs United Coach Glen Williams.

“The thing I am happy with was the ticker we showed in coming back from 3-0 down and 4-2 down from four quality strikes from Mabior Garang, the man of the match.

“Plenty to work on in training,” said Glen.

Lorenzo Rigoni continued to impress on his comeback after a long injury lay off to inspire the Lions reserve grade team to a 6-0 win over Sawtell.

Sawtell’s next match is against the Taree Wildcats at Toormina Oval on Saturday 8 May at 3pm whilst Coffs United travel to Kempsey to play the Saints.

 

By David WIGLEY