Story & photo Dogwhistle
It was a much happier outing for the Great Northern Byron Bay Rams when they travelled to Casino for round five of the FFNC Championships on Saturday.
A heavy injury count saw a few players stepping up a grade and the new lineup worked well in both grades.
The Reserves Rams set the tone, with a dominant performance that yielded no goals in the first half. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Will Ennis was on the receiving end of a rugby tackle inside the Casino box and converted the resulting penalty to open the scoring.
Minutes later, young recruit Hari Scott left nothing to chance, driving home a rebound from a goalmouth skirmish. A goal to striker Tomas and another penalty to Will Ennis took the final tally to 4–0.
The injuries to the regular Premier league squad cleared the way for the return of James Tomlinson, Herick Schuenemann and prodigal Thiago Priori with Aaron Walker taking the lead up front.
The new lineup clicked from the start, with the Rams completely out-classing the tough Casino squad. A great run and cross from Priori found Walker on the run just three minutes in. Walker finished cleanly to open the scoring early.
Moments later, a flanking run and cross from Emanuele Altarui into a crowded box was finished with a toe-poke from Quinn McDonald. Thiago Priori took Byron’s third goal inside the first fifteen minutes, taking the ball into a one-on-one with the keeper, playing a cheeky dummy and chipping into the net.
Goal four came from a penalty from Aaron Walker in the closing minutes of the first half.
Casino rallied in the second half as Byron settled into their comfortable lead and a hand-ball in the Byron box put Casino on the scoreboard early in the second session.
The Casino crew made the Rams work hard to hold their lead and, by midway through the half, the Byron boys were beginning to tire. A defensive lapse saw Casino’s Dean Casey unmarked on the back post, leaving young Rams keeper, Griffin Bambach, no chance.
The Rams kept up the pressure and, with fifteen minutes remaining, James Tomlinson crossed to Aaron Walker, who drove home his third for the day to take the final score to 5–2
This Saturday, the Rams head to Lismore for another away clash with the always challenging Italo Stars.
Reserves kick off at 1pm and the Prems at 3pm.
