St George’s 1

North Village 0

Mackie Crane’s thunderbolt gave St George’s Colts a hard-fought victory over North Village Rams at Wellington Oval.

The burly striker was St George’s hero for a second successive match but, while the previous week’s equaliser against Hamilton Parish was a delicately chipped free-kick, yesterday’s match-winner was all about power.

A few seconds earlier, disgruntled supporters were calling for Crane to be substituted when he failed to keep up with play during a home side’s counter attack.

But Crane showed what he lacks in pace he makes up in technique, by giving Troy Hall Jr, the Village goalkeeper, no chance with a rifled shot into the top corner from just outside the penalty area.

That moment of quality, in the 54th minute, was in stark contrast to the rest of the game as both teams crowded the midfield and battled against a relentless wind.

Kameron Fox, the delighted St George’s coach, said: “The veteran [Crane] does it every time for me. He’s sometimes a substitute and he’s sometimes a starter, but he brings so much to the team.

“A lot of people look at his work-rate and size, but he has a lot more than that to his game. He brings experience to the team. I would have Mackie Crane in my team any day.”

Fox also paid tribute to Crane’s younger team-mates, whose dogged defended reduced Village to hopeful shots for most of the match.

“As I’ve said before, teams that come to Wellington Oval are really going to have to work for their points,” Fox said.

Village had probably their best two moments in injury time, but neither Tyrell Burgess nor Tarreko Wilson could convert when well positioned.

Burgess frustrated the visiting support by heading over an inch perfect cross from Takeyhi Walker, the substitute; then Wilson, the centre back who had joined the attack for one last throw of the dice, ballooned over from inside the box when he seemed certain to score.

Shortly after Crane’s goal, Jonathan Briers, the Village midfielder, was a whisker away from connecting with Burgess’s right wing cross, when he dashed into the box to try to finish a move he started.

For the most part, however, Village found it difficult to create clear-cut chances. Nicori Smith, the left winger, caused occasional discomfort for St George’s with his tricky feet, while Burgess, Keishen Bean and Thomas Watson all tried their luck from distance without success.

But Village were frequently let down by their final ball in the wind and, until those last gasp opportunities for Burgess and Wilson, the home side never really looked like conceding.

Much of St George’s good play came through Crane, the focal point of the attack, who regularly provided nicely weighted passes for his nimbler colleagues, particularly Jarazinho Bassett, to race onto. The finishing touch eluded them, though, and Hall was barely tested until Crane stepped up to show the youngsters exactly how it is done.