Round two of the Steve Hudson Cup campaign saw Launceston come up against Newtown Eagles in a match the boys had to win if they were to remain in the hunt for a final appearance.

The bye system that has been introduced has made life tough for Rangers, particularly after a 3-0 loss to South Hobart, when 4 other teams will automatically receive 3 points for having a week off.

Mark Ambrose was out due to work commitments and Brendon Mulder came in as his replacement, while Brendan Lichtendonk was unavailable so Alex Bligh was given his senior debut.

Northern Rangers were in control of the first half against Newtown Eagles without being outstanding.  Rangers scored three goals in a dominate first half performance but didn’t actually look like they got out of second gear. 

Rangers new striker Agele Luate netted a brace for his new club while Chris Hunt got his year off to a start to complete the first half white wash at 3-0.

Rangers mixed things up in the second half, making wholesale changes to the line up in the early stages of the half.  Eagles made the most of the less settled line up and Adam McKeown broke through the Rangers defense to provide a glimmer of hopefor Eagles in the second half. 

Rangers did pull themselves back together and when Chris Hunt grabbed his second goal for the day, the result was a fore-gone conclusion.  Rangers running out 4-1 winners and recording their first win for the year to give them a faint hope of making the final.

Northern Rangers co coach Marshall Pooley said after the game: “Tenzing Anderson was outstanding in the first half.”

“We had great movement from the front three with our young player Josh Burk moving really well with Agele Luate and Chris Hunt”

“I was happy with the game, another game under our belts and it was good to see more quality for extended spells rather than 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there”

“Alex Bligh went ok on debut in goals, that’s a big step up for him and it’s good to see our younger guys doing a job”

I was really happy with Issa Dumbuya, and he looks like he will fill one of our midfield holes this year left by Derek Schipper and Scott Murray”