Plains Rangers AFC
June 1st 2002 v Greerton
There was entertainment and excitement aplenty when Plains Rangers met Greerton at the Edgecumbe Domain on Saturday in BOP division 2. The second and third placed teams on the ladder played with plenty of attitude in trying to better their opponent.
Greerton started well, applying a fair amount of pressure on the home team defence. In one quick raid they got a striker through past the defence, but this brought an outstanding block from Rangers new keeper Matt Aberhart on the edge of his penalty area. For much of the half, Rangers played good football, passing the ball around in controlled build-ups. Meanwhile their visitors relied on the fast breaks, and it was from one of these they opened the scoring. A long switch from right to left found their winger, who controlled the ball well and finished in style. The half time score was 1 - 0 to Greerton.
In the second half, Rangers continued to apply pressure, and secured an increasing amount of possession. The hard working Joel Ogilvy started to open up gaps as he ran the ball at the defence. The patient build-ups gave Rangers strikers some decent opportunities in front of goal, with Ryan Wilson being denied by the keeper with superb saves on several occasions. A good run from right back Jason Shaw started the equalising move. He fed the ball to Wilson, who deftly flicked it to put fellow striker Josh van Veen through the defence, and he put it past the keeper nicely. From there on Greerton had to battle as much against their own attitudes, as against the increasingly confident Rangers team. There were a number of entertaining situations in front of the Greerton goal, including one when their keeper and two other players were piled on the ground after successive shots, but they still somehow kept the ball out! Simon Ruiter got the crowd going when he curled a shot from the left wing over the keeper, only for it to bounce off the cross bar. The game, which was well refereed by Mark Varvazovski, ended in a 1 - 1 draw.
Rangers should be pleased with the football that they played, despite the scoreline. Everyone contributed well, and David Dennis was named man of the match for his work in defence. This Saturday, Plains Rangers will be participating in the annual Best Insulation tournament at Rotorua Suburbs.
Forward to BOP Div Two points table