Plains Rangers AFC
August 31th 2002 v Whakatane Reserves
Rangers agreed to play Whakatane in a friendly fixture, to help their neighbours prepare for a Tasman Bowl game next week against Tauranga City United. In beautiful weather, Rangers turned up with less than the required number of players. They called in Peter Sheather, who put some lovely passes in to his fellow attackers, Steve Vierboom played in goal, making his return after a year our with injury, and had the assistance of a Whakatane player - Luke - who put in some solid challenges on his team-mates.
A defensive slip helped Whakatane put away a goal midway through the first half. However, Rangers settled to play some good passing football and were looking likely towards the end of the half.
After the interval, the strong Rangers midfield kept Whakatane on the defensive. It took 20 minutes before Rangers put away a chance, and it was done in style. Sjoerd Overdevest put across a well weighted free kick, and his brother Bas raced in, leaped high and scored with a powerful header. With ten minutes to go, Josh Van Veen got through the Whakatane defence, and put the ball past the keeper with a well taken goal. His acrobatic celebration was also note-worthy! Rangers held out any remaining challenge comfortably to win the game 2 - 1.
Rangers head into the summer break on a better note than they had last week. It was fitting that Brendan Cusack was named player of the day, after his achievements the week before. The three 'ring-ins' all put in excellent contributions, to support the cause.
Forward to BOP Div Two points table