Square Rangers 1 Watling
Saints 1
Saturday 16th December
Friendly
Square Rangers produced a quite outstanding performance to draw
against second in the league Watling Saints in this pre-Christmas
friendly. Considering the Rangers boys were without three of their
more experienced players this makes their achievement all the more
special….and it could even have turned out to be a victory
in their favour!
Square Rangers got off to the worst possible start by conceding
a goal inside the opening few minutes. This was a real test of character
to see how the smaller Rangers team would respond against a rampant
Watling. Gradually as the first half unfolded however Rangers grew
in confidence and tested the Watling defence with some swift counter-attack
moves. Jake Gill tested the goalkeeper as did Jack Sullivan and
Matthew Custance, who was unlucky with a good long range effort.
By the half time whistle the match was finely balanced.
The second half saw our defence cope excellently with the threat
carried by the Watling strikers. The two central defenders combined
very well where Afsar’s man-marking was very effective leaving
Josh to play the spare man tidying up. The occasions where Watling
did break through saw Ryan save brilliantly racing off his line
to block a shot at close range, and then Stewart challenging well
to deny their striker a clear shot at goal. The work of the defence
gave Rangers the impetus to push forward and Faheem, Tom and Nathan
all helped to stretch the visitors defence by making clever forward
runs. Our passing at times was excellent and this together with
good movement helped create countless opportunities in front of
goal. Good goalkeeping by the visitors’ number 1 appeared
to deny Rangers their deserved equaliser. However drama ended the
match just as it started when Jake capped a fine individual performance
by smashing home the rebound from Matthew’s shot to give Square
Rangers a deserved draw that their commitment and team play richly
deserved.
Highlight of the match:
It would have to be the
defensive work of Afsar and Josh who looked a solid partnership,
and their hard work allowed our midfield players the freedom to
press forward.
Player of the match: (chosen by Karen Larrington)
Jake Gill
|
