Square Rangers 2 Memorial
Park A 1
Saturday 27th January
Square Rangers became the first team to take points off the League
leaders and consequently ended their unbeaten run with this 2-1
victory. This result and performance epitomised the team’s
character and spirit that has now seen them join the chasing pack
behind the League leaders.
On a muddy pitch with conditions very soft underfoot it was Rangers
who started the brighter of the two teams and immediately set out
their game plan in putting the leaders under early pressure. The
Rangers midfield set up early chances for Jake and Matthew before
Joe’s pace got him behind the visitors defence to coolly slot
past the out-rushing keeper. The visitors responded well but the
plan to switch Josh as sweeper cancelled out the threat of their
strikers’ pace. The other defenders Stewart, Afsar and Nathan
all kept a good line and restricted the leaders to only a few serious
efforts on goal which Ryan handled well in goal. The midfield Jack,
Joe, Matthew, Harry and Faheem when he came on, ran tirelessly in
midfield and each made telling contributions to the team’s
success in the first half which got better just before half time
when Joe again broke through to beat the keeper at 2-0.
The players were reminded at half time that the job was only half
done and it was the League leaders that started the second half
the brighter. In fact this was an early indication of how the half
would materialise as Memorial Park forced huge pressure on the Rangers
goal. When they pulled a goal back with only ten minutes played
it set up a frantic final twenty but our midfielders proved pivotal
in the manner in which we held out. In fact their tireless running
and determination to fight for every ball was inspirational to the
heroic defending by our back four and brave goal keeping from Ryan
in the final few minutes. Credit too to Jake and Nathan who held
the ball up well in the attacking third to give the team much needed
respite, where Joe came within inches of completing his hat-trick.
Player of the Match:
Matthew Custance
Summary:
Square Rangers gave a brilliant performance where attitude, character,
fitness and determination were evident throughout the whole sixty
minutes. Each player should be very proud of their performance and
should remember this match for a long time. The supporters of both
teams commented on how well we played so…well done!
Half Season Review:
We are now halfway through our season and after two straight defeats
at the start of the season we have now won five out of our last
six League matches and I believe we have now raised the bar to our
performance level. If we have all players available it looks set
for an interesting and possibly exciting second half of the season.
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