30 April 2001
The Press
Rangers have crashed to their first defeat of the season, 3-0, against a fired-up Nelson Suburbs in round eight of the Federation Six premier soccer league.
After a scoreless first half yesterday, Nelson fired home three goals in front of a delighted home crowd to destroy Rangers' hopes of taking over the league leadership.
The previous day, league pace-setter Halswell United had a hiccup when it was held to a 2-2 draw by Christchurch City reserves.
However, the unexpected Rangers loss has eased the pressure and Halswell still leads the competition by two points from Western. Rangers stay in third place four points behind Halswell but have a game in hand. Their catch-up match against Mid-Canterbury will be played at Eric Adam Park on Wednesday night.
After taking an early lead with a Matt Smith goal in their match against Christchurch City at Garrick Park, Halswell found itself down 1-2 at half time.
The damage was done by City's Rhodri Payne and Colin Evans. The fightback was interrupted soon after play resumed when referee Ross Anderson dismissed Halswell's Craig Crawford and City's James Solotti after an altercation.
Scott Richardson fired home the equaliser for Halswell to avoid a major upset, but all efforts to snatch a win foundered on solid City defence.
Previously unbeaten, Rangers could not penetrate the Nelson defensive line. Nelson's Henry Faarodo banged in two goals in 15 minutes and Martin Chandler put the final nail in the Rangers' coffin with the third goal in the dying stages.
Marlborough accounted for luckless Universities, 5-1, at Blenheim yesterday, and New Brighton picked up its first points with a 2-2 home draw with Avon United.