The good sized, vociferous Opotiki crowd thoroughly enjoyed the visit of Plains
Rangers in the Tasman Cup on Saturday.
While Rangers started playing the slightly better football, and were unlucky not to go
ahead when a well struck shot somehow bounced out off the inside of the post, the
home team gradually grew in confidence. Rangers struggled to play football, partly
because of a late rearrangement of players, and partly because of the vagaries of the
home pitch. After half an hour Opotiki got in behind the Rangers defence and squared
the ball back for a simple, well-taken goal. Opotiki held the lead 1 - 0 at the break.
In the second half, Opotiki’s play and confidence grew, as Rangers play became more
and more disjointed. The home team went on to score four further unanswered goals,
the quality of which were very good, from a well struck free kick into the top corner,
to a strong header from an ‘impossible’ angle. The final score Opotiki 5, Rangers nil
had the crowd in party mode.
Rangers now just have the league to concentrate on, to see if they can hang onto their
fourth placing. With three difficult games coming up, they will have to rise quickly
from the ashes. This Saturday Rangers are at home to Otumoetai. Kick-off at the
Edgecumbe Domain is at 2 p.m.