Plains Rangers AFC
May 24th 2003 v Kawerau
| Plains Rangers were determined to bounce back
from last week’s defeat when they hosted Kawerau in BOP division two on Saturday. From the outset, Rangers had the lion’s share of possession. A snap shot on the turn by Jason Shaw almost got the home team off to a flying start, as it shaved the outside of the goal post. Nevertheless less it took Rangers almost the whole first half before they found the back of the net. Some sweet first touch passing took the ball to striker Brendan Cusack and his nudge through put Dan Logan in front of goal. Logan squeezed the ball past the keeper in a tight finish. In the second half, Rangers upped the pace and kept the visitors on the back foot for the most part. Hori Elliot gave Rangers a lot of width down the left. After fifteen minutes, fellow central midfielder Jason Pullar put the rampaging Logan through, and he scored with a full struck shot. Elliot then went close to extending the lead when he beat both keeper and a defender to the bouncing ball and headed it narrowly wide. Next, good interplay between Elliot and left back Barrie Hawkes got Hawkes down the line, inside the box and pulling the ball back for Logan to nail down a hat-trick. The final say also went to that man Dan Logan, when he caught the Kawerau keeper slightly off his line with a well struck chip from 25 metres. The final score was Plains Rangers 4, Kawerau 0. This was a good team effort by Rangers, with some good movement and support play. Solid defence from Hawkes, David Dennis, Mark Thompson and Steve Vierboom laid a good platform for the win. Rangers will need to keep the wins coming with only two weeks to go before the two second divisions are split. Next week Rangers are away to Ngongotaha in what should be a tight battle. |