Gary Fowell Builders Plains Rangers

September 23rd 2006 v Whakatane Town

In an incident packed BOP division three game, Gary Fowell Builders Plains Rangers went down in the final seconds at Whakatane Town on Saturday.
Rangers began the game well, putting together some good passing moves. After twenty minutes, strikers Harley de Lacy and Aaron Muggeridge pressured the home team defence. The clearance was intercepted by Bas Overdevest. He fed a neat pass to Muggeridge who coolly drew the keeper and scored. Late in the half Rangers had a goal disallowed when de Lacy had done a great job riding a bad tackle and then pulling the ball across goal for Dean Butterworth to volley in. However the linesman determined the ball had crossed the line and a goal kick was awarded. Half time had Rangers ahead 1 - 0.
The second half began well enough for Rangers but midway through the half things started to go wrong. A scuffle on the edge of the Whakatane penalty area ended with Muggeridge and Whakatane's Lee Barton being sent off. The home team got back on level terms, with Rangers keeper Cody Hancox making a good save from a free kick, but the rebound was bundled in by Marcel de Boer. Things got worse for Rangers in the final minutes with de Lacy dismissed for a second yellow card, and then, in the last seconds of time added on, de Boer ghosted in at the far post to volley home the winner. The final score: Whakatane Town 2 Plains Rangers 1.
It was not the ending Rangers wanted to their league programme, but Richie Nillesen's outstanding display earned him player of the day. However next Saturday they have a special fixture to look forward to. The main sponsors of the Whakatane 1st team and Rangers - Pullar Builders and Gary Fowell Builders - have arranged a challenge between the two sides. This will be at Rex Morpeth Park at 2 pm. Hopefully the Rangers players can recover from this defeat and a number of injury concerns to give their opponents a stern test.







 

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