Northern Canaries 9 Rangers 6
A change of days didn’t lead to a change in fortunes for Bramhall Rangers, facing up to a fellow mid-table team Northern Canaries. The game had to be switched as neither team could get the players together for an early Thursday KO.
Even on the Wednesday numbers were sparse. NC had just 5, and the Rangers were made up to 5 with the return of Mr T and Piggy. The other players included Mini, Dr H and Belly. Shiz and Pie missed their final game, Hedderz was packing for his big move and Rascle was conspicuous in his absence, pulling out at the last.
Thankfully it was cooler at 7.30, and despite the lack of rotation both sides did OK. It was a slow game but yielded the same score as the week previous, 9-6 in the favour of the opposition. NC started the brightest, quickly nipping into a 3-goal lead. Rangers found their feet soon enough though, Piggy slotting home to give the score line some parity after Dr H had found him off the boards.
The bespectacled number 6 was his usual cheating self, with blatant pushes and trips, and shameless handballs. Half time came round and it finished quite even, 5-3 IIRC, Mini and Dr H picking up a couple more for the Rangers. The Rangers had conserved energy quite well it seemed as no one seemed that pooped at HT.
The usual second half collapse set in and NC cemented their lead after taking on 2 more easy goals. It was difficult to keep track of when the goals went in but safe to say Rangers only managed 3 more in the half. Piggy side footed into an open goal after Mini squared it across the box. This came after Piggy missed another open goal (again after Mini squared it across the area!) when it looked harder to miss. Shades of Kanu!! That was the story of the game really, not clinical enough in front of goal.
As ever, it was a great moment when Mr T popped up to knock in a goal. A couple of successive free kicks (probably given away by bespectacled man!) meant the Rangers could edge toward goal. Dr H took a quick one after Mr T had been felled and it was the tenacious fighter who connected well with a right boot to guide it into the bottom corner. It is always a great moment when Mr T gets a goal and you can tell how much it meant to him!
(Also, this one of very few games where every outfield player scored!)
The game finished and although not a crushing defeat, the Rangers were slightly disconsolate as games against NC are ones they need to start winning to make that step up to the next level.
Yes, Rangers only had 5, but so did the opponents. Next week though will see the return of Pie and Shiz who will hopefully be chomping at the bit!
Final score:
Northern Canaries 9 Rangers 6
Goals: Dr H (2), Piggy (2), Mini (1), Mr. T (1).