Bramhall Rangers 4 The Griswalds 11
"The ref was vertically 15 yards away." - Kevin Keegan
It was the same team again this week for the penultimate match for the season against league leaders The Griswald’s, who the Rangers had beaten twice in the past. The game was switched from its initial 18:30 slot to a later and cooler one at 20:00 at the request if The Griswald’s. Rangers are only hopeful that in future teams will be willing to switch for us as this has not proved to be the case in the past.
It was still warm, which would be a test on the stamina of the Rangers, but they put in a decent performance and managed to get their goals from other areas of the pitch. Rangers took the lead through a good right foot finish from Piggy. His 11th of the season came after he showed power in the attacking third.
This was about as good as it got for the Rangers in the first half as The Griswald’s superior quality shone through. They picked up a number of goals after good interplay and one from a free kick after Mini was slow reacting.
Mini was denied a couple of goals in the first half. One was deemed a hand ball after Mini deftly lifted the ball over the keeper. The hand of god? No, even better than that…the hand of Mini!
His second was less obvious why it was disallowed. Nev and Mini were causing problems on the edge of the area and a shot looped up off the keeper. Their defender tried to shepherd it back to the keeper but Mini nipped I to nutmeg the goalie for what looked like a perfectly good goal. For some reason it was disallowed. At half time the ref said it was because someone had entered the area, but when we pointed out that it was actually one of their players, he shrugged and said “well it was someone”.
(IMO this was one of the poorest reffing performances for sometime. He was frequently in the way of the ball, deflecting passes and clearances, missed a number of over head heights, clipped ankles and generally didn’t seem to have a serious hold on the game. When two teams arrive to play in dark blue and slightly less dark blue and the ref is too lazy to get bibs it can be an indication of how the game is going to go. This is not to say it affected the result though, as he was equally bad for both teams.)
Mr T was making some excellent saves in goal and has just got better and better in that position. Maybe a contender for MIP, the defence is getting more confident each week. Half time saw the Rangers 4-1 down (IIRC) but for a disallowed goal and some good goal keeping it could have been closer.
The second half went much the same way as the first, with missed opportunities and lack of a cutting edge. The Griswald’s extended their lead but Rangers popped up with a couple of goals to keep them on their toes. Piggy grabbed his second of the game, and Pie also who is beginning to find his form scored after the keeper seemed to have made the save. The ball span over the line for Pie’s third of the season.
This was in contrast to another attempt by Mini, who managed to chip the keeper only for the spin to work the other way and bring the ball out. It was just not going in for Mini this week, and it would be only the 3rd outfield game in his 56 game career in which he would not score.
Shiz kept the heat on Piggy in the goal scoring charts with a good goal and his 8th of the campaign, after Mini and Piggy had linked up well to give him the opportunity.
Late in the game, the Rangers could have had a couple more. Rascle who was making his last appearance of the season found himself free on the edge of the box but somehow contrived to spoon the ball over the bar and nearly over the netting. Fellow defender Nev, who with Russ had both had solid games, also came close and shaved the post with one of the last efforts of the game.
The Griswald’s sealed promotion with this victory, but were made to work by a resilient Rangers team. Due to Monkhouse Gladbach beating Omatha Rangers slipped back to 2nd bottom but a victory next week and other results going their way could see them jump two places to finish the season on a high.
Final score: Bramhall Rangers 4 The Griswald’s 11
Goals: Piggy (2), Pie (1), Shiz (1)
Nev goal watch - 26
It was the same team again this week for the penultimate match for the season against league leaders The Griswald’s, who the Rangers had beaten twice in the past. The game was switched from its initial 18:30 slot to a later and cooler one at 20:00 at the request if The Griswald’s. Rangers are only hopeful that in future teams will be willing to switch for us as this has not proved to be the case in the past.
It was still warm, which would be a test on the stamina of the Rangers, but they put in a decent performance and managed to get their goals from other areas of the pitch. Rangers took the lead through a good right foot finish from Piggy. His 11th of the season came after he showed power in the attacking third.
This was about as good as it got for the Rangers in the first half as The Griswald’s superior quality shone through. They picked up a number of goals after good interplay and one from a free kick after Mini was slow reacting.
Mini was denied a couple of goals in the first half. One was deemed a hand ball after Mini deftly lifted the ball over the keeper. The hand of god? No, even better than that…the hand of Mini!
His second was less obvious why it was disallowed. Nev and Mini were causing problems on the edge of the area and a shot looped up off the keeper. Their defender tried to shepherd it back to the keeper but Mini nipped I to nutmeg the goalie for what looked like a perfectly good goal. For some reason it was disallowed. At half time the ref said it was because someone had entered the area, but when we pointed out that it was actually one of their players, he shrugged and said “well it was someone”.
(IMO this was one of the poorest reffing performances for sometime. He was frequently in the way of the ball, deflecting passes and clearances, missed a number of over head heights, clipped ankles and generally didn’t seem to have a serious hold on the game. When two teams arrive to play in dark blue and slightly less dark blue and the ref is too lazy to get bibs it can be an indication of how the game is going to go. This is not to say it affected the result though, as he was equally bad for both teams.)
Mr T was making some excellent saves in goal and has just got better and better in that position. Maybe a contender for MIP, the defence is getting more confident each week. Half time saw the Rangers 4-1 down (IIRC) but for a disallowed goal and some good goal keeping it could have been closer.
The second half went much the same way as the first, with missed opportunities and lack of a cutting edge. The Griswald’s extended their lead but Rangers popped up with a couple of goals to keep them on their toes. Piggy grabbed his second of the game, and Pie also who is beginning to find his form scored after the keeper seemed to have made the save. The ball span over the line for Pie’s third of the season.
This was in contrast to another attempt by Mini, who managed to chip the keeper only for the spin to work the other way and bring the ball out. It was just not going in for Mini this week, and it would be only the 3rd outfield game in his 56 game career in which he would not score.
Shiz kept the heat on Piggy in the goal scoring charts with a good goal and his 8th of the campaign, after Mini and Piggy had linked up well to give him the opportunity.
Late in the game, the Rangers could have had a couple more. Rascle who was making his last appearance of the season found himself free on the edge of the box but somehow contrived to spoon the ball over the bar and nearly over the netting. Fellow defender Nev, who with Russ had both had solid games, also came close and shaved the post with one of the last efforts of the game.
The Griswald’s sealed promotion with this victory, but were made to work by a resilient Rangers team. Due to Monkhouse Gladbach beating Omatha Rangers slipped back to 2nd bottom but a victory next week and other results going their way could see them jump two places to finish the season on a high.
Final score: Bramhall Rangers 4 The Griswald’s 11
Goals: Piggy (2), Pie (1), Shiz (1)
Nev goal watch - 26
posted by Mini at 9:51 am
2 Comments:
I also seem to have picked up an injury to my right knee, which depending on runs this weeked may put me out of next thursday as it could be a risk before the big run. We will see.
Well the result was the right one, but as hinted in the match report, the score line should have been closer as we had a few unlucky moments. We were outplayed, but thankfully we did manage to hold are heads high, and we didn't lose it to bad (by our standards!).
It was positivie to see both Russ and Nev have scoring opportunities... and on another day they could have slotted them in, and a few goals (or not having them disallowed!) from Mini and it would have been ever so tight...
I think the pass and move comment above is spot on... after all, in that most realistic of football computer games we all love, PES, its very hard to score without passing it around!
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