Bramhall Rangers 9 - Cheadle United 10

It was a grim day in rangers football once more. Although i wasn't there, i heard stories of selfish subs, showboating play, and lack of focus. Alas it's our second defeat to the evils of lower teams. How we play so well against top of the table teams, and fail to beat bottom teams is anyone's guess. Sometimes we're playing bad. Sometimes team selection just isn't there. And sometimes the lower teams fight more fiercely for victory. Often smelling fear or opportunity.

As no-one did a match report, although i assume goals will follow, I thought it might be good to remind people of just who the rangers truly are. A fun group of lads who socially play football for neither glory nor goal. But purely because we have nothing better to do on a Thursday night. I present the ever classic, now uploaded to you tube to save my bandwidth, 2005 montage...





fin
ps. Rascle will be out of action for the foreseeable future due to work commitments (or lack of therein!).

Bramhall Rangers 7 Antony Wilde 12

"In Scotland there is no such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes" - shouty, sweary, bearded, haggis muncher Billy Connelly.

Mother Nature had decided this Thursday would be the day she would unleash the elements on the country and nearly had an impact on the Rangers game against top of the table Anthony Wilde (a lot of thought has gone into that name!).

The early KO was a bonus and the Rangers were up to strength. Rascle, Pie, Nev, Shiz, Peter and Belly were all confirmed. Mini also pencilled in was conspicuous ion his absence in the run up to KO. The freak weather meant that central Manchester was at a standstill. No trains were running and the buses were stuck in gridlock. It was unlikely Mini would make the 19:00 game despite leaving work at 16:15!

After walking to Longsight and the 8th Wonder of the World that is McTucky’s, Mini was able to get on a passing 192 bus for a ride to town. Ever supportive Charlotte was able to give Mini a lift from town to the game. Fortunately the KO was delayed as the ref was also late so Mini was able to make the whole game, much to his delight.

Rangers started brightly and were neck and neck with Wilde for the majority of the first half. Peter was playing well and shooting on sight. He notched with a powerful drive, and Mini finished into the roof of the net for a goal a piece. Wilde were confident on the ball and fashioned decent chances. Belly was using his net-minder technique to great effect and his knees must be grazed and bleeding like Rocky Balboa’s melting face. When Belly couldn’t make the save the woodwork came to Bramhall’s rescue, a couple of efforts pinging back off the post and crossbar.

Pie was looking good on the ball, one of his best games for a while and worked the flanks well. Some smashing footwork opened up a self made chance, and whilst the angle was tighter than the noose around Saddam’s neck Pie was able to smash the ball home for his 5th of the campaign (55 total). A decent return.

Nev and Rascle were solid at the back, and used their brute to try to dominate the quick feet of the Wilde attackers. A good rotation system kept the players on their toes and despite trailing at half time by 7-4 (IIRC) Rangers were still in the game. Peter and Mini were having one of their better games for a while in terms of linking up. Peter was strong on the ball and clinical with his finishing.

The second half was a better defensive display from the Rangers, frustrating Wilde with good tracking and close marking. Rangers forced their goalkeeper into rushed throws and more risky attempts at starting the attacks. Mini was able to lay on Peter for a finish as tidy as you will see.

Despite being top of the league, Wilde were not dominating the game maybe as much as they would have liked. Nev, Rascle and Shiz were growing in confidence and popping up in the attacking third. Nev had a tame effort saved by the keeper and Russ was looking to open his account but the ball never fell right. Shiz had a great opportunity to score when in acres of space on the edge of the area, central with only the keeper to beat. Maybe too much time combined with a lack of confidence meant his effort was saved by the keeper and the danger was cleared. The drought goes on.

Coming off the bench, Mini made an immediate impact when the ball ricocheted through the defence and he was able to slot the ball through the keeper’s legs for number 16 of the season. Peter, who is hitting scoring form, also added a couple more to take his tally to 16 also. There has not been a Golden Boot Race this close since winter 05 when Mini and Peter were separated by 5 goals at the end of the season. Peter’s goals this week took him on to 130 in total for the blues, a mere 100 behind Mini:)

The game finished and Rangers could be happy with their showing against Wilde. The main thing was to improve on the performance of the previous week, which they managed to do without fail. A final word goes to the ref, who was superb and let the game flow. It was a good game to play in and for once at Powerleague I was not loathed to shake the hand of the opposition or referee.

Final score: Bramhall Rangers 7 Anthony Wilde 12

Goals: Peter (4), Mini (2), Pie (1)

Shiz goal watch - 10

Peter suicide dance - 1

Bleh

Is this who I think it is?

www.myspace.com/beneast

Bramhall Rangers 4 - 14 Northern Canaries

"We didn't underestimate them. They were a lot better than we thought" - Bobby Robson

The Rangers faced their arch rivals Northern Canaries for the first time in months tonight. The Canaries had been up a division and then plummeted back down, all the way to the bottom of Division 6, even below Cheadle! The Rangers were looking to capitalise on this slump the Canaries appeared to be in, but alas they were in for a shock.

The Canaries team looked to be the usual lot, no ringers.
Rangers fielded a strong side of seven men including Grim, back for his second game after a successful debut. T was still out at the Beckham training school in L.A. honing his skills, and Russ was back in after 'falling over' a few weeks back.

The game started fairly slow for the Rangers and very soon Canaries went ahead. They were given space to shoot quite often but even when the defence held it together, simple shots were being let in by the keeper.
Before the Rangers knew it the game had run away from them. No one seemed to be on top form for Bramhall and the 9-2 half time score showed it. If memory serves, Mini and Pete had clinched both the Bramhall goals that half.

The second half was better for the Rangers, although mainly because the Canaries held back, passing it back to their keeper a lot and easing off attacking. Some points of note were a nice finish by P Biggy when he charged in to snatch a rebounded shot, and a good finish from a tight angle by Pie.
Unfortunately the improved performance could do little for the scoreline and after a 5-2 second half score (to the Canaries) the game ended 14-4.

Credit goes to Mini (and Russ) however, when in the final minutes of the game they both floored Specs. Well we did need to vent our frustration.

So as it stands now Bramhall, Canaries and Cheadle (if they lost tonight) will all be on 6 points and the bottom of the table is looming for anyone who slips up...

Final score 14-4. Mini (1), Pie (1), P Biggy (2).

Shiz goal watch - 9.

Pete suicide dance - 1.

Bramhall Rangers 13 Eat My Goal 9

And now for something different!
Q. Whats the difference between Alex Ferguson and soul singer James Brown?
A. Ferguson will be playing Giggs in the new year...

The last of the latest KO’s for this season will be a welcome relief and resulted in a surprising outcome for the Rangers. Despite not fairing too well against opponents Eat My Goal in previous meetings (7-17, 3-16) there was more confidence and desire than the previous Thursday. Maybe due to the late start EMG could only muster 5 players, in comparison to a strong looking Ranger’s who were boosted by the return of Belly in goal and the surprise inclusion of Grim (a former work colleague of Shiz).

The pitch was a right bobbler and it took a few minutes for Rangers to get into their stride, conceding a couple of avoidable goals. However, when they got some momentum up some of the football from the blues was very good. Peter seemed a man inspired and used his attributes to great effect. A change to his play saw him taking early snap shots with power and accuracy which more often and not resulted in a goal or caused the keeper to make a save. He seemed to be mopping up any rebounds too causing problems in the middle rather than being dragged out wide. Peter got the Ranges back in the game with a couple of well taken goals.

There was more space than previous games as EMG attempted to conserve energy, but this also meant they could create chances too. Belly was playing well in goal and made some crucial saves from one on ones and long rangers. Nev was as sturdy as ever but given the attacking options of Mini, Peter, Grim and Pie did not venture forward often to add to his tally.

Mr Shiz, who commented that it has been a while since his last goal (8 games in fact!) was causing problems with strong running and rebounds off the back board. He was unlucky not to score on a number of occasions when his connection on the ball was not as he may have wanted. Pie also snatched at a few efforts, but being in the mix was the key thing and as they game moved on this was shown to be the case.

Mini, who’s finishing was decent this week, kept up with Peter in the goals adding like for like for most of the game. Peter could take credit for 2 assists in the first half IIRC and Shiz also laid on an effort.

A good addition to the side and certainly an option for the future was Grim. His good fitness, power and ability on the ball released the pressure on the Rangers on more than one occasion. His finishing wasn’t too shoddy either. Mini and Grim contrived to miss a great opportunity to score in the first half. Linking up they were 2 on the keeper. Mini hit the post with the first effort, with the keeper sprawling Grim fired the ball straight at him. The rebound again fell to Grim who had a gaping goal only for the keeper to get the thinnest of finger tips to it to deflect it wide. It was inspired keeping but poor finishing from Mini and Grim.

HT came and there was one goal in it I think, BRFC leading. The blues had to continue on a similar path and they would certainly give EMG a run for their money. Disappointingly, it was straight from the KO that EMG pulled the game level. A couple of short passes and the ball was rifled past Belly. In truth it was a splendid volley that the team could do little or nothing about.

As the 2nd half continued EMG tired and Rangers punished them well. Peter added to his tally as did Mini. Pie finally got the goal he deserved. Some good tracking and closing down all game was rewarded with a break down the left (IIRC) and a shot which nestled nicely in the net.

With about 7 minutes to go, Mini switched with Belly in the sticks to give him a run out. The first thing Mini had to do was pick the ball out of his net as EMG fashioned an effort from a free kick. However, Belly was full of running and caused mischief in the EMG half of the pitch. Some quick footwork created a shooting chance which was deflected wide by the keeper when seemingly arrowing into the onion bag. Peter and Grim added to the tally and despite another 1 or 2 for Eat My Goal the game finished 13-9 and the game was maybe more comfortable than the score line suggests.

Peter had his best game for a long time and his ability to score 4 and more in a game is much needed. There was one Piggy suicide mission (dancing across own area with the ball as last man) in the first half which nearly led to a goal. But that is the first one of the season and was more than made up for in his effort this week.

It has been an inconsistent start to the season and as we approach the mid way point if the Rangers can keep players fit and have the availability of Jim and Grim (sounds like a cartoon!) for the odd game then there should be the opportunity to pick up more points along the way. Next week sees the blue’s pitted against Northern Canaries who, after a few seasons in Div 5, are finding Div 6 football hard going. They are currently bottom of the league on 1 point after a 3-3 draw with Thirsty FC this week. Rangers sit pretty on 6 points and 3rd bottom, above this weeks defeated team Eat My Goal who have 3 points. Neo-Cheadle are level on 6 points.

Final score: Bramhall Rangers 13 Eat My Goal 9
Goals: Mini (5), Peter (4), Grim (3), Pie (1)

Shiz goal watch – 8

**NEW FEATURE**
Peter suicide dance – 1