Upcoming Rangers Events

Two events upcoming.

Firstly, there is the Bramhall Rangers Invitational against Indus Milan. The pitch is booked for 4pm.
Current team for the Rangers is Belch, Pie, Mini, Shiz, Lifey, with hopefully Nev too. Rascle is hoping to film the game, Charlotte and Piggy will be in support (and possible refereeing the game too!).
Current team for Indus Milan is Flower, Newton, Sharma, Sanghvi and Adams.

Secondly, with this season being the last (at least for the foreseeable) the End Of Season Awards will also be an End Of Era Awards too! This will now take place on Saturday 16th June. Venue not confirmed yet, but hoping to be Frankie & Bennys in Stockport. Any suggestions for awards for not only the final season, but also for the whole time of Powerleague are welcome.

Rangers vote to quit?!?!

Looking at the results of the poll the voting has gone in favour of calling it a day for next season. 9 votes to 7 said we should have a rest.

However, it would seem that there has been some dodgy voting as 16 Rangers don't even exist.

If there are 7 people who have voted to carry on and they can be available every week then go for it.

However, with recent weeks and the struggle to get players this week it seems BRFC will be justified in calling it a day.

Bramhall Rangers 5 Not A Clue 9

“Sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one…” - Knute Rockne (Pat O'Brien) in Knute Rockne: All-American (1940)

In the week that there was talk of this season being the Rangers last, there was a game against Not A Clue. These had replaced Eat My Goal who the Rangers had dispatched as part of their 4-game winning streak in the first half of the season.

It was all change again for the Rangers, as Pie, Shiz and Lifey returned to the Rangers team at the expense of Hedderz and his two ringers Chris and Phil. Belch, who is running (and walking) the Manchester 10k run on Sunday, decided to sit out and watch the game from the comfort of the sidelines along with regular number 1 fan Charlotte and Big Pete, who was still nursing his skipping injury. Jim took over the goalkeeper’s jersey, and Mini and Nev made up the other players.

The first half was tough battle – the Rangers regularly found themselves on the back foot and yet defended steadfastly. NAC were a good team, quite quick in both attack and defence, though not the most organised. Somehow the Rangers found themselves 2-0 up with goals from Mini and Lifey, before Pie took a ball to the face to send him reeling. While he subbed off to regain some of his composure, Rangers continued to attack when they could, Nev coming close to scoring his second in two games when Lifey slid him in, unfortunately he just delayed his shot a little to long and sent it the wrong side of the post. Pie returned to the action, and was immediately involved as a sharp one-two with Lifey left the Rangers number 5 with a chance to finish, which he took to register 11 goals for the season, and put the Rangers 3-0 up.

Despite the scoreline the Rangers weren’t having it all their own way. Shiz and Nev in particular were doing their usual brilliant defensive performances making last gasp tackles, and Jim was having a game even Belch would have been proud of. Some stunning saves denying the NAC players. As the first half wore on it was looking like Ranger would keep NAC at bay, until mistake from Jim let a fairly soft shot from a tight angle squirm between his legs. It was unfortunate for the Rangers keeper, however the Rangers hit back fairly quickly through Mini to restore the 3 goal lead.

4-1 to the Rangers at half-time mainly secured due to the heroic defending and goalkeeping. Would the second half follow the same pattern?

The answer is no! NAC found themselves a couple of extra gears and a hell of a lot of pace in the second half and proceeded to rip the Rangers apart. This, coupled with diminishing fitness levels, meant the Rangers were never really in the game in the second half. Lifey did notch his second and the Rangers fifth with a nice bit of footwork and good finish from a tight angle, but it was nothing more than a mere consolation.

Still the Rangers can look back on a good defensive performance in the first half, Jim played excellently in net and at times we played some good football. There was perhaps a reliance to play a more difficult pass at times, and the lack of the second sub perhaps hurt us too.

The future of the Rangers is still up for debate, but this season still has potential. A good performance next week against Cheadle could see things pick up again.

Don’t forget this Season’s Awards (and perhaps the last ever awards ceremony) on Friday 15th June. I am planning on having the meal at Frankie & Benny’s in Stockport, moving onto the Crown (I think its called) and the Railway for beverages after.

Final Score: Bramhall Rangers 5 Not A Clue 9
Goals: Mini (2), Lifey (2), Pie (1)

Should this season be the last for the Rangers?

Given that regulars Shiz and Belly will be either calling it a day or only playing the odd one next season, the heart of BRFC is truely diminishing.W

e have already lost Hedderz to one game a season and Rascle it seems has been forced into unofficial retirement. Mr T has also moved on to other hobbies.

With Shiz not playing next season we will more than likely lose the services of Grim and Stu, and late KO's (which will probably continue) will mean the likely hood of getting ringers like Jim difficult.

Should we commit to another season (14 weeks at £5 each) where we could well be struggling for a team with only Mini, Pie, Peter and Nev as regulars and the off chance of Lifey? Where will we get a regular keeper from and people to make up the numbers.

Next season is also summer so many people will miss weeks due to holidays etc (I will be away for at least 2 and you guys have Spain).

Would it not be more sensible to finish this season with as many regualrs as possible and then regroup, see if it looks like we can get teams each week and start again the seaosn after next if there is interest?

Make a decent shindig of this Rangers awards and have some overall awards?

I would hate to see the Rangers be flogged like a dead horse and only 2-3 of the regulars playing each week and missing game etc.What are your thoughts. I guess we have a month or so to decide.

Bramhall Rangers vs Indus Milan

The Rangers have been challenged to a game by Indus Milan. This is a group of Pie’s mates from Uni.

The game will take place on Saturday 2nd June, anticipated kick off time around 3pm or 4pm at Powerleague, to be confirmed.

Current Rangers team consists of Belch, Pie, Mini and Shiz.

The Indus Milan team currently confirmed is Flower, Adams, Sanghvi, Sharma and Newton.

Latest information suggests the game may well be filmed for the archives by filmmaker extraordinaire Rascle!

More information as we get it!

Bramhall Rangers 6 Torpedo Emissions 8

"That's how you do it!" - Mr Nev 10/05/07

A patch work Rangers team put in a decent performance in what was a close encounter. Pie was absent with the sniffles, Peter had suffered a pulled muscle in his ribs from skipping….yes skipping!, Shiz was attending a conference on line dancing and Rascle was continuing to single handidly run Sudexho by working from 4am right through to 11 pm without breaks. An absentee list as long as your leg, unless you are Heather McCartney!

Still, Hedderz made a rare appearance, running out for the first time since 12-6 win over Cheadle Utd when he bagged a goal. Fortunately, Hedderz was able to convince two ringers Paul and Chris to make their Rangers debuts. Belly as usual was in the stick, Nev and Mini the other regular Rangers. Peter was a willing cheerleader.

The game was close, and despite struggling to cope with the early pace, Paul and Chris settled well and proved able players. Torpedo Emissions were a decent side and IIRC fielded the same players as last time out. They were able to take the lead and seemed in control of the game with the Rangers struggling to find the target despite a lot of space for both sides. Belly was unlucky in that the ball deflected up off him and into the net. Rangers fell further behind but gave themselves a lifeline when Paul found himself free on the edge of the box and fired home through the keeper’s legs.

The game was quite stretched and although Rangers never looked totally in control there were some excellent passing moves including Hedderz and Chris, who linked up well but just failed to execute the killer pass or shot. Towards the end of the half Mini played a pass to Hedderz and (as usually happens at least once a season!) crumpled to the floor after turning on his right ankle. An odd crunch signalled that Mini would have to hobble off and it would remain to be seen whether he could return. Peter supplied some ice and after a rush of adrenaline and some off field jogs Mini deemed himself able to continue at about 75% capacity. Hoping to wait until half time before returning the needs of the team and a tired Hedderz saw Mini return for a cameo at the end of the half.

Great pressure in one of the corners forced a mix-up between defence and keeper leading to a penalty to the Rangers for infringement. Mini, being closest to the spot after just running on greedily took the ball for the pen. Despite being unsure of his right ankle and foot Mini despatched the penalty, as usual to the left as the keeper dived right. If any teams made notes this is where he always puts them!

At half time it was 4-2 or something similar. Nev was having a particularly good game both in defence and pushing forward. Belly also up to his usual standard was managing to keep the Emissions at bay (so to speak!) however, midway through the game managed to rip a couple of big holes in his child-like gloves. This didn’t seem to hamper his performance though.

The second half was an equally tight affair, and Torpedo were adept at passing the ball around without making to many inroads. Their possession football at the back and middle of the park was not hurting the Rangers but equally the Rangers were struggling to claw back the deficit as they could get hold of the ball for too long and when they did chances were squandered. Trying to push on for goals the Rangers were more exposed at the back so the lead widened slightly.
Torpedo were getting the luck of the draw and a speculative effort from distance took a massive deflection off Hedderz’s massive thighs and with Belly committed to his left the ball swirled and spun and dropped in Belly’s bottom right corner.

Going into the final push Rangers clawed their way back. It came from an unlikely source too, Nev pushing forward found himself able to fire off a shot from the far right side across the keeper and in off the post. It was a clinical finish. A cry of “that’s how you do it!” echoed around Powerleague and was the boost that the Rangers needed to spur them on.

Immediately after this, lady luck shined on Torpedo again. Pinball around the edge of Belly’s box and failed clearances put Rangers under pressure. Despite two smashing tackles from Nev and Hedderz the ball just wouldn’t be cleared. Belly was trying to maintain composure and advancing out of his goal the ball bounced up and struck Nev on the shin deflecting it goal wards. Again Belly was wrong footed, and despite what looked like a push on Nev to propel the ball, it slowly crossed the line and the goal was given.

Going in to the final 7 minutes or so, Mini was more of a hindrance than a help with his dodgy ankle so switched with Belly. This extra freshness proved a good input outfield. In the sticks Mini was beaten twice, once through the legs after coming out to meet the attacker and the other after diving to soon to prevent what should have been a regulation shot.

Just before this change Chris was on the receiving end of a powerful drive into his Johnson. An eye watering “oompffhhh!” was heard and he actually crawled off the pitch. After that brief stoppage and the change of keeper Rangers pushed on with nothing to lose. Hedderz managed to get his first of the game firing low though the keeper’s legs. After counting his meat and two veg Chris returned to the action, obviously fired up. He finished well after another crafted move and Torpedo were nervous as Rangers were staging a comeback.

The final memorable action of the game saw Chris sonically fouled right on the edge of the area after being through on the keeper about to shoot. What normally would have been a pointless free-kick was expertly dispatched with the outside of the right boot for Hedderz second of the game.

Unfortunately, this was the last action. Had the game gone on for five more minutes the Rangers may have salvaged something. In the end it was a heavily deflected goal and a disputed OG which was the difference between the two sides.

Our thanks to Chris and Paul for coming to our aid, and special mention to Nev for scoring his first of the season and drawing level with OG’s in the overall scoring charts now only one behind long term absentee Mr T.

Next week will be an interesting one. With belly, Shiz, Rascle and Hedderz committed to the Manchester 10km Rangers will only have Mini, Pie, Peter and Nev as regulars pending fitness tests. A call for Rangers ringers will have to be made.

Final score – Bramhall Rangers 6 Torpedo Emissions 8
Goals – Hedderz (2), Mini (1), Chris (1), Paul (1), Nev (1)

Bramhall Rangers 3 Puss In Boots 13

Just a short report this week, seeing as no-one else has been bothered!

We struggled to get out of second gear for this one, and PIB showed why they are running away with the league - good movement, quick passing and great communication. Hopefully we can learn something! PIB play twice a week and try to train at least once too, so perhaps its no surprise that they are fitter and better organised, and ok we might not match their preparations but we can give them a good (and better) run for their money, like we did way back in the first game of the season.

We were perhaps a little unlucky in that we were expecting the extra sub in Lifey, but in the end he couldn't get out of work and down to Powerleague in time, and one or two people were struggling playing without a rest (I note Piggy here, who for two games on the trot hasn't subbed off in the second half - think about it Pete, you generally seem to be running on empty 5 minutes into the game, so playing for the whole of the second half isn't doing yourself or the team any good).

This was also the first game this season in which we have conceded into double figures, before this 9 has been the maximum. I know it sounds obvious, but if we can keep the opposition scoring down to a minimum we can really do well this season.

I think it was just an off day for the Rangers. At least I hope it was. Earlier this season we played (and lost) to PIB (though took them close), then had a run of 4 wins which pushed us up to second. Hopefully another run can do the same for us again!

Final Score: Bramhall Rangers 3 Puss In Boots 13
Goals: Mini (2), Pie (1)