On Saturday Plains Rangers men were back in action, on the back of a bye week and hoping to bounce back from a big loss in their last game.
Rangers were at home to bottom placed Te Puke and were confident. However, their visitors hadn't read the script and gave the home team an early shock. After five minutes they pounced on a misplaced pass in the midfield and fired in a fine strike from outside the box to take the lead. Rangers were stung into action. Livewire striker Ollie Fort won the ball off the Te Puke defence and passed to the overlapping Ryan Elliot, who scored with a calm finish to even the game up. The two teams battled away for the upper hand, with Rangers passing the ball around nicely at times. Ronan Mitchell put in a decent shift as a target man up front. Ten minutes before half time, Elliot got through in front of the Te Puke goal and was brought down as he was about to shoot. Referee Michel Nillesen pointed to the spot. Fort stepped up to take the penalty and beat the keeper confidently. At half time Rangers led 2 – 1.
The visitors stepped up their attacks after the break, using the speed of their striker as the main weapon. Ten minutes into the half, it almost paid off. The striker got a clean run through on goal, leaving defenders in his wake. However, keeper Kobi Wetting timed his run out from goal to perfection and pulled off an outstanding one-on-one save to keep his team ahead. Both teams traded attacks, but Rangers defence worked well to snuff out the Te Puke attempts. Midway through the half, Fort took on the defence with a dribbling run. His shot was parried but he buried the rebound in the net. Rangers had a couple of very good chances late in the game, with Joseph Spalding making a strong impact when he subbed on, but couldn't extend the lead. The final score: Plains Rangers men 3, Te Puke 1.
Ryan Elliot was named player of the day, with Ollie Fort also in impressive form.
This coming Saturday Rangers are back in Miller Cup action, and are away to fellow high-flying division two outfit, Ngongotaha. It will be an intriguing encounter.
On Sunday, Rangers women travelled to play Papamoa Icons.
Rangers took the pitch with fires in their bellies and their heads high. The first twenty minutes of the game was dominated by Rangers, putting on an absolute clinic of great football, creating multiple chances at goal, and living in the opposition's half. Papamoa Icons found some luck 24 minutes into the first half. A well-cleared ball from the Icons' defence turned into a through ball for their striker, who managed to sneak it past Rangers' keeper Jenna Hines.
Half time came and Rangers were 1-0 down, but the ladies kept their heads high and stayed focussed on the goal of playing good football. The Rangers continued with some very clinical play amongst the whole team and held the Icons out well, until another through ball in the 63rd minute saw the Rangers' keeper having a second one-on-one to deal with, which led to another goal to the home team. Rangers hit the reset button and stuck to their guns of playing well amongst themselves, which paid off around the 80th minute. Some great build-up play from the defenders right through the midfield led to striker Gemma Stuckey, having enough time and space to line up a beautiful shot which found the back of the Papamoa net. Rangers continued to hound the opposition, eager to level the scores. However, in the final minute, Papamoa found themselves in front of goal again and managed to score, earning a 3 – 1 win.
It was a fiercely contested game from both teams and great to watch from the sidelines. Rangers' player of the day was Abby Wilkinson. This weekend, sadly, Rangers women have no game scheduled.

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