Match Report
Match Report - 08 Aug 2009, St Francis Rangers FC 1st Team lost to Selsey
In their first match of the previous two seasons in the top division, Rangers had won away to Selsey (3-1 in 2007) and Chichester C.U. (2-0 in 2008). It would have been optimistic to expect three in a row after the surprise resignations at the end of season 2008-09 of manager Danny Bryan, asst. manager Paul Williams and coach Chris Jones together with the memory of the 5-1 defeat by Selsey in April.
New manager Roy Staughton and asst. manager Lee Saunders must have been delighted at the way Rangers started the game and when they took the lead on 14 minutes after a run by Chris Cook on the right enabled Russell Harris to slip his cross under the advancing keeper Rob Mclelland, the signs were looking good. On 20 minutes Sam Palmer was brought down on the edge of the Selsey box but the resulting free kick was headed over the bar by Harris to deny him a second goal.
After this however, the game took a different direction when, a minute later, Selsey’s No 10 Rob Wimble was allowed to break free on the right and his strong volley from the edge of the box gave Simon Lehkyj no chance as it dipped into the far left corner of his goal. Selsey took control and the dangerous right sided Ross Woolf broke through on 30 minutes but his shot hit the bar and rebounded to safety. 2 minutes later Selsey took the lead when their No 9 Gerard Joseph was allowed to turn in the box and his sliced shot hit the underside of the bar and into the net. On 35 minutes, Woolf crossed from the right again and Joseph launched his head to the ball and it whizzed into the net for his second goal before Lehkyj could move.
Rangers tried to get back into the game when Elliott Butler was put through, but a well timed tackle denied him of a clear run on goal. Soon after, Chris Cook had a good run but his 25 yard shot went just wide of Selsey’s left hand post. Early in the second half both Sam Palmer and Chris Maynard had on target shots respectively blocked and saved by Mclelland. Palmer then appeared to be fouled in the box but the referee waved play-on and Rangers rarely threatened much after this particularly when they lost Sam Palmer through injury on 63 minutes.
On 71 minutes, the Woolf/Joseph combination nearly brought a 4th goal for Selsey but the No. 9 headed just over the bar. 4 minutes later, Woolf, who looked suspiciously offside, broke free on the right and produced a similar goal to Wimble’s with a strong cross shot which dipped into the top left hand corner of Lehkyj’s goal, again giving the keeper no chance.
Rangers boss Roy Staughton thought that the referee’s decision not to give a penalty for the tackle on Sam Palmer had a significant bearing on the game but thought there was not much difference between the two sides and complimented Selsey on their clinical finishing. Ranger’s next opponents on Wednesday 12th August (East Grinstead Town) were beaten 7-1 at Chichester C.U.on Saturday, giving Rangers a chance of gaining a positive result in their next game.
RANGERS: Simon Lehkyj, Tom Djamaluddin, Mike Boutle, Elliott Butler, Ben Palmer, Matt Carruthers, Chris Cook, Phil Gault, Sam Palmer, Russell Harris, Chris Maynard. SUBS: Russell Turpin (Boutle 85), Jamie Weston (S Palmer 63), Geoff Pitcher (Maynard 73), Unused Andy Brown & James Baker.
Selsey 4 - 1 St Francis Rangers FC 1st Team