Match Report
Match Report - 04 Oct 2011, St Francis Rangers FC 1st Team lost to Bexhill
Rangers were dumped out of the 2nd cup competition to lower opposition for the 2nd time in 4 days. That's now 8 consecutive defeats.
Delayed kit arrival meant poor preparation and a slow start for Rangers. On an awful bobbly pitch Rangers took a while to adjust with a strong wind in their faces making it doubly hard.
A very direct Bexhill side had the best chance of the opening period when they headed against the bar from a right wing corner. Rangers gradually got their passing game going and finally put the home side under some pressure. Multini looked a threat down the left and linked well with the returned Shane Collins. It was from Multini's excellent shot that saw the home keeper make an excellent save, tipping the ball onto the bar. From the resulting corner he had another effort saved and the follow up blocked.
Cooper was at the heart of everything good about Rangers going forward but once again their final passed lacked quality. Both Mitchell and Pople had chances but failed to really test the keeper. Bexhill relied on long punts forward and set pieces as their main threat.
Half time 0-0 and a fair reflection overall.
Rangers upped the tempo for 15 minutes and with the strong wind at their back should have turned their second half territory and possession dominance into a goal. On the hour the young replacement keeper came storming out of his goal and clearly brought down Mitchell. The referee waved play on much to the visitors dis belief. The decision was hotly disputed by Rangers as Assistant Manager Saunders was sent to the stands as his frustration boiled over, another example of letting the team down.
Minutes after making a double substitution Rangers were behind. They failed to stop a simple throw down the left hand side, the ball was whipped in and spilt by Burdock at the far post and Bexhill put the ball into an empty net.
Having gone behind midway through the second half Rangers pulled level through Aaron Walsh penalty, given harshly for hand ball. Rangers continued to dominate and it looked like a routine win would be on the cards. However with a couple of players coming back from injury Rangers found themselves having used all 3 subs and O Farrell not able to finish the game in defence through exhaustion, whilst Daley Clark also suffered from tiredness after 4 weeks out. In hindsight it was the decision to make 3 early subs that cost the team: the final 15 minutes were totally dis jointed with players all over the shop. With extra time looming Rangers had to push on to try and win in normal time but they conceded twice in stoppage time.
Dejevu from Saturdays performance and Rangers may feel agrieved once again but a similar story of not turning possession into goals cost them dear.
Team: Burdock, Akehurst, Walsh, O Farrell, Collins (72 mins Dodd), Cooper, Clark, Multini, Brown, Mitchel (65 mins Arnoux), Pople (65 mins Flomo)
Goals: Walsh 70 mins
Yellow: Multini & Arnoux
Bexhill 3 - 1 St Francis Rangers FC 1st Team