Match Report
Match Report - 16 Aug 2008, St Francis Rangers FC 1st Team beat Oakwood
With 3 points in the bag and a clean sheet on the opening day of the season, Rangers boss Dan Bryan only had one thought on his mind and that was another solid performance and 3 points. He made one change from the previous weeks line up and that was to bring in Phil Gault after returning from holiday and to therefore re-create his partnership with Sam Jeremiah, which delivered 58 goals in the 2005/6 season. The decision paid off, as both were on the score sheet in a comfortable 4-0 win against an Oakwood side that huffed and puffed but lacked any real quality in the final 3rd.
Jeremiah got on the end of a Chris Maynard cross in the first 20 seconds but saw his header go just over. At the other end Jack McNab wasted a free header from a free kick as he watched the ball sail wide of Simon Lehkyj’s goal. The next 10 minutes belonged to Rangers with Iain Wood and Terry Gacias dominating the match. On 14 minutes Rangers got the break through after some great work by Phil Gault and Geoff Pitcher. Pitcher slotted Jeremiah through on goal only to see his low drive saved by Oakwood keeper. Fortunately the ball fell kindly to Pitcher and he made his 18-yard low drive look easy as he buried it passed two defenders on the line. Within 3 minutes it was 2-0 after Maynard put Jeremiah through with a wonderful pass. Jeremiah casually rounded the keeper and tapped home. Jack McNab really should have got Oakwood back in the game on 20 minutes when he out muscled Ranger skipper Dan O’Farrell and then fired wide. Phil Gault went in the book on 35 minutes for remonstrating at the ref after being up ended and in fairness to the ref, he was very consistent for 90 minutes in dealing with this as 2 Oakwood players had already found out. On 40 minutes Rangers should have wrapped the match up when Sam Jeremiah chipped in a beautiful cross, which somehow Pitcher failed to get on the end of. He almost made amends immediately when he volleyed an attempt on the Oakwood goal from 35 yards only to see it shave the up right. The half ended with a long punt down field from Lehkyj which Phil Gault managed to get on the end of only to see his delicate chip just go wide.
The 2nd half saw Rangers destroy Oakwood on every attack and the 4-0 score really could have been a lot more had Gault and Jeremiah made more of decent chances. The 3rd goal came 7 minutes into the 2nd half and it was the goal of the match. At least 6 Rangers players were involved in the build up which ended with Elliott Butler feeding Pitcher down the wing and his teasing cross was buried at the back post by Jeremiah. Gault then had 2 one on one’s which he failed to convert before being up ended in the box only to see the ref wave play on. Both Rangers full backs, Butler and Leppard were getting plenty of the ball and the flow of attacks kept on coming and on 70 minutes Jeremiah thought he had got his hat-trick only to see the keeper push his shot on to the post. With 15 to go and the game all but won, Bryan replaced Maynard with Jake Forward and not long after Sam Palmer replaced Jeremiah. Terry Gacias volleyed wide after a great run and cross by Butler and then Butler himself found himself in a great scoring position only to get the ball stuck under his feet. With 10 to go Rangers made their final sub giving Danny Geard his 1st team debut when he replaced O’Farrell in the heart of Rangers defence which paired him up with the once again impressive Ben Palmer. With 3 minutes to go, Phil Gault got the goal his performance deserved when he turned in MOM Iain Wood’s drive, which came back off the post. Gault then limped off after a heavy challenge immediately from the re-start leaving Rangers down to 10 men for the last few minutes.
Rangers Boss Dan Bryan said, “I can’t really ask for more than that. We were fantastic going forward and gave Oakwood problems with every attack. There were some really big performances today from young players that are starting to mature at this level. It was also great to see Phil back and he instantly had an understanding with Sammy J. On the whole another 3 points, 4 goals and a clean sheet.”
Rangers: Lehkyj, Leppard, Butler, B.Palmer, O’Farrell, Gacias, Wood, Pitcher, Jeremiah, Gault, Maynard. Subs: Forward (Maynard 75). S.Palmer (Jeremiah 78), Geard (O’Farrell 80), Slade and Djamaluddin unused.
MOM: Iain Wood – the whole team played some really good stuff and there were numerous candidates, however Iain Wood was absolutely everywhere and at the heart of everything Rangers did.
Oakwood 0 - 4 St Francis Rangers FC 1st Team
| 1 |
Simon Lehkyj
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| 2 |
Luke Leppard
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Elliott Butler
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Ben Palmer
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Dan O'Farrell
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| 6 |
Terry Gacias
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| 7 |
Iain Wood
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| 8 |
Geoff Pitcher
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1 |
14 - Pitcher put Jeremiah through on goal and his first time shot was well stopped by the advancing Keeper. Pitcher was on hand to drill home the rebound from just inside the box to put Rangers 1 up. |
| 9 |
Sam Jeremiah
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17 - After some great work by MOM Iain Wood, he found Chris Maynard who turned his marker before slotting Jeremiah through on goal and made no mistake rounding the keeper and tapping home. 52 - A slick passing movement from back to front end with a wonderful strike by Jeremiah for his 2nd. Elliott Butler put Pitcher away down the flank and his inch perfect cross was buried by Jeremiah at the back post. |
| 10 |
Phil Gault
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87 - The impressive Phil Gault got the goal his all round performance deserved. After Iain Wood saw his shot come back off the post, Gault casually turned in the box to slot home and complete the scoring and seal a great 4-0 win on the road. |
| 11 |
Chris Maynard
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| 12 |
Jake Forward
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Sam Palmer
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| 14 |
Danny Geard
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