Gary Fowell Builders Plains Rangers

April 9 v TCU

Gary Fowell Builders Plains Rangers continued their good start to the season in BOP division one on Saturday. Rangers were at home to Tauranga City United, and started out playing some excellent football.
Rangers worked the ball patiently through the midfield and kept the visitors on the back foot. Some good switches of play brought wingers Cameron Wills and Ben McPherson into the game, but defiant Tauranga defence and some good goalkeeping kept Rangers out. Richie Nillesen opened some gaps through the middle too, but again the defence stood firm. Rangers came very close when a powerful freekick from Hayden Marrow was tipped onto the crossbar by the Tauranga keeper. At the other end, Rangers defence, and keeper Christian Wetting were dealing comfortably with keeping the visitors quiet. The score was nil all at half time.
Early in the second half Rangers got the break through they deserved. A James Krause shot was blocked by a defender, but Scott Marrow was on hand to put it away. The goal seemed to rouse the visitors up. They launched a number of aerial attacks, with some tall strikers to aim at. Centre defenders Hayden Marrow and Jeremy Hawkes had to work hard dealing with it. Rangers didn't manage to control as much possession as they were capable of, and so kept their supporters on tenterhooks until the final whistle. The final score Plains Rangers 1, Tauranga City 0.
This was a valuable win for the Rangers team, and sees them sitting up near the top of the table. Hayden Marrow earned player of the day with a strong showing in defence. He and brother Scott will be missed as they return to Christchurch this week.
This Saturday Rangers travel to play Old Blues.


The Gary Fowell Builders Plains Rangers women's team had their first home game. Tauranga City were also their visitors. In the first half Rangers dealt fairly well with the considerable pressure they were put under, but later in the second half Tauranga ran away with the game. Esther Geerlings did some sterling work in the defence, and Maria Puutu's sound work earned her player of the day. Kayla Benner and Stacey Hema also did well for Rangers.
This coming Sunday Rangers women travel to play Rotorua United.