Plains Rangers men finished their regular league in good form, with the top four split about to start. Rangers were at home to Katikati, who they had frustratingly lost to in the first round.
The home team got off to a flying start. After five minutes Ryan Elliot got on the end of a corner and steered the ball calmly into the net. Rangers almost doubled the score ten minutes later when Ollie Fort put in a well weighted cross, but the keeper pulled off an outstanding save with his legs to save Elliot's shot. Rangers then lost a bit of shape as the players pushed forward to try and extend the lead, and ended up rushing their play. At half time the score was 1 – 0.
Joseph Spalding was introduced into the midfield after the break and it paid immediate dividends. He drove at the Katikati defence, fed Hamish Wilde, who laid it off to Fort who scored with a nice touch. Rangers were now playing better football and the chances flowed. Another good pass from Wilde saw Ben McPherson put his shot just wide. Fort set up Alex Boyce, but he couldn't keep his shot down. Wilde went on a good dribbling run and brought an excellent save from the Katikati keeper. Thirty minutes into the half, Wilde passed to Spalding outside the box and invited him to shoot. Spalding's low shot flew in from 20 metres. Reimana Robinson pushed up from fullback to have a decent shot saved. With a few minutes left, Rangers nabbed their fourth. Kobi Wetting sent a corner across and Sam McPherson, up from centre-back, stuck it in the net. The final score: Plains Rangers 4, Katikati 0.
Rangers would be well pleased with the result, but will know that the remaining games in the split league will be tougher. The defence had a good day, combining well together and keeping a clean sheet. Anaaru Awhimate had a strong game, winning his challenges and feeding the ball forward well. Player of the day Kobi Wetting was one of the rotating group of attackers, who all made good impacts in their turns on the pitch.

It was a tough outing for the Plains Rangers Women on Sunday as they faced a strong Lakes FC side at Edgecumbe Domain. Despite the final scoreline, the heart and resilience shown by Rangers was nothing short of inspirational. The highlight of the day came in the 26th minute when Danielle Haldane let fly with an absolute peach of a shot, rocketing it into the back of the net. That goal alone made the sideline erupt!
From there it was a real battle. Jenna Hines was a superstar in goal, throwing herself around like a cat with nine lives, Sarah Wigzell was solid at the back, putting her body on the line time and again. Olivia Rossouw, despite being VERY worse for wear from the night before, ran her heart out and nabbed player of the day. That's commitment! Unfortunately, it was a bruising kind of match: two of our girls ended up heading off to hospital with ankle injuries. And just when we thought we'd made it through, poor Jenna picked up an elbow injury right at the end, forcing the game to be called. The final score: Plains Rangers women 1, Lakes FC 9.
This was a match that tested us, but it also showed our fight, our commitment, and the way we look out for one another. There's so much heart in this team, and that's something no scoreline can take away. Big hearts, big effort, and big love for each other that's what Plains Rangers are all about. Bring on the next one!

Thanks very much Dani Howard for the women's report.

Back to News