Rangers AFC at the double

Rangers AFC came through a stern test of their fitness levels and resilience with flying colours at the weekend.

On Saturday they travelled over the hill to Nelson, taking on Richmond Athletic in a Nelson division one clash, then, on Sunday, they hosted another Nelson side, Wakefield FC, in a round two Chatham Cup fixture at A&P Park.

They won both fixtures, downing Richmond 4-0 and easing past Wakefield 7-1.

The Blenheim-based side were below full strength, with Guy Nolan, Bjorn Waechter, Jono Masters and Boyd Elvy ruled out of both games.Longtime defender Aaron Hayes was called up with Shiv Chandra taking a place on the bench.

Rangers applied the early pressure, creating multiple scoring opportunities, only to be denied by the hard-working Richmond defence and keeper.

The deadlock was broken after 30 minutes, Keagan Mortimer quicker to the ball then the keeper, then five minutes later Jack Morris made it 2-0, finishing a nice combination with Sverre Waechter.

Rangers tried to put the game to bed early in the second half but were forced to wait until the 75-minute mark for their third. Mortimer latched on to another through ball, rounding the last defender before slotting home from an acute angle.

In the 85th minute Rangers were awarded a free kick 30m from goal, Marcelo Gonzales putting a pinpoint cross to the far post where Tore Waechter headed in.

Sverre Waechter won the man of the match award ahead of the hard-working Gonzales brothers (Marcelo and Pablo) Tore Waechter, Hayes, Morris, Kane Elvy and Elijah O’Donnell.

Sunday’s match posed a different set of problems.

Although Wakefield were a Nelson division two side, they had tipped over Richmond in the preliminary cup round and were not to be taken lightly.

Although Rangers made a strong start, lively winger Kane Elvy scoring their first after 10 minutes, Wakefield replied soon after through a clever back heel from Emilio Antunez, putting the local side and their supporters on notice that sloppy defence would be punished.

However, this setback seemed to galvanise Rangers and by halftime they had added five more goals, including well-struck penalty kicks by Gonzalez and Sverre Waechter, to take firm control.

Elvy got his third and Rangers’ seventh soon after oranges, prompting their management to ring the changes, eventually introducing all five substitutes.

Consequently, the match lost some shape and although Rangers were by far the dominant outfit, their decisive passes were often more hopeful than precise.

The whole Rangers crew put in a big shift. Morris worked tirelessly, Marcelo Gonzalez ruled midfield, Jordy Columbus was his usual composed self at the back, alongside Callum McDonald, while Mortimer and Pearson chased hard up front.

Player/coach Tore Waechter said his side were well up for the challenge of two games in succession.

“We were definitely looking forward to it .. it doesn’t get too much better than that, playing two games of footy in the weekend. We thought we could get the job done and we did.

“We were forced to battle hard on Saturday, there was no thinking about Wakefield, we are going full tilt and everybody did, it was a great game.

“Today we knew Wakefield would bring a physical approach, so we just tried to keep the ball away from them and we did that well in the first half.”

In the Marlborough division one competition, Central Buccaneers downed Rangers Reserves 2-1 while Trojans Los Andes beat Rangers Colts 6-0, Tomas Lupani scoring four goals.

In division two, Rangers City drew 1-1 with Renwick, Trojans Spartans downed Rangers Masters 4-2, BV Masters overcame Trojans Angels 7-3, Central Wolves eased past Trojans Strikers 4-1 while Picton Crow Tavern beat Central Privateers 4-0.