Rangers AFC have football league at their mercy

Rangers AFC have an almost unshakeable grip on the Nelson division one league football crown after downing last season’s bogey team, Richmond First XI, 2-0 at A&P Park on Saturday.

Only a bizarre set of final round results can deny Rangers the title for the third time in the past four years they have participated in the league. The Blenheim side leads the standings by six points from second-placed Nelson Suburbs under-23, who have been on their tail all season, with one game to play.

However, Suburbs have two more games to play meaning that if Rangers lose their final encounter, against the ever-improving Nelson FC side, and Suburbs win both their remaining fixtures the teams will become tied on points. However, then the title is decided by goal difference and here Rangers have a clear advantage, with a differential of +51 to Suburbs’ +10.

Although Rangers’ player-coach Tore Waechter said his side were not counting their chickens just yet, they had put themselves in a very strong position to repeat the victorious efforts of 2018 and 2020.

“If we win or draw next week the title is ours for sure,” the vastly-experienced midfielder/fullback said.

He is understandably thrilled with his side’s consistency.

“We have been at or near the top of the league for the past four seasons we have been in it, which is great for our club.”

Rangers went into Saturday’s encounter wary of the threat posed by Richmond, who had denied them the league title last season in a final round showdown at Renwick.

“We were gutted with that result last year and they are always a tough team to play”, said Tore, “so it felt really good this time around to beat them at home and pretty much secure the title at the same time.

“On Saturday it was one of those game when just hard graft got the job done. There were passages when we played our usual footy but they made it really hard for us … we even had to resort to longer balls to get forward, which is not our usual style of play at all.”

Rangers’ first goal came in the 35th minute from one of the sides’ finds of the year, young striker Louie Poletti.

“He has been amazing all season,” said Tore. “He busted his way through the defence, got to the by-line then beat a couple of defenders before slotting the ball in.”

Despite their narrow lead, Tore said the side were far from happy with their first half effort, having conceded a string of free kicks with sloppy defensive work and ill-discipline.

Fortunately, the seasoned back three of Tore, Jordy Columbus and Aaron Hayes were able to deal with the stream of high balls that were sent into the box.

In an occasionally heated second spell, which saw seven yellow cards dished out, Rangers generally held the upper hand and doubled their lead after 82 minutes. A Harrison Pine free kick from around 40m did the damage, finding second-half substitute Scott Belsham who scored with a glancing header.

The final eight minutes were nervy times for the home side, but they maintained their defensive composure to keep Richmond out of the game.

“We knew that we didn’t have our best game by a long shot but still managed to get the job done through hard work.

“We definitely didn’t want to go into next week’s game against a good Nelson FC side knowing we had to win at all costs.”

Tore said one of the strengths of the squad this year was the depth of talent.

“We had five subs on Saturday and every one of them could easily have played in the starting line-up … we have just got that consistency across the board. Being able to bring fresh legs on has given us a real edge late in so many of our games.”

He had high praise for the team’s work ethic and abilities, suggesting it was “the best team I have ever been involved with here in Marlborough, which is awesome”.

“They have just gelled so well as a team, not relied on individual brilliance.

“They have also been resilient, especially with COVID and injuries. Some weeks we have gone over to Nelson with just 12 players, but we just accepted it … we never default, just get it done really.”

And that is exactly what they will do next weekend, barring minor miracles of course, underlining the resolve and talent that has made Rangers AFC one of the province’s highest achieving teams of recent times.

The Rangers 2022 squad: Scott Belsham, Carl Connor-McClean, Tore Waechter (Coach), Jordy Columbus (Captain), Harrison Pine, Matthew Jones, Jack Morris, Kane Elvy, Boyd Elvy, Wolfie Waechter (bus driver), Sverre Waechter, Bjorn Waechter, Keagan Mortimer, Luc Sherwood, Aaron Hayes, Jack Sickelmore, Finn Hawes, Louie Poletti, Callum McDonald, Alex Duley, Guy Nolan, Sam Hickmott.

In local division one club play on Saturday, Call Care Trojans drew 3-3 with Central Wolves, while BV Masters beat Rangers Masters 3-2.

In division one pool B, Call Care Hotspurs downed Rangers Clubs of Marlborough 3-2, and Central Buccaneers won by default over Rangers Development.

In division two pool A Picton Young Guns overcame Call Care Spartans 5-3, while in Pool B Call Care Red downed Central Privateers 2-1.