THIS IS HOW IT ALL ENDS
On a cold, wet, dark afternoon that was miserable enough to keep all the would-be Junior Rangers and family back at home, the Yellow and Black clawed their way to a season finale victory against FC Banfield and finished with their best record in many years. The Montessori Earth School pitch was perhaps better suited for a monster truck rally—most of the striping was washed away and the field of play was barely defined by the corner flags and a pair of orange buckets that marked the center of the field, but despite the wretched November weather and the quickly approaching darkness, ‘Gers made their own luck and claimed their third victory of the season. Some might say that a 3-6-1 record isn’t that impressive. Those people would be ass-monkeys. [Kids, be sure to get your parent’s permission before reading the Ranger’s Match Summaries!] Ten points from a tough campaign is another step forward for a team that didn’t win any matches a year ago (OK, we did win one by forfeit, but…) and indicates steady improvement for the Over-30, Third Division team.
As with all of our matches, it wasn’t easy. Seventeen players braved the elements and every single player contributed to the victory in another shortened match. Despite Ranger’s good early passing and control, Banfield’s Division 2 “ringer” player broke through the back line against the run of play and put the opposition up approximately ten minutes into the match. A response was forthcoming as both Malvern Ntini and James McConnachie had shots just miss the target in the following minutes. ‘Gers finally answered with a truly spectacular effort approximately eight minutes later when McConnachie and Ntini, working a series of quick passes to stymie Banfield’s trap, got the ball out to the far right corner. McConnachie arched a beautiful cross to the far post and Ron King answered with a thundering header into the upper corner to equalize. King’s first goal of the season proved to be a much-needed proverbial adrenaline shot to FC77’s heart and rallied the squad for a stellar fifteen minutes of football. Around the 25th minute, ‘Gers capitalized on a corner kick and Ntini slammed home the go-ahead goal after a brief scramble in the box. Matt Muralt, one of the central midfield workhorses all season long, put Rangers up 3-1 with an expertly timed run through Banfield’s fullbacks. Thinking they had caught him with offsides, the defenders stopped pursuit, only to have referee Ken Koopmans allow play to continue. Muralt noticed the keeper was way off his line and audaciously chipped him…from about 35-40 yards out. You could almost hear the incoming whistle as the bomb loped over his head and dropped into the net. Truly, it was an awesome strike. With approximately ninety seconds to play in the half, the Banfield ringer picked up his hat trick with a cutting run at the top of the box that allowed him to score far side and then, a minute later, with the finish on a Route One link-up at the whistle.
Tied at 3-3 and with halftime reduced to about two minutes in order to maximize the length of the second half, Rangers dug in and fought their way to victory. The match turned chippy from the second half whistle. Aaron Radigan exchanged forearms with a Banfield player who took exception to his perfectly legal tackles. Brian Bauman violently upended more than one striker who tried to dribble through him and Mike Pullen and Jay Abramowitz also took on multiple attacks by going to ground, usually to the visitor’s chorus of “Referee!” Finally, around the hour mark, ‘Gers made that little bit of luck that the footballing gods had not given them all season long. Instead of playing our trademark long ball counter, the team worked a pair of beautiful near side midfield links. The first, from Ron Burden to Matt Muralt, back to Burden and then to King, just needed a clean finish to score. The second series (the exact sequence escapes me), skittered the ball across the goal mouth and McConnachie did what he has done so often this season…he found the net. His team-high seventh strike was coolly slotted past the keeper as the defense failed to cover his run. The sideline roared with approval. The last fifteen minutes, as play literally faded to black, became outright hostile—harsh tackles from behind, shoves in the box on set plays, a kick to the head and eventually a yellow card for Banfield. Rangers gave as good as they got and the final whistle was greeted with determined enthusiasm. In the glow of the SE 148th street lights, ‘Gers celebrated the effort and the season with malted beverages provided by former Ranger Attila Szlovak and Mike Pullen’s home brew.
In many ways, the win exemplified the spirit and character of the team as a whole. We scrap. We hustle. We yell at each other and we look for the sexy football when we can. We occasionally score some pretty awesome goals. We still don’t have any jerks on the squad and although we were desperately unlucky on some occasions—you know what I’m talking about—we work with what we’ve got and usually leave the pitch with our heads held high.< /p>
Oh, and if you piss us off, we will make you pay. [Kids, what did I say earlier?!]
Rangers, best wishes for a safe holiday season and a happy new year. The Spring 2008 season will start in late March or early April, so stay healthy until then. I look forward to seeing you all back at the Montessori School next year.
FALL 2007 GOAL SCORERS*
James McConnachie: 7
Malvern Ntini: 4
Aaron Radigan: 3
Sean-Scott Ingersoll: 2
Brain Bauman: 1
Thomas Fahrbach: 1
Ron King: 1
Matt Muralt: 1
Jim Snyder: 1
Total Goals Scored, Fall 2007: 21
Total Goals Scored, Spring 2007: 18
Total Goals Scored, Fall 2006: 9
PREVIOUS RANGERS SEASON RECORDS */**
FALL 2007: 3 – 6 – 1 (10 POINTS)
SPRING 2007: 2 – 6 – 2 (8 POINTS)
FALL 2006: 1 – 8 – 1 (4 POINTS)
SPRING 2006: 1 – 8 – 1 (4 POINTS)
FALL 2005: 0 – 10 - 0 (0 POINTS)
* -- Statistics not official, but I think they are pretty accurate. My recollection of Spring 2006 is pretty hazy, but I think we beat a nine man Code Blue team and tied the Azzuri. Let me know if you remember it differently.
** -- Do you see a pattern here? We are improving every season.
Sean Ingersoll
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