When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right?
When life gives you a no-show for a referee, what do you do? Well, if you're Rangers and replay opponent No Subs, you report his absentee ass to the league, demand a replay for later in the season, and have a friendly non-league scrimmage...and that's just what happened June 11th at the Montessori Earth School. Determined not to let a fine evening go to waste, the two clubs waited around for fifteen minutes after the scheduled 7:00 kick-off before putting the ball into play. While the general feel and tempo of the match was distinctly different without the oversight of an official--one participant declared it was "... kind of like kissing your sister"--the mood was generally upbeat and the play fair. No Subs went up around the thirty-fifth minute on a shot from just inside the top of the box, but James McConnachie equalized at the hour mark off a cross from Malvern Ntini (I think). 'Gers claimed the lead later on when Mark Vogel and Aaron Radigan scrapped a goal from the keeper's clutches, but No Subs tied it back up. A third No Subs goal was disallowed by their own side due to offsides, which was hotly debated amongst the opposition.
Dan Calkins took the keeper's gloves for the second half, allowing Steve Berg to play out in the field for the first time in many seasons. A first half clip in the box could have allowed 'Gers to take a spot shot (but we declined) and a tackle on Radigan in the second half that was all player and no ball earned us a second trip to the charity spot. The No Subs keeper correctly guessed Matt Muralt's strike and made a sprawling save.
Whatever. Ultimately the score doesn't matter. When it was all over--with time being kept by Becki Ingersoll and communicated to the match participants via the Ingersoll family's Ford Escape car alarm--the teams shook hands in fine spirits. As one No Subs player commented, "That was the best friendly we've ever had."
Stay tuned to the website for information about the re-replay.
Cheers!
Sean-Scott Ingersoll
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