One of the jobs of a club manager is to send out email reminders to the squad prior to the match. Normally, these are straightforward messages with the correct time, date and field location. There is often a reminder/plea to let the manager know if you will be unable to play. Prior to the July 11 rematch against the division champions Rose & Thistle, the English team that drubbed us back in May, manager Sean Ingersoll wanted to take the email reminder up a notch to properly motivate the team. Please note the original email has been edited for family-friendly viewing on the website:
Now a season ender against a formidible opponent like the English merits some sort of call-to-arms...some really rousing charge to get us pumped. Here's what I got...
I may love Manchester United more than most of the members of my extended family...
And I may think that Kate Beckinsale and Keira Knightley are two of the hottest women on the planet...
And I may even dip my French fries into mayonnaise, not catsup, like they do in England...
...but for ninety minutes this Wednesday, these particular [antagonistic nationalist characterization that rhymes with "slimy"] [expletive deleted, kind of rhymes with "mustards", but not really] can kiss my Ranger [expletive deleted, rhymes with "brass"]!
CAN I GET A "HELL YEAH?!"
Oh, Seanny got his "Hell, Yeah!" all right. In temperatures in the low 90s and humidity that felt almost as high at Delta Park #2, the Rangers closed out their Spring '07 campaign with a rousing, spirited performance and almost pulled off the impossible tie. We didn't get beaten; Rose & Thistle simply scored one more goal.
Our full complement of eighteen players took to the field with a cheering section that included injured Kyle Gunsul, his dog, occasional on-loan player and friend of FC77 Dan Calkins, vocal supporter Toby Holstein, and the entire Radigan family (including Junior Ranger Sydney, Almost A Junior Ranger Joel, and--for the first time ever--Rangerette wife Shannon). We even had a shaded canopy tent I will christen "The Citadel" (mostly because that sounds really cool.) Unfortunately, Rose scored about five minutes after the kick-off and the situation appeared grim. Not to be outdone, the Rangers answered with a left side blitz that allowed Ron King, nursing a back injury, to beat the keeper near side to equalize. Play continued with Rose getting a lot of passing sequences through the middle and they got two more goals to appear to put the match out of reach. As has been the case all season, the Rangers never gave up. Another far side series saw the ball get crossed back across the top of the English goal box and land at Mark Vogel's feet...who lobbed an achingly beautiful shot over the keeper and into the net. 'Gers went into half time only a goal down and filled with enthusiasm.
The second half saw our side get a few corner kicks and decent ball movement along the outside. Rose & Thistle was given a penalty kick for a lame-[expletive deleted, rhymes with "pass"] box flop that should cause the striker eternal shame. Keeper Steve Aarnio guessed the right direction on the spot shot, but it was just outside his reach. Down 4-2, the Rangers really began to scrap and fight for every ball--in the air, tackling on the ground, and along the sidelines. When Darin Creason punched in a rolling cross (off Dan Holstein's corner, I believe) to make it 4-3, the assembled crowd went wild. Rose got another cheeky goal--stupid counterattack--but Malvern Ntini dribbled around the left fullback and punked the keeper for a fourth goal with six minutes to play; Brian Bauman followed the shot in to make sure it counted. The English were stunned. The last six minutes was an exciting back and forth display and it was a heartbreaker not to find that fifth goal, but the Rangers more than avenged the 0-5 and 1-10 smackdowns we've endured from these guys over the last year.
A 2-6-2 record is a huge improvement over the past four seasons and while the squad has every reason to be proud of our efforts, the win-loss-tie stats don't tell the whole story. The fact is, we have a great team. Nobody is a jerk, we have fun, we scored more than a few goals, and our uniforms rock. Our club has our own pitch now, so hopefully we can avoid Lents Park-related traumas to our bodies. More wins will undoubtedly come with time and experience. So until the Fall campaign, thanks for playing (and paying your fees on time), recover from any nagging injuries or surgeries you have had/will have, and take care of yourselves. Everybody expressed an interest in returning and I have no doubt our squad is going to be [expletive deleted, rhymes with "fighting and ducking", but not the "fighting and" part] awesome sometime in the near future.
Cheers, gentlemen.
Sean Ingersoll
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