Chris Mauger (No. 7) scores Saints’ second goal last night at Blanche Pierre Lane, but it was not enough to keep them in the Stranger Cup. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0864235)
DOES anybody know what the odds were for Division One’s bottom four teams to be in the semi-finals of the Stranger Cup?
They were bound to be as long as finding Elvis sat astride a B52 on the north pole of the moon.
But there we have it as Rangers joined Rovers, Sylvans and Athletics in the semi-finals stage of one of the island’s biggest cup competitions after they deservedly defeated St Martins under the bright lights of Blanche Pierre Lane last night.
The win went with their 2-2 draw with the mighty North in the league on Saturday.
The red-and-blacks captain and centre half Sam Stables, who was outstanding in their victory, is now eying up some silverware.
‘We’ve had two amazing results on the bounce – it was unbelievable,’ he said afterwards.
‘We’re delighted and we thoroughly deserved it. We fancy our chances. We do owe Rovers and Sylvans one and we’ve not played Tics yet.
‘We fancy any of them. Bring it on…’
In a second bet, would anybody have had money on Rangers beating a near full strength St Martin’s, who were only missing Dom Heaume, 4-2?
But Rangers did have Ross Allen and he was at his very best.
It was a cracking match and the only disappointing thing was that there were only a handful of people watching it.
Allen put the visitors ahead on 15 minutes of play when Ollie Dowding put him through and he smacked the ball home from just inside the area.
Three minutes later, the island striker made it 2-0 with a scintillating 25-yard strike that was nearly a carbon copy of his first goal.
Saints were shell shocked and their cause was not helped when on the half-hour mark, full back Sam Rowe tried to clear the ball with the outside of his foot but only managed to screw it into his own net.
This eventually stirred the home side from their slumber and they hit back through centre forward Marc McGrath five minutes later as he composed himself before hitting the ball past Rangers keeper Adam Gontier.
Soon afterwards it was 3-2 when winger Chris Mauger was on hand at the back post with a tap in from a Luke Winch cross.
Saints’ ascendancy was further boosted when Matt Warren came on at half-time.
For some reason he arrived late and the error-prone Rowe had to make made way for the midfield general.
But, try as they might, Saints could not find a way past Gontier, who was having a great game.
In the other goal, Ollie Newey was having a game he would rather forget and when he almost set up Allen from a terrible clearance kick with 20 minutes to go, it signalled the end of Saints’ purple patch.
A few minutes later, Simon Geall brought down Shane Billien on the edge of the area when Allen’s strike partner was clear through.
After receiving treatment due to the defender injuring himself in the process, he was rightly shown a red card for his troubles by referee Brent Blondel.
And Allen wrapped up his hat-trick in a sensational manner as he absolutely lashed the free kick into the top corner.
If he keeps up this sort of form, not only put money on Rangers to win the Stranger but the league as well.DOES anybody know what the odds were for Division One’s bottom four teams to be in the semi-finals of the Stranger Cup?
They were bound to be as long as finding Elvis sat astride a B52 on the north pole of the moon.
But there we have it as Rangers joined Rovers, Sylvans and Athletics in the semi-finals stage of one of the island’s biggest cup competitions after they deservedly defeated St Martins under the bright lights of Blanche Pierre Lane last night.
The win went with their 2-2 draw with the mighty North in the league on Saturday.
The red-and-blacks captain and centre half Sam Stables, who was outstanding in their victory, is now eying up some silverware.
‘We’ve had two amazing results on the bounce – it was unbelievable,’ he said afterwards.
‘We’re delighted and we thoroughly deserved it.
‘We do fancy our chances. We do owe Rovers and Sylvans one and we’ve not played Tics yet.
‘We fancy any of them. Bring it on.’
In a second bet, would anybody have had money on Rangers beating a near full strength St Martin’s, who were only missing Dom Heaume, 4-2?
But Rangers did have Ross Allen and he was at his very best.
It was a cracking match and the only disappointing thing was that there were only a handful people watching it.
And Allen put the visitors ahead on 15 minutes of play when Ollie Dowding put him through and he smacked the ball home from just inside the area.
Three minutes later, the island striker made it 2-0 with a scintillating 25-yard strike that was nearly a carbon copy of his first goal.
Saints were shell shocked and their cause was not helped when on the half-hour mark, full back Sam Rowe tried to clear the ball with the outside of his foot but only managed to screw it into his own net.
This eventually stirred the home side from their slumber and they hit back through centre forward Marc McGrath five minutes later as he composed himself before hitting the ball past Rangers keeper Adam Gontier.
Soon afterwards it was 3-2 when winger Chris Mauger was on hand at the back post with a tap in from a Luke Winch cross.
Saints’ ascendancy was further boosted when Matt Warren came on at half-time.
For some reason he arrived late and the error prone Rowe had to make made way for the midfield general.
But try as they might, Saints could not find a way past Gontier, who was having a great game.
In the other goal, Ollie Newey was having a game he would rather forget and when he almost set up Allen from a terrible clearance kick with 20 minutes to go, it signalled the end of Saints’ purple patch.
A few minutes later, Simon Geall brought down Shane Billien on the edge of the area when Allen’s strike partner was clear through.
After receiving treatment due to the defender injuring himself in the process, he was rightly shown a red card for his troubles by referee Brent Blondel.
And Allen wrapped up his hat-trick in a sensational manner as he absolutely lashed the free kick into the top corner.
If he keeps up this sort of form, not only put money on Rangers to win the Stranger but the league as well.
Article posted on 29th October, 2009 - 2.29pm
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