Under 14

ACYFL League Division 1
Pagham Youth 1 v Lancing Rangers 4
Sunday 6th September 2009
Goal Scorers: Bradley Gravestock, Nick Hodges, Luke Richards, Harry Tracy

Welcome back from what seemed a short break. There have been a few changes to the team - striker Nick Hodges joins us from Worthing Dynamos and midfielder Callum Bester (Bestie) joins us from Adur Athletic. In keeping with changes to the team the match report will also be changing - at the presentation evening more than half the Ranger was made up with my reports; this either means that other teams don't submit reports or my reports have become too long - I think it's a bit of both. From now on I will not be mentioning every boy in the report, instead I shall concentrate on the goals, near misses and play worthy of note.

Today we played Pagham Youth who were promoted to Division A at the end of last season. We played them in the final of the Invitation Cup last season beating them 1-0.

FIRST HALF: Wow! What a great start - Rangers were passing the ball around like professionals. We kept the ball in Pagham's half for most of the half and made them look like a Division B team. Cals was the first person to open the shooting with a shot that went wide. He was closely followed by two shots by Luke; one being saved and the other being hoofed into the next town.... Ten minutes into the game Nick, who played as if he had been in the team for years, passed to Brad who passed the Cals who then took it past two players before crossing it in front of goal to a waiting Luke...BANG...GOAL... OFFSIDE! Good football lads. Five minutes later Pagham passed the ball out which Brad took off their midfielder, turned past him and shot the ball from outside the box over the keeper into the....GOAL! Pagham tried to advance a couple of times but didn't stand a chance against our defence who were working well as a team. Jordan was doing his usual fast interception and Liam was doing some great tackles and passes. One Pagham advance was stopped by Jazz who crossed it to Harry on the left to clear up the line. Half time

SECOND HALF: Nick started the second half by having one of his shots saved. Then Luke had one saved, Pagham advanced and tried a weak shot which Jordan blocked. Bestie had a good game in midfield, he defended well, passed well and had a great shot forcing a good save from the Pagham keeper. It was six minutes into the half when Joe battled for the ball just outside the Pagham box and passed it back to Harry...BANG... what a GOAL! Ten minutes later Liam intercepted the ball in defence and cleared the ball to Joe who knocked it through to a running Luke who tapped it past the keeper. Pagham then won a free kick just outside our box which was taken well - Matt made the save look easy. With seven minutes to go Matt passed the ball out to Brad - he then took it past three Pagham players before passing it to Nick who finished it off by slipping it past the keeper...GOAL! Full time.

Dare I say this....if Rangers play like this all season ...we'll be unstoppable.

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	4	4	8
Second Half	7	1	8
Whole Game	11	5	16

MOM: Liam Cumberworth for some great well timed defending.

Squad: Jordan Bast, Callum Bester, Sam Brice, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Nick Hodges, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Tom Phelan, Luke Richards, Harry Tracey

Challenge Cup (Round 1)
Lancing Rangers 8 v Bourne Sports 0

Sunday 13th September 2009
Goal Scorers: Luke Richards 6, Dylan Tennant 1, Callum Bester 1
Our first home game against a team which normally concedes lots of goals against the stronger teams.....and today was no exception. Although full credit to Bourne because they kept their heads up and kept battling throughout the whole game.

We started the game with a series of throw-ins down our right hand side by Mitch, which started near our goal line and advanced three quarters of the way down the pitch. There was some good passing football by Dylan, Cals, Luke and Nick. Bourne responded well with a break and a shot across our goal. It was only two minutes into the game when Harry did a fantastic clearance straight up the middle, a Bourne defender did a back header into the path of a running Luke who lobbed it over the keeper...GOAL! Two minutes later Bestie played a beautiful ball through the Bourne defence to where Luke was running shadowed by Nick; Luke hammered the ball into the...GOAL! Immediately Bourne broke forcing Matt to make a save. Less than ten minutes later Brad broke down the wing and fired the ball at the goal the keeper saved it and pushed the ball out to Dylan who tapped it into the ...GOAL! The game then went a bit flat with not much happening other than Jazz heading a shot wide. With four minutes to go Nick passed the ball into Jazz who tapped it onto Bestie...bang ...GOAL! Harry then cleared the ball up front which the Bourne defence dealt with well; the ball came back into our half and Harry did the same...and again and again (Groundhog Day!). Eventually Harry gave up clearing the ball and went and had a shot instead...which went wide. Half time.

The second half was a bit scrappy at the start with little or no joined up passing. Seven minutes into the game found Dylan passing the ball into Jazz; he did a light tap to Luke who fired the ball through the keeper's legs...GOAL! Four minutes later Cals threw the ball to Brad who ran the ball into the goal area before crossing it to Luke for his fourth ...GOAL! Seven minutes later Bestie lobbed the ball over the Bourne defence where Luke ran onto it to score his fifth...GOAL! Luke then had two more shots in the next ten minutes then...Joe battled hard against a couple of Bourne players and managed to hold onto the ball before passing it to Jazz who knocked it onto Luke for a cracking sixth GOAL over the head of the keeper. Full Time.

Although our defence haven't had much of a mention, they played well by stopping the Bourne advances (and they did have quite a few), which meant Matt only had to make one save. In fairness, they didn't really get tested today....that will change next week when we play Ferring........

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	5	3	8
Second Half	5	2	7
Whole Game	10	5	15

MOM: Luke Richards because he might have scored a goal or two.....!

Squad: Jordan Bast, Callum Bester, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Nick Hodges, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Tom Phelan, Luke Richards, Dylan Tennant, Harry Tracey

ACYFL League Division 1
Lancing Rangers 3 v Bognor Regis Town Colts 1
Sunday 27th September 2009
Goal Scorers: Luke Richards, Callum Lee, Nick Hodges

What a beautiful day, the sun was warm, the grass was short and brown and there was no wind. This was a good win for the boys although we did go off the boil at times. The last two times we met Bognor we won (6-1 in March and 4-2 in April).

We started the game very well by passing the ball around, moving it from the left to the right and visa versa and putting pressure on the Bognor defence. Five minutes into the game Bognor caught us with our guard down and nearly scored. We upped our game and our first attempt at goal began with Dylan passing the ball out to Harry who knocked it onto Nick - he miss hit it which set Luke up for a chip which went over the bar. Almost immediately Nick fired a shot, from outside the 18 yard box, that just went wide. Luke had two more near misses before Mitch lobbed a fantastic ball over the Bognor defence into the path of a hungry Luke who hammered it into the corner of the...GOAL! Twenty minutes into the game we made a few substitutions which resulted in Rangers going off the boil (we haven't had this problem for almost a year now) - Bognor took advantage and scored two minutes later. For the rest of the half we had to rely heavily on our defence who performed well..especially Jordan. Bestie, Luke and Jordan did manage to each have a shot at the Bognor goal before the half time whistle

Rangers had a scrappy start to the second half which Bognor took advantage of. They had a shot at our goal which forced a great save from Matt. It was six minutes into the half when Nick was fouled near the half way line...the referee played the advantage...Luke took the ball into the right corner and crossed the ball into Nick who fired it into the bottom left hand corner of the ...GOAL! Rangers went off the boil again...they weren't attacking the ball and were waiting for the ball to come to them...obviously Bognor didn't let that happen....! We started to pull our game together and had three shots in quick succession from Luke and Dylan and then Luke again. Matt was throwing some great balls down the left to Dylan which caused Bognor problems. Bognor won a free kick just outside the box which forced another great save from Matt. Half an hour into the half Brad lobbed the ball over the Bognor defence to a waiting Cals who lobbed it over the keeper to score our third...GOAL! Our last shot at goal started with a run down the wing by Brad and a pass to Cals who knocked it onto Bestie whose shot was saved.

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	3	6	9
Second Half	3	3	6
Whole Game	6	9	15

MOM: Nick Hodges for his exceptional contribution to the game.

Squad: Jordan Bast, Callum Bester, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Nick Hodges, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Tom Phelan, Luke Richards, Dylan Tennant, Harry Tracey

Challenge Cup (Round 2)
Lancing Rangers 3 v Selsey Seals 0
Sunday 4th October 2009
Goal Scorers: Luke Richards 3
On paper Rangers should wiped the floor with Selsey as they are a division B team but, full credit to the Seals, they battled hard and tried to take advantage of our mistakes. In fact, they could have scored two or three goals in the first half and a couple in the second; it was their lack of experience at our level that let them down.

It was a mediocre start for Rangers; early on the ball strayed into the Seal's defence which their really tall defender (no.11) ran all the way into our half...oops better watch that one (although we did seem to let him - our boys are such gentlemen sometimes, aren't they!). Two minutes into the game Bestie, who was having none of this nonsense (and had an exceptional first half), got the ball and lobbed it over to Luke who shot it over the keeper into the ...GOAL! Bestie then crossed the ball over to Dylan whose shot across goal just went wide...Cals, who followed it in, nearly popped it into the net. The Seals responded well and immediately broke catching us unaware; they beat Jordan (unusually) which forced Matt out; he dived for the ball - they beat him too (oops) - then they shot at goal and Liam saved it off the line in true John Terry style. Bestie then lobbed it forward for Luke again who just missed the top right corner of the goal. We had another couple of near misses from Luke and Sam. Dylan then broke on the left and brought the ball into the 18 yard box; ran along the line and passed to Luke who knocked it back to Nick...whose shot missed. Brad then had a shot saved. Twenty five minutes into the game and Nick came up against the no.11 who was proving to be useful...no problem for Nick who beat him and crossed the ball to Luke ...BANG...GOAL number two! There were then another couple of shots on goal from Brad and Nick to no avail. With two minutes of the half left, Bestie passed the ball to Dylan who ran down the left wing beating three or four Selsey players before chipping it over the remaining defender to Luke who lobbed it over the keeper....GOAL!

The second half was a bit of a disappointment - we had more shots on goal and the Seals weren't as strong but....we didn't capitalise on it. Dylan and Luke started with a couple of shots on goal. Selsey had a few good attempts - Matt dived at the feet of the Selsey forwards twice in quick succession (which I believe prevented two possible goals - well done Matt). Luke then had four shots on goal fed by Brad, Mitch and Dylan. Nick then got pinned into the right corner and passed back to Joe who crossed it into Dylan...shot saved. Brad ran down the wing skinning their left back (who was pants and didn't mark properly resulting in Brad spending most of the game in free space....which we didn't utilise!) before crossing it into Bestie who had his shot saved. We then had some more shots from Brad, Harry (whose shot hit a defender and came back to him for a second attempt) and Bestie. Full time.

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	7	4	11
Second Half	7	6	13
Whole Game	14	10	24

MOM: Dylan Tennant for getting to the Seals goal line more times than their keeper (© TF).....and for exceptional work on the left.

Squad: Jordan Bast, Callum Bester, Sam Brice, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Nick Hodges, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Tom Phelan, Luke Richards, Dylan Tennant, Harry Tracey

Sussex C.P. Mason Cup (County Cup) (Round 2)
Fishersgate Flyers Youth 1 v Lancing Rangers 7
Sunday 11th October 2009
Goal Scorers: Luke Richards 3, Callum Bester, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Callum Lee
The anticipation was high - we haven't yet managed to get through the first round of the County Cup even though we have won most other trophies. This year things are going to be different; we got a bye in the first round and drew against a Division 3 team from the Sussex Sunday Youth Football League for today's game - Fishersgate Flyers. We have played a friendly against them in the dim and distant past when the boys were U8.....

As you can see from the score, it wasn't a difficult game for Rangers, however, if it hadn't been for their keeper, the score would have been way into the double figures. The pitch was interesting; it was like a farmer's field complete with sheep (OK,OK I've exaggerated!) believe me, it was rough ground complete with potholes. Steve had to clear the pitch of sharp bits of metal cans before the game. When the referee arrived and said he normally wears glasses and a hearing aid....and had neither....but you'd never have realised.....(can I say that?).

The game started well for us with the play being mainly in the Fishersgate's half; any balls that ventured into our half were soon dispatched back by Cals and Liam. Jordan delivered some cracking headers early on, which gave us many advantages. Tom was on form today with great tackles and passes - his first touch was spot on. Our first goal came after six minutes when Luke feed the ball out to Brad on the right who beat a couple of players and brought the ball into the box before unleashing an explosive shot which flew into the ...GOAL! A few moments later he tried another shot....but hoofed it wide! Callum was on form with his headers and had a great one saved. Jordan cleared a great ball up into the opposition's half which a Fishersgate defender got; Luke did a great tackle to win the ball but then had his shot saved. Our second goal started with Brad on the wing who chipped it over the defence to Cals who then hammered it home into the ...GOAL! Flyers took the kick off and Luke went storming in, got the ball and scored another ...GOAL!...WOT!! Well done Luke. Sam Brice then had a great shot saved - Sam's ball placement was exceptional today. We then had another five shots at goal before the end of the half; two from Cals, two from Brad and one from Dylan.

The second half - yes! We had 19 shots at goal which gave us 4 goals, 5 shots off target and the remaining 10 either saved or blocked...! The Flyers' keeper deserved a medal. Dylan started it all with a great run on the left and a shot that just went wide. Four minutes into the half found Dylan doing another run down the left and then crossing the ball to Jazz...BANG...GOAL! Almost immediately we won the ball; Jazz passed it through the defenders to Bestie who hammered it into the bottom left hand corner...GOAL! Moments later Luke fed the ball out to Brad who fed it into Bestie whose shot went over the bar. Luke then had three shot on goal. Brad had another which won a corner - the ball went to Jordan...BANG...it was blocked by the testicles of a Fishersgate's defender...ouch! Looking around the crowd line saw all the men standing on one leg with the other leg across their groins...! The referee stopped the game and went over to the defender - the ref was about to send the defender off for eating two gobstoppers during a game when he realised....Jordan's shot had been very hard.....! (In the first half I mentioned about Sam's ball placement....well! - the defender's ball placement was certainly different now....!). The Flyers caught us asleep and broke through our defence - they fired a shot wide. Dylan and Brad had shots saved before Matt plucked the ball out of the air and hoofed it up the middle to Bestie who stopped it dead (great control) before lobbing it forward to Luke who hammered it in the...GOAL! Luke then had two more shots stopped. With ten minutes to go Fishersgate tried again (we seemed to have eased off a bit) forcing Matt to make a save, which he then cleared to Joe who passed to Brad who then passed it forward to Luke on the right...BANG...GOAL! Tim then relaxed the team and had Harry and Mitch up front. Luke then had another couple of shots before Fishersgate broke and fired a great shot, from outside the box, over Matt's head. To finish the game off Tom passed a great ball through to Luke whose shot was saved. A short while later we won a corner; the ball came to Harry who fired a shot which the keeper saved...Full Time.

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	10	4	14
Second Half	14	5	19
Whole Game	24	9	33

MOM: Bradley Gravestock for outstanding football (and a very handsome dad ....well that's what the ref said...hang on...he'd forgotten his glasses...!)

Squad: Jordan Bast, Callum Bester, Sam Brice, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Tom Phelan, Luke Richards, Dylan Tennant, Harry Tracey

ACYFL League Division 1
Chichester City Youth 3 v Lancing Rangers 1
Sunday 18th October 2009
Goal Scorers: Bradley Gravestock
Oh dear! The score should have been the other way around. Early on in the game Chichester had a near miss which unsettled Rangers and caused them to panic...and then they played BIF for most of the game (OK Lou I know you've forgotten - it's Boot It Forward). Let's put this into context - roughly speaking over the first five games played this season, Luke has averaged in each game, nine shots at goal of which 6 have been on target and three of those have been goals...today he had one shot which was saved. Why?...because he wasn't being passed the ball...because the ball wasn't being passed to the wings to set him up...because BIF was playing in midfield, defence and in goal...! We passed (hoofed) the ball to the Chichester No.8 more times than any of our players..! But we did have some good moments......

The game started with us breaking down the right; the Chichester keeper cleared the ball back into our half where their very tall striker broke through our defence - Matt came charging out of goal and dived at his feet saving the ball...great goal keeping Matt. I have to say there were some great bits of football from our boys - Luke and Bestie had a great break; Harry was feeding great balls forward (to our players); Liam was intercepting the attackers and winning the ball - but Rangers were unsettled. Ten minutes into the game Chichester pushed through our defence and scored despite a brave attempt by Matt to stop them. We responded well - Nick had another good game and kept pushing his way through the Chichester midfield and defence; he managed to get a shot in, which was saved. Bestie passed a great ball to Luke whose shot was saved. Luke returned the compliment by setting up Bestie for a shot which forced the keeper to make a great save. With ten minutes of the half left, Dylan charged down the wing and brought the ball into the ball box, beating three defenders in the process; he crossed it in, which a defender deflected to Brad...BANG...GOAL! Minutes later Jordan tried to lobbed the keeper from the half way line to no avail. On another break by Chichester, Cals produced a great clearance. Half time.

At the start of the second half Chichester put the pressure on; two minutes into the game they broke through our defence (poor defending) and lobbed the ball over Matt to score their second. Nick responded by a great solo run only to have his shot saved. Joe lobbed a shot just over the bar and then won us a corner moments later. Chichester broke again but were stopped by a great block by Mitch, which gave Matt an easy save. We won a free kick which went just over the bar. With half an hour gone our defending let us down again; Chichester scored after a throw in. A short while later we conceded a penalty as a result of a mis-timed tackle....BANG...over the bar - phew! We quickly cleared the ball up to Dylan whose shot from outside the box went over the bar. Full time.

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	5	0	5
Second Half	2	3	5
Whole Game	7	3	10

MOM: Mitchell Fraser for sweeping up at the back (...and a great block).

Squad: Jordan Bast, Callum Bester, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Nick Hodges, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Tom Phelan, Luke Richards, Dylan Tennant, Harry Tracey

ACYFL League Division 1
Lancing Rangers 0 v Regis 2000 3
Sunday 25th October 2009
Goal Scorers:


The score doesn't do Rangers justice - the wind was really strong in the first half and we had to kick into it. The ball spent most of the first half in our half...and not through any poor play by us. In fact, Regis weren't as strong as expected and we created a lot of chances. We also had Luke, Tom and Jordan missing against a team that hasn't lost a game this season - so we only had one sub. If I had to say anything against the boys, it would be about the lack of a killer striker...I know! I know!...what I'm really saying is that we missed Luke (I shouldn't have said that....!).

The wind was so strong we didn't seem able to get the ball out of our half. Early on Matt had to run out and tackle the Regis striker. Bestie was working his socks off even though he had been unwell during the week. He was running back to defend then running up front to support the forwards then returning to the middle to win the ball back. Regis fired a shot from outside the box which hit the crossbar! Dylan then won the ball in defence and passed the ball up to Jazz - we then passed the ball around but weren't able to break through the Regis defence. Ten minutes into the game Regis fired a shot over our goal (sometimes the wind worked in our favour!). They won the ball back from the goal kick and attacked; Matt charged out catching the ball, it slipped from his hands and the Regis striker quickly won it and scored. We broke down the right and crossed the ball in...the wind took it over to the left side. With nearly twenty minutes gone Regis won another corner and then scored from it. Dylan broke again and crossed the ball to Brad who then fed it into Jazz but their keeper got it first. One of the Regis strikers got a warning from the referee but he wouldn't shut up and ended up being booked. Regis kept the pressure on (with the help of the wind) forcing Matt to make another cracking save. With minutes to go the striker beat Matt, but was forced wide; Cals ran in and covered the goal stopping them getting a third. Half time.

I don't believe it! The wind dropped in the second half....is that sods law or what! We started strongly - Brad had a shot from just outside the box which was saved. Then Nick won the ball and forced the Regis keeper to make a great save. Rangers were playing some great football. Mitch fed the ball up to Dylan who crossed it to Nick whose shot went wide. Regis broke forcing another great save from Matt. They broke again but were stopped by some great defending by Cals. We had more shots from Brad and Mitch to no avail. In the closing minutes of the game, one of the Regis players ran rings around us in our box resulting in a late tackle from one of our defenders - Regis scored the from the subsequent penalty. Full time.

Now for the stats…

	On Target	Off Target	Total Shots
First Half	0	0	0
Second Half	3	4	7
Whole Game	3	4	7

MOM: Matthew Neocleous for great all round goal keeping (why is it that Steve is never there when Matt get MOM? Because Tim loves to wind him up)

Squad: Callum Bester, Sam Brice, Liam Cumberworth, Joseph Davis, Mitchell Fraser, Bradley Gravestock, Jarred Handley, Nick Hodges, Callum Lee (Capt), Matthew Neocleous (GK), Dylan Tennant, Harry Tracey