Plains Rangers FC had a very good weekend on the football pitch.

On Saturday, Rangers men travelled the short distance to play their first ever competitive match against the Ohope Beach Sharks. Both teams looked forward to this new local derby, with quite a few connections between the teams.

The home team settled quickest and scored a fine goal after ten minutes. A ball was played over the top of the Rangers defence and Sean Owen raced through to volley it home. Rangers almost bounced back immediately when centre back Sam McPherson hit the post from a corner.

Soon after though, the equaliser came. Joseph Spalding was fouled on a run down the left. Ben McPherson swung in the freekick and Teimana Awhimate powered home his second header of the season. The game was evenly fought for quite a while, with ex-Rangers player Jon Barnes strong in the middle of the Ohope defence.

With ten minutes to go till the break, Rangers hit the front. Hard-working centre-midfielder Hamish Wilde launched a long throw-in towards the Ohope goal. The bounce ballooned up and, although keeper Reaf Bruce managed to save it onto the crossbar, Rangers captain James Hart was on hand to scramble it over the line. At half time, the visitors led 2 – 1.

Sione Lotu subbed on up front for Rangers in the second half and had immediate impact. He received the ball well, holding up and passing off to his team mates on multiple occasions.

Thirteen minutes into the half, he chased down a backpass towards the Ohope goal, pounced on a hesitation and rolled the ball into the net to increase the lead. The home team bounced straight back though: the Rangers defence didn’t deal with a high bouncing ball and Ōhope captain Barnes scored with a spectacular bicycle kick.

The visitors had marginally the better of the game, with Wilde and Hart playing good, controlled football in the midfield, but there was a late flurry of action. With ten minutes to go, Awhimate had to make a crucial defensive header at the back post to prevent a goal.

Another ex-Rangers player, Jordan Ogilvy went close with a shot for the home team and in the final minutes Lotu went through the Ōhope defence but was denied by a good save by Bruce. The final score was Ōhope Beach Sharks 2, Plains Rangers 3.

Centre backs Barnes and Awhimate were both named players of the day by their coaches for their strong work and impressive goal scoring.

The two teams now meet each other this Tuesday evening in a catch-up Miller Cup game. The game is being played at Rex Morpeth Park, Whakatāne under lights, kick-off at 6pm. It will be interesting to see how the teams follow up in such a short space of time.

Plains Rangers women hosted Waiariki at a sunny Edgecumbe domain on Sunday afternoon. It was a physical affair from the outset, with both sides preventing each other from playing much free-flowing football.

Despite having most of the possession, Rangers found themselves behind at halftime, after a longball over the Rangers defence found it's mark and was swiftly put away.

At the break, Rangers’ coach Sam McPherson urged the team to focus on playing passing football and communication. The second stanza saw much better link play between Rangers players and the mountain of possession and pressure resulted in a penalty.

Captain Rose Sinkinson stepped up and calmly put Rangers back on level terms. Wingers Ella Bain and Sarah Sinkinson had several strong runs in what was a frenetic final quarter. Rangers created chance after chance but couldn't find a winner and the match finished 1 - 1.

Mariah Pepper and Olivia Ross were at their combative best. Olivia Sheaff did well to control the middle of the field on both attack and defence and was named player of the day.

Next Sunday, Rangers women travel to play Lakes FC at Ngongotaha.