After Saturday’s FA Vase defeat, Manager Mark Jones must have been looking for a response with Rangers duly delivering albeit the hard way.

Sheerwater, who play in the Combined Counties Premier Division South have a similar playing record to Rangers so this Cherry Reds Record Premier Challenge Cup tie had all the hallmarks of a close encounter and so it turned out. Sheerwater took an early lead in this tie in the sixth minute when Elliott York finding the back of the net with a thunderous shot from the edge to put the Sheers one up. Ris rallied and duly levelled in the 17th minute with Jeremiah Luwero scoring the equalizer as from a tight angle he turned a defender and rifled a shot in off the underside of the crossbar. Just a minute later though Elliott York struck again, putting Sheerwater back in the lead, converting at the near post from a cross on Rangers’ left.

Rangers came out for the second half with a lot more urgency and just two minutes into the second half Jamie Robinson levelled for Ris scoring a similar goal to Sheerwater’s first effort, cutting in from Rangers left hand side and dispatching a rasping shot to level the contest. Elliott York completed his hat-trick with a well-taken 65th minute penalty after Ben Sturgess was adjudged to of tripped a Sheerwater attacker. With the clock ticking down and Ris now asserting themselves looking for the elusive equaliser their work rate paid off as in the 85th minute with Lewis Toomey receiving a pass just inside the Sheerwater area, with back to goal, one touch, he turned and buried it into the bottom corner to once again restore parity. And so, to penalties with Rangers holding their nerve by converting our first four spot kicks thanks to Sturge, Fitzy, Jerry, and Dan to run out 4-3 winners on the night.

The match was a captivating encounter, with both teams displaying great determination and skill. Sheerwater’s Elliott York was the star of the show with his hat-trick, but our persistence paid off as we managed to equalize three times, culminating in a well-deserved draw before holding our nerve in the shootout.