Wembley Woes

After two tough games in succession against high flying Flackwell Heath, in which they were edged out in both by the odd goal in three, Rangers travelled to Vale Farm, the home of Wembley FC, hoping to get back to winning ways against a team that were lying second from bottom of the table. But it was not to be, as Wembley sneaked a win by one goal to nil after soaking up much Rangers pressure, before scoring a second half goal following another costly mistake by the visitors. Wembley mounted the early pressure and Rangers new keeper, Craig Hill, was forced into an early save. Rangers countered and Lewis Toomey's flick fell into the path of Manny Williams whose early strike was well blocked. Soon after Rangers' top scorer was forced off with another injury giving Brandon Rooks a chance to show what he can do. Rangers continued to press as a pattern developed for much of the game, with visitors enjoying plenty of possession whilst Wembley defended in numbers, hitting on the break. In the 17th minute a Rangers corner was half cleared to Gary Conelly to fire just over the Wembley crossbar from just outside the box. Another Rangers corner saw Williams skim the bar with a header as Ranger enjoyed a good spell. A rare break from Wembley saw an angled shot diverted for a corner that was eventually cleared at the second attempt. Five minutes later and hesitancy in the Rangers defence was followed by Hill making a great save to deny the home side. In the final minutes of the first period Matt Peake-Pijnen's deep cross almost dropped in at the far post with the Wembley keeper struggling to back peddle, before Wembley conjured up a shot from 18 yards that cleared the Rangers bar by some distance.

The second half began well for Rangers with a good move, the final ball from Rooks picking out Williams whose connection was not quite hard enough to trouble the keeper. Soon after Rooks himself, fired over from the edge of the box. Williams was again set up close in, this time shooting straight at the keeper and seconds later Rangers midfielder, Toby Nnadozie's low shot was well held. Wembley took the lead against the run of play in the 59th minute in what has become typical fashion this season for Rangers; A long, innocuous ball appeared to have little threat to the visitors until Josh Urquhart and Peake-Pijnen seemed to leave the ball to each other, allowing Wembley's Lawson-Hatch to stick out a toe and, slightly fortuitously, send the ball spiralling over Hill's head and into the empty net. Another mistake punished! A couple of minutes later and yet more evidence of Rangers' woes this season, as first, Michael Harding hits a post from close range, the rebound falling to Williams, also close in, who hits the other post, before a third attempt from 10 yards is well saved low down on the line by a grateful Wembley keeper. Wembley defended well after this, despite some dubious challenges as the free kicks and yellow cards racked up. Ben Sturgess fired a free kick into the Wembley wall after another foul, leading to a Wembley counter that was broken up by Joe Fitzpatrick with a well timed tackle. Harding produced a good run and fizzed a dangerous ball across the Wembley goalmouth, with both Williams and Scott stretching and the goalkeeper stranded. With the home side packing their defence and using up the time at every opportunity, Rangers pressed but could not unlock the door. In the 45th minute Rooks found Fitzgerald in the Wembley area where the Rangers full back appeared to be upended by a robust challenge that looked a penalty. The referee waved away Risborough's appeals as the home side broke to force Hill into a good save at the feet of an onrushing attacker. There was just time for Wembley's keeper to make a good catch from Rook's cross before the final whistle blew on another frustrating defeat for Rangers.

Despite Lewis Toomey once again having to leave the field injured, there were two bright spots for Rangers in their disappointment; New goalkeeper, Craig Hill looked every bit the part with a couple of good saves, confident handling and great kicking. Equally encouraging was the late cameo by Alex Kedzierski, who after a long, long lay off through injury, came on to give a lesson in ball retention and creativity. His quality has been sorely missed and hopefully he can stay match fit for the challenging months ahead. This coming Saturday Rangers are back at the Kamtech Stadium where they face Wokingham & Embrook in the league. Kick off is 3pm.