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The quarter finals of the Forestry Tasmania, Tasmanian State Championship kicked off this weekend with the top four sides from the south doing battle with the top four sides in the north.  In this series, the winner of the respective leagues has the benefit of hosting the lowest qualifier who finished fourth in the opposite league, So Northern Rangers as Northern Premier League Champions, had the honour of hosting Southern Premier League fourth place getters Clarence United.

Clarence are a familiar opponent to Northern Rangers of late, last year the two did battle in consecutive weeks, Clarence defeating Rangers 2-0 in the State wide cup, and on penalties after scores were locked at 2 all in the same fixture last year at Ulverstone Showgrounds.

The players this year were determined to progress in the final series after going out in the opening round last year.

Northern Rangers preparation for such a big clash was less than desirable with the club only able to put in one full training session in the last two weeks due to ground closures as a result of inclement weather.  This in conjunction with a week off to allow the State Wide Cup to play out, while Clarence were playing a huge game the week before and able to put in full sessions, could be seen as a cause for concern. 

To try and combat this, Whitemore called the team in on game day early to discuss tactics and focus the playing group, no prior games allowed the boys to have a leisurely kick about warm up before retreating back to the rooms to prepare as normal, Clarence’s team bus arrived late giving them minimal preparation time for the clash at the NTCA.

The Ground itself was again in brilliant condition, considering the deluge of rain Launceston had received during the week.  The clubs congratulations to Paul Medcraft and Jack Whelan from the NTCA.

With kick off came immediate pressure from the Clarence side, their midfield and forward line may as well have set up tents in the Northern Rangers back line, such was the time they spent in the area in the first half.

Clarence were clinical through midfield and shut Rangers down at every chance, Northern Rangers were unable to play the ball effectively from the back four, and when the ball did get to midfield, the support was not there from the full backs for wide options. 

After 20 minutes of pressure, Rangers broke away when Hingston sent a pin point long diagonal ball to Dumbuya on the left, Dumbuya shimmied into the box well and in the panic Clarence were adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area and a penalty was awarded.

Hingston stepped up to take the kick but his shot was denied by a strong save from the keeper, the deflection continued to pose a problem for the Clarence back line and several shots almost found their way into the goal, but eventually the ball was cleared to safety.

Clarence got back to work, keeping Rangers defence busy for the remainder of the half, some good chances, but in reality, Clarence didn’t quite get close enough to goal to pose a major threat of scoring, with the exception of when Tams sent a free kick across goal to the feet of Clarence’s Huigsloot whose shot was saved by Lichtendonk in goals at close range.

Rangers did create chances in the first half, but none that could be of great encouragement,  however the defense was holding strong and looked capable of keeping Clarence at bay for another 45 minutes if required, 0-0 at half time.

Both sides returned to the pitch unchanged, but Rangers had far more determination and self-belief in the opening stages.

Chances were starting to eventuate for the home team, but Clarence were still pilling the pressure at the other end through Andy Barron and Huigsloot particularly.

Descent may be the defining factor for Clarence on the day as both Barron and McMahon were booked for this and eventually conceded second yellow cards later in the game leaving Clarence with just nine men in the closing stages.

McMahon was the first to go with just 10 minutes of normal time to play after he pulled the shirt of substitute Patty Lanau-Atkinson while the young Ranger was on rout to goal.  Referee Tony Cocker having no choice but to show the Clarence defender his second yellow of the match.

Even  down to ten men, Clarence still had the best chance of the game to score in the last 30 seconds of normal time when Lichtendonk’s frantic parried save fell to the feet of Barron but his shot was sent over the bar from point blank range.  

So after 90 minutes, no goals could be found and it was off to extra time with Rangers a man up.

Issa Dumbuya found his way into the box thanks again to a Hingston diagonal long ball, Dumbuya delicately steadied himself under Enormous pressure from all around and chipped the keeper in a seemingly unchippable position, the ball seemed to take the best part of the rest of the period of extra time to drop into the goal, but to the pleasure of the large and vocal home crowd, it did and Rangers had drawn first blood.

Clarence as stated before fell victim to their 5^th yellow card of the match, to only their third player when Barron’s studs up sliding challenge on the advancing keeper was given a caution and Barron’s second for the game, he was sent from the field of play.

Clarence showed considerable character in the face of adversity and continued to attack the Rangers through the central channel, and with a massive disadvantage still managed to call the Ranger back four into considerable work to protect the goal, Sam Luck who had a massive performance was injured at one point, but managed to soldier on.

Clarence’s main problem for the remainder of the game was width, as soon as their attacks broke down, Rangers had safety in width and time to build a counter attack, at one point Demejier and Dumbuya passed the ball back and forth several times whilst they waited for a Clarence player to arrive to challenge.

In a controversial game, in the dying seconds of extra time, Clarence had one final fleeting chance as they broke down the right wing about to go one on one with the keeper but Mr Cocker the referee for the day called time on both the run and the Clarence season before the shot could be taken and Rangers had amazingly, somehow done enough to win a game, from the stands you would have thought, how could they have?  Still a win is a win, and sometimes you have to defend better than you attack to get the desired result, today that statement could not be truer.

Rangers winning 1-0 and will now play Burnie United next week after they overcame Southern Runners up Hobart Zebras.

South Hobart demolished Riverside Olympic with a 2-0  score line that possibly could have been 5 or 6 going on the highlights found here

Devonport defeated Glenorchy Knights 2-1 and will do battle with South Hobart in Hobart next week for the other place in the final.

Adam Whitemore said following the game: “Not a great performance at all in terms of the quality of our play. Not being able to train properly for a couple of weeks because of the weather was a major factor and really took our sharpness, which then affected our ball movement. Clarence showed the benefit of a hard game last week when we had a week off. They pressed us pretty hard, and the intensity of their play was of a much higher level than we generally see in our league. Subsequently we had fewer options and weren't able to dominate possession as we have done all season.

They will be disappointed to have lost the game, particularly as they were by far the better side in the first half hour. A draw was probably the best we deserved overall. Having said that they only had 3-4 decent chances all game (though the late to chance to Barron should have won the game), and we were generally defensively solid, given their early territorial domination especially. We came back into the game close to half-time and had good periods, but never got close to the level I expect. Our penalty miss may have changed the game, but I didn't think it was a penalty so I'm glad it didn't decide the game.

I felt we controlled the centre of midfield from half-time onward, and once they went down to 10 men and we changed formation we looked the likely winners. While we didn't play well, what we did see was great mental strength, to get back into the game, and then to win it. The players are so mentally tough, and I always expect them to pull through when it gets tight, and the longer the game went the better we were. I was also really pleased that we kept playing out of the back, and kept trying to pass it on the ground, even when we were struggling.

Clarence were a bit unlucky with the sendings-off. The first yellows were a bit foolish though. It wasn't a dirty game at all, and they are clearly a really well run and coached club who play hard and fair. Their guard of honour was a very sporting gesture, particularly as they would have been really disappointed not to have won the game.

Brendan Lichtendonk was excellent in goal. Ayden Demejier again showed his improvement and his use of the ball was superb. Issa Dumbuya was a key man, particularly when under pressure as he was always happy to get on the ball. The subs all had a big impact, and ToddHingston and Des Schipper took control when it mattered.

We need to be better this week, but the game will have done us a lot of good for sharpness and conditioning.”

So Next week Northern Rangers will do battle with Burnie United at the NTCA, the club urge all of its supporters to come along and lend your support in our quest for the ultimate prize in Tasmanian Football, to be crowned State Champions in 2010.