There is no room for a lapse in concentration in the remainder of the year for the defending champions Northern Rangers.  Each game is effectively a do or die fixture with Devonport, Prospect and Rangers all separated by a single point in the run home to the title, a loss for Rangers will see them slip from contention, so this week remained as important and required a great deal of commitment and application to complete the task.

There was no expectation of a repeat performance of the 5-0 dusting Rangers handed out last time these two met, as Somerset had back in the side at home, Toby Sken, Chris Smith and a few youngsters who had returned from the UK.

The conditions were very poor, to Somerset’s credit, the ground was in fine order at the beginning of the day, but the persistent rain quickly turned the ground into a mud bath, making it hard to play.

Rangers had no Sam Luck due to 5 yellow cards, while Chris Hunt came back into the side, and Mark Ambrose lined up on the bench after a lengthy absence on the injury list.

Rangers started the game strongly, creating plenty up front in the wet conditions, but the nets could not be disturbed, and Rangers failed to capitalise on some good play.

Somerset did however, Chris Smith showing all his class as he volleyed across his body a cross from James Nettleton into the top corner from 20 yards out to send Somerset into the lead.

Ranger responded well in the face of adversity, but were struggling to convert their efforts to the score board.  It took a fine solo run from Gabriel Tams to level the scores, as he dodged his opponents cutting into the box up the goal line and slotting his shot on an acute angle.

One all at half time, and still all to play for, both sides had their reasons for needing the win, Somerset to try and keep a lifeline for the last place in the state championship finals, while Rangers needed the win for the title race.

Rangers came out determined and found the lead 15 minutes into the second half, a fine free kick from Chris Hunt was pushed into the air by Somerset keeper Mitch Deal, but it fell into the net on the way down, and Rangers had hit the lead.

There were a few interruptions however as several of the stray dogs from the neighbourhood made their way onto the playing surface like the sacred cows of India, the interruptions threated to destabilise the momentum of the game, but to Rangers credit, they stuck to the task.

Scott Murray was enjoying the wet conditions and dominated the offensive midfield role all game, and combined well with Chris Hunt.

The third goal for Rangers came when one of the many goal mouth scrambles for the day ended when Patty Lanau-Atkinson buried the dead ball from a pool of water into the net with 20 minutes to play.

The final whistle blew and Rangers remain in the title race, with confidence building going into the most crucial match this weekend against Devonport Strikers at the NTCA.  The club calls on all of our supporters to come down and show your support and help the boys over the line.

Devonport and Prospect both registered wins against Ulverstone and Riverside respectively meaning really nothing changes at the top this week.