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Cup Match
Cup Final: Wimbledon Rangers vs. Rutlish.
Dare anyone actually write a report about this match? It's funny how the outcome isn't mentioned anywhere on the Wimbledon Rangers site... I'm sure that must just be an oversight.
Wimbledon Rangers 2 F.C. Troopers 2
Awaiting Match Report
Wimbledon Rangers 2 Rutlish 3
Awaiting Match Report
Wimbledon Rangers 2 F.C. Troopers 0
For the third game running, Wimbledon had to contend with an horrendous wind. They had had mixed fortunes in such artic conditions up to this point, having beaten Wickham 2-1 despite a goalkeeper howler of the highest quality as well as letting slip a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead against Rutlish, which would have made the Troopers game academic.
In the first half Rangers' nerves seemed to be getting the better of them, and as earlier as the 8th minute, they could have found themselves a goal down. Goalkeeper Michael Karolak sliced his clearance into the path of the on-rushing Troopers forward, who tried to take the ball past Karolak. However, Karolak prevented the player scoring a certain goal by cynically upending him. Indeed, the 'keeper can count himself lucky to have escaped with a yellow card, and was further relieved when the resulting free-kick forced a comfortable save from the goalkeeper.
Despite good link up play by Rangers' forwards, McCulloch and Jennings, the first half was devoid of any real goalmouth action, and it was Troopers who went into half-time happier as they were more than content with a 0-0 scoreline.
Wimbledon began the second half the livelier of the two sides, and after good link up play between McCulloch, Shethran, and finally Jennings, they hit the side netting. Minutes later wide man Edward Szuman was unlucky when he saw his fiercely hit half-volley go agonisingly wide. Rangers should then have had a penalty after Troopers goalkeeper Sam Moss appeared to being McCulloch down in the six-yard box. The referee decided against giving the penalty, much to the dismay of the Rangers bench.
However, their anger turned to joy after making two substitutions with just twnety minutes left. Although Szuman and Shethran can count themselves unfortunate to have been taken off, their replacements, Moses.S and Martin Kavanagh, were involved in both the goals. Moses scored with literally his first touch after a telling cross from Jennings, and it was Jenning himself who made it 2-0 after good build up work from Kavanagh.
The result was never in doubt after Jennings had doubled the lead, and Rangers' back-line, encouraged by the inspirational trio of the Karolak brothers and Da Costa (I had to mention his name or the dictator will get delete this report), stayed resolute.
In the final ten minutes Rangers looked very dangerous on the counter attack. Jennings and McCulloch had the beating of Troopers' defence, and with the pace of Simmons and Moses breaking from midfield they looked more than capable of getting a third goal if it was required.
Another goal was not needed, and Rangers ended compfortable 2-0 winners. In truth, despite forcing the Karolak into a couple of good saves, Troopers never looked like scoring. Special praise should go to James Cordani who is the most under-rated player at the club; John Doyle, who has been a superb bargain buy; Seb Jennings who scored one goal and made another today; and of course Mssrs Simmons and McCulloch, who have both scored three important cup goals.
A few important facts for you all to mull over:
This was Michael's first clean sheet of the season; Rangers have won every game that Moses has scored in; lost every game that Edward and Martin have scored in; scored just two headers all season - Jennings and Simmons;
I have decided to hold a goal of the season contender. The choices are as follows.
1. Seb's goal against Pollards
2. Phil's goal against Troopers3.Dan's first goal against Mitcham
4. Seb's goal against Wickham (cup game)
.5. Phil's goal aginst Wickham
6. Dan's goal against Rutlish
Our panel of adjudicators are Ben Da Costa; Daniel McCulloch; Liam Keogh; Michael Karolak. The winning player will get a pint from every player and the competition winner (the first person who successfully names the best goal) will get a free Mars Bar and two free tickets to Rangers' cup final against Rutlish.
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Cup Match
Wimbledon Rangers 2 Rutlish 3
Wimbledon started brightly and deservedly went ahead after 17 minutes. Top goalscorer Sebestian Jennings turned provider, as it was his in-swinging corner that was headed in by Rangers' industrious captain, Philip Simmons. It was Simmons' third goal in three games, after his move from centre-half to centre-midfielder. This goal seemed to set Rangers on the way, for depsite there endevour, Rutlish could find no way past Wimbledon's back line.
However, Rutlish began to take the initiative, and had it not been for an excellent clearance from the reliable John Doyle, and a brilliant one handed save from 'keeper Karolak, they would have equalised.
Therefore, Rangers were very fortunate to double their lead with twenty minutes to go. Moses played the ball up to McCulloch, who, after skipping past the Rutlish defence, beat the 'keeper at his near post. Thinking that he had scored the goal that had put Rnagers into the Cup final, McCulloch was very jubilant. He proceeded to throw his shirt off and run 50 yards before throwing his shirt off.
McCulloch's celebration seem to suggest that the game was already a foregone conclusion. This opinion was reflected in the whole team's performance in the last quarter of the match. Will Smith halved the deficit after being left unmarked just twelve yard from the Rangers goal.
What followed was absolute pandimodium. After twarting a Rutlish attack, Michael Karolak was virtually assualted twice, as opposition forwards kicked the ball out of his hands. However, this does not legislate for what followed. Left winger Shethran took an age to clear, before being dispossed on the edge of his box. Subsequently, Karolak turned from hero to villian, after letting Ben Bilk's weak shot slip between his hands.
The referee made another disgraceful decision sixty seconds later when, despite being fifty yards from the Rutlish forwards, diregarded the honest linesman's flag and said that Will Smith was onside. Smith finished emphatically to turn Rutlish 2-0 loss into a 3-2 victory.
Wimbledon's day was furthered soured when the referee booked McCulloch was dissent. This was another ridiculous decision from the man in black, as McCulloch denied telling him to "Use your f*****g glasses." McCulloch plans to appeal against the decision as he feels it was a case of mistaken identity. Manager Bob Murray agreed, saying "Dan is a mild mannered man and would never use expletives to express his dissaproval at a refereeing decision. What he actually said was "ref, I disagree with you, but it up to you. If you think it is a goal then that is fine by me."
Cup Match
Wimbledon Rangers 2 Wickham 1
Wimbledon Rangers had a well deserved victory on a very very windy day which saw rangers goal keeper kick the ball into his own net!
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Cup Match
Wimbledon Rangers 6 Mitcham Athletic 1
Wimbledon Rangers 6 (Jamelzadah pen x2, McCulloch x2, Moses, P.Simmons) Mitcham Athletic 1 (Bloody Git!)
Attendance: 6
The dons came into this game on the back of a heavy, well deserved defeat by Sutton Predators last week which was not a very good start to the dons cup campaign. The defeat prompted the management to swoop for dynamic defender John Doyle, who made his debut against laegue leaders Mitcham
The team started the match without Sebastian Jennings and Moses due to lateness on the part of these two attackers. Indeed, their absense appeared to have a negative effect on the side at first, as Mitcham began far brighter than Wimbledon.
However, it was the Dons who made the breakthrough with just fifteen minutes of the first half remaining. Rangers' ever present right back Alan Hooker played the ball forward to lazy midfielder Daniel McCulloch. The blonde haired magician, as he affectionately known by the fans, proceeded to flick the ball over the head of Mitcham left-back before he homed in on goal. McCulloch then nutmegged the Mitcham no.3, who subsequently fouled him crudely, just inside the box. The resulted penalty was despatched unconvincingly by Yusuf Jamalzadeh, but nevertheless Rangers were 1-0 up.
Within five minutes the lead was doubled, and this time it was McCulloch himself who put the ball in the back of the net. Doyle, who was have an excellent inroduction to pgyfl football played the ball up to the striker. McCulloch flicked the ball over the no.3's head before rounding the goalkeeper and scoring from the narrowest of angles. Despite this superb finish, the goal will probably be remembered for Dan's jubilant celebration, in which he ran 50 yards behind the goal and dived on the floor.
The second half saw the introduction of Mssrs Jennings and Moses, who replaced Martin Kavanagh (who had lead the line superbly up front) and Andrew Simmons (who can also count himself unlucky to be taken off). However, it was Mitcham who were once agin the quicker out of the blocks. Indeed, they halved the deficit within 10 minutes of the second half, after a scrabbled finish.
This goal seemed to inspire Mitcham, who began to dominate defending. However, the league leaders could find no way passed Rangers' resolute defence. Goalkeeper Michael Karolak was once again proving difficult to beat.
This solid defending seemed to inspire the rest of the team, and after having to clear a shot off the line, the Whippets (as the one sad fan calls his beloved team) began to regain the ascendency. Mssrs Jennings, Jamalzadeh and Cordani all went close to scoring the crucial third goal before team captain Philip Simmons chipped the Mitcham goalkeeper expertly. Simmons showed his relief at scoring the vital goal by simply lying on the floor in amazement.
From then on in, it was one way traffic. Moses made it 4-1 to the Dons after an excellent through ball from tough tackling left-back ben Da Costa.
At this point, super sub Sammy Shethran entered the fray, replacing Philip Simmons who had been carrying an injury all game. Sammy immediately made an impact on the game. His perfectly weighted pass enabled Daniel McCulloch to slot past the goalkeeper, and claim his first brace of the season. This was not the end to the proceedings, however. Yusuf Jamalzadeh got the opportunity to score again after Moses had been upended in the area. This time Yusuf (who know starts a five match ban) picked his spot superbly and made the scoreline 6-1 to the mighty Rangers
In truth the result didn't flatter Rangers. The Mitcham goalkeeper made far more saves than his opposite number, Michael Karolak. However, special praise must go to the defence, and in particular John Doyle, who had a fantastic debut.
MAN OF THE MATCH :-John Doyle
Match Ratings:
Dons (4-4-2): M Karolak 8; Hooker 8, A Karolak 8, J Doyle 9, Da-Costa 8; Cordani 8, P Simmons (C) 9, A Simmons 7, Y Jamelzadah 8; McCulloch 8, Kavanagh 8 Subs: Jennings 7 (for Kavanagh 40), Moses 7 (for A Simmons 40), Shethran 7 (for P Simmons 70), Szuman (not used) ,
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WIMBLEDON RANGERS 0 MITCHAM ATHLETIC 1
Wimbledon Rangers 0 Mitcham Athletic 1 (no 3)
Attendance: 19
With the news that the fixture between Rangers and Pollards was cancelled due to the latter team being kicked out of the league due to outstanding fines for poor discipline it was decided that the dons would play against one of the best teams in the league Mitcham Athletic. The match began in an inauspicious fashion for Wimbledon Rangers as within five minutes of the kick off, the Dons found themselves a goal down. A seemingly harmless corner was not properly cleared and the dons were paying for it when the Mitcham number three stabbed the ball untidily into the back of the Rangers net, keeper Michael Karolak was left furious with the marking from the set-piece, shouting and screaming at the back four in particular.
That goal acted as a wake up call for Wimbledon who went on to dominate the remainder of the first half, laying siege to the Mitcham goal. A brilliant move involving Shethran, McCulloch and Jennings resulted in the latter missing a sitter. McCulloch and Jennings were working well in attack but couldn't find their finishing boots. Jennings, usually such a lethal finisher, was having a particularly tough match. Despite this, McCulloch, Moses and Jennings were still playing well and but for two scandalous refereeing decisions Wimbledon Rangers would have gone into halftime in the lead. However Wimbledon had their goalkeeper to thank when just before half time Mitcham broke which thankfully resulted in a fine diving save from the very influential Karolak.
Indeed at the start of the second half it appeared that Wimbledon Rangers had spurned their chance of a third successive victory. Mitcham were the far better team, and it was left for both Karolak's to keep the Dons in the game. Michael through two amazing point blank saves and Andrew through a couple of superb last gasp saves. Still, it was captain Phil Simmons who got all the plaudits thanks to a superb second half performance. Not content with stopping all of the Mitcham attack it was he who spurned the front two into action.
After slipping past three Mitcham players he fed the ball to McCulloch, who turned the Mitcham number three and raced through on goal only to be denied by a last gasp ditch challenge by the Mitcham right back. This was the third time in the game that McCulloch had been unlucky in front of goal. In the first half after a good cross by his team captain Phil Simmons, he got his bearings all wrong and fired the ball wide, and just a few minutes later, just when he seemed destined to grab the equalizer for Wimbledon Rangers, the ball bobbled up in front of him, and the usually clinical striker completely fluffed his kick.
These continued near misses only acted as a spur to Wimbledon Rangers who were now beginning to win all the 50/50 challenges. Shethran, Da Costa and Andrew Karolak were having particular good games. How ever it looked like the Dons were heading for another valiant defeat as with ten minutes to go it was hard to see were a goal was going to come from. Wimbledon were pushing more and more men forward in an effort to grab an equalizer. This was leaving more space for the Mitcham strikers to exploit, indeed had it not been for the heroics of Michael Karolak in goal the result could have been even more flattering to Mitcham. Karolak's saves seemed to spur Wimbledon Rangers into action.
Had it not been for the assistant referee the dons would have found themselves level. A cross into the box cannoned off a Mitcham defender and landed at the feet of Moses, he clipped the ball back and Simmons was on hand to knock the ball in, yet Wimbledon Rangers joy was short-lived as the assistant referee ruled that the ball had crossed the by-line before Moses had crossed the ball back in. Wimbledon players were furious with the decision and several players of the team surrounded the referee. Jamelzadah was too vocal in the referees eyes and showed him the red card.
It was arguably the best performance of the season for the Dons, yet refereeing decisions were beyond poor and this meant all of the efforts went un rewarded.MAN OF THE MATCH :- Michael Karolak - 3 Superb point - blank saves, and his distribution is improving.
Match Ratings:
Dons: M Karolak 9; Hooker 7, A Karolak 8, P Simmons (C) 8, Da-Costa 8; Cordani 7, Moses 7, Jennings 8, McCulloch 8, Shethran 8 , Jamelzadah 7. Subs: , Diver, Kavanagh 7, Szuman
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WIMBLEDON RANGERS 6 WICKHAM STORM 2
Well deserved Victory two poor goals to concede
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WIMBLEDON RANGERS 7 F.C. TROOPERS 3
Wimbledon 7 (Jennings x6, P.Simmons x1) F.C. Troopers 3
Attendance: 6
On a very wet Saturday morning the players of Wimbledon Rangers arrived with absolutely no idea what team they would face on the battle field that was the football pitch, and to their delight Saturday 1st December 2001 would signal the first Wimbledon College derby between Wimbledon Rangers and newly named F.C. TROOPERS. It was a match that would not disappoint the players and the hand full of Rangers supporters, the decision by the PGYFL officials to play on the pitch was a dubious one because of the amount of water on the pitch, but the decision was to play so play they did.
Wimbledon started positively and new club captain Phil Simmons won the coin toss and decided to let Troopers kick off first and what a decision that proved to be. Their attempt at an attack from their kick off broke down and almost immediately Rangers were playing some really attractive football with some intricate passing. The first Wimbledon goal came very early on in the opening half and a lovely pass from Edward Szuman found the rushing Sebastian Jennings who blasted it into the back of the net. This was a match destined for goals because barley five minutes later that man Jennings had a shot spilled by the troopers goal keeper and he calmly slotted the ball into the empty net. The clubs top striker before the match was Daniel McCulloch with four goals to his name and now was equal with Sebastian's tally and more goals were on the way.
The third goal for the dons came from a great through ball from McCulloch to clinch the assist for Jennings first hat trick of the season and the match! That was the end of the goals from the first half and unfortunately for the dons F.C. Troopers got back into the game through an unfortunate error from the Wimbledon goal keeper in which the soft shot slipped out of his hands and the fast reactions of the Troopers attack and the awful goal mouth which made it an easy tap in. The blame was on the goal keeper but the second goal was a completely defensive error, in which the ball was not cleared properly and the resulting close range shot too hot to handle. The hostility between the two sides was clear to see and a disagreement between star midfielder Jamelzadah and a hot headed trooper saw a slight fracas happen and resulted in two yellow cards, a fair decision. A foul by a Wimbledon player resulted in a long range free kick and it was put straight over to a suspiciously off side troopers shot came in off the underside of the keepers leg. A good interception on the edge of the Wimbledon area marked the end of Michael Karolak's game which saw a recurring groin injury too painful to carry on.
The second half saw the introduction to the normal midfielder Martin Kavanagh, who happens to be the clubs second choice goal keeper go on for the injured Karolak. But it was a half that showed how strong the back four can be if they worked together and in the whole half not one shot was on target and only a few good catches and a vital interception troubled Kavanagh. But it was also a half that gave us more goals to marvel in an not so soon after the kick off Rangers scored, it was a goal that was created at the back and finished at the front as a good slide tackle from Andrew Karolak and a short run resulted in his first assist of the season and Jennings fourth goal of the match.
The few rangers supporters were concerned that they would let in the goals as quickly as the first half but once again Sebastian Jennings was there to complete a maneuver that was started by defender Ben Da-Costa and assisted by Szuman and Jennings still had to do a lot of work and he calmly put the ball to the side of the on rushing goal keeper and due to the amount of mud he had to follow up the shot. But Jennings wanted another hat trick and a great cross by the number nine McCulloch saw Sebastian superbly head the ball in to secure both of his hat tricks. How ever luck wasn't on Andrew Karolak's side as a good corner from Jamelzadah saw a good header cannon off of the cross bar. The final goal of the match was a very memorable goal for any one that saw it and especially for the goal scorer who was the captain Phillip Simmons, a goal kick from Trooper Vincent fell straight to the foot of Simmons who volleyed it from the half way line and looped into the back of the net, it was a marvelous goal on a marvelous day.
MAN OF THE MATCH :- Phillip Simmons - Solid performance and a tough decision between six goal Jennings and Simmons but a solid performance and a good captains display.
TEAMS:
Dons: M Karolak (off for 7); Hooker, A Karolak, P Simmons (C), Da-Costa; Cordani, Moses, Jennings, McCulloch, Szuman (off for 11), Jamelzadah. Subs:Kavanagh ( on for 1), Shethran (on for 13).
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