On a wet pitch Saturday saw the match up between Rino’s Fury and Wickham FC who spent last year in the U21 division. The spritely young team who are now legally able to make use of the motto “What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas”, proved a difficult task for the hip replaced Rinos. It is not often you play team of kids you used to babysit. The opponents looked like a team who had played together for a while and it showed throughout the game. A notable point was the first Rinos cap for Travis Sanders at right mid.
Match Report
A slow start by both teams took a while to settle as no side could maintain possession for very long. The few chances in the first 30 minutes troubled neither keeper nor fan alike. Wickham FC started to maintain possession a little more and created some opportunities, exposing the new backline arrangement a little. Pritchard was injured partway through the first half (day-to-day with a lower body injury) and Crowe was brought on as a replacement. In the 40th minute, Wickham was awareded a free kick on a questionable call, 25 years out to the right of the Rinos net. The ball was whipped in to the short post and inadvertently deflected in as Rinos defender Evan Jones tried to clear it from danger. An unfortunate end to the first half.
Half Time (Rinos 0 – Wickham FC -1)
The second half started a bit better with Hundal, Wilhelm and Hill coming in for Cougny, Nolan and 1 other? Rinos were on the attack, looking for a goal to even up the contest but proving difficult against the fit and organized side. McArthur was brought in for Sarwal for the Furys 5th and final sub of the game. Wouldn’t you know it, but once again, the new substitution rules came back to bite Rinos in the ass with Matheson suffering a blow to the kidneys from the Wickham keeper. Down to 10 men, that only seemed to spark the “Fury” in the Rinos for the first time this season and almost seemed as if Wickham were the ones
down to 10 men. On their heels, more attacking play was developing a bit more possession was had by Rinos. Some good chances created with attempts by Martin and Wilhelm put the nervous Wickham fans on the edge of their seats. It was only in the 85th minute, when Wickham were given a chance against the run of play with everyone but the keeper pushing for the tying goal. The striker cooly slotted the breakaway home and insured the 3 pts for Wickham.
Full Time (Rinos 0 – Wickham FC -2)
A bad result in the second game of the season for Rinos leaves them with 1 point in 2 but some positives can be taken away with a gutsy 10 man performance for the last 25 minutes. This is familiar territory as last season started poorly but a great run of form showed the heart of the mighty Rinos Fury. Fans are anticipating this sundays match up:
Sunday, September 25 – 5:00pm Kickoff – Sutherland Turf
Matheson Injury Update - Day-to-Day