Match Review: TGA Rangers FC vs FC Nippon

• DF Hiromitsu Nakaue
• DF Jonathan Cloak
• MD Nathan Bryer
• MD Stephen McLaughlin
• ST Mike Sharples
• ST Salvatore Adaldo
• -- Dominic Booth
• -- Rowan Anders
• -- Nick Lenicheck
• -- Jun Liang Yap
• -- Oliver Wright

• -- Rob Whitworth
• -- Esad Sejdic
• -- Mattia Lorini
• -- Jared Callaghan

Seventh Heaven

A strong performance from the boys in Green but the scoreline didn't perhaps reflect the competitiveness of the game, particularly in the first half when Nippon were moving the ball around with reckless abandon. They were playing all the football in the opening minutes but it was Salvo who opened the scoring with a 30 yard half volley over the keeper's head. Nippon responded well and scored a great goal to equalise, but Rangers werent behind for long and re-established their lead through a Sharples penalty. 2-1 at half time and we were pleased with how the half went despite Nippon's persistent threat. The second half was different with Nippon's passing game breaking down and Rangers putting pressure on the opposition goal. Sharples smashed in a brilliant second, and then scored two "fox in the box' finishes from corners. Rangers 6th and Sharples 5th came on the counter in classic fashion and the final goal was typical Esad, with 9 stepovers, a bit of flamenco, a roll, a scream, before laying the ball on a plate for Sharples to complete his double hat trick. Job done. A solid performance from Rangers and good to get some goals after the blank the week before. The scoreline didnt perhaps reflect the quality of football that Nippon played at times. Another tough game against Vikings to come next week

• Kei YAMAGUCHI --
• Tetsu KAKIMOTO --
• Takahiro SHINOHARA --
• Yusuke ISODA --
• Yuuki OKAMOTO --
• Wataru HASEGAWA --
• Takao NAKASUJI --
• Ryo SUZUKI --
• Takuya TAKAHASHI --
• Makito NAKATA --
• Seiichiro OIYAMA --

• Yusuke WATANABE --
• Seiji DAIKUHARA --
• Yusuke KANEKO --
• Minato HORIUCHI --

LONG WAY TO WIN

Our team condition and player potential are much better than the past. But it seems doesn't deserve for a win. It seems our football was a bit better than Rangers but each player didn't have sufficient strength toward the facing opponent. They scored with just simple one or two step actions. We need to re-consider. Our 'Good football' does not work in this league.