Hounslow Wolves v Wembley Rangers

25th September 2022

Hounslow Wolves 2-4 Wembley Rangers

Venue: Stonebridge Pavilion

Starting: Killian(GK) Ridwan, Mo, Aiden M, Rahul, Harms, Abdali, Sanjit (C), Rudy, Milad, Tamim

Subs: Rose, Bilal, Jamie, Sergio

The Wolves embarked on a journey up to Stonebridge in northwest for the second league game of the season, whilst a few made tough work off finding the ground, all were on time and ready for the warmup. Whilst it was the first time playing the Rangers, it wasn't the first time playing on a 4G pitch. The Wolves had a decent warm up in what was probably the last of the warm clear skied Sundays. The gaffa opted for the exact same line up as the previous week, where the Wolves scored 7, so confidence was high, but knew that no game was easy in this league, especially against a team who plays week in week out on a surface that we don't. Wolves were ready for a technical battle.

As kick off approached the clear message was to keep it tight and get it to the wings, and the let the wingers have their man 1-on-1. The Wolves started with great intent, keeping the ball well and moving the ball well going forward. With a few chances for all the front three, which some would feel guilty of not laying off to the men lining up in the box, the Rangers keeper pulled off some great saves to keep his side in it. Ridwan picked up a head injury attempting a header and was caught by a boot. He was forced off with Rose replacing him at RB. But as so often if you don't take your chances, you will get punished. From a slight pop shot from about 30 yards, Killian was unable to pick up and found itself in the back of the net. 1-0 Rangers. This didn't worry the Wolves, but this did give the Rangers a spring in their step and contained the Wolves to a minimum, now building a dominance in the game. But as so often the Wolves stayed in it, and then got their reward. With Tamim picking up the ball in the middle and then laying off Rudy, who seemingly took it to close to the keeper, finished sharply with his left foot into the bottom right. 1-1. Which was a fair representation of where the game was at, albeit Rangers looked dangerous going forward, but failed to test Killian. The half time whistle went.

The half time team talk was clear and concise, we need to start building on our chances. Defensively we were sound, but the midfield battle was being highly contested by both teams, so we needed to take our chances to put ourselves clear. Just the one change at half time, Sergio in for Sanjit.

The second half commenced, and which was possibly the worst start the Wolves could've wished for. An attack down the right-hand side for the Rangers ended up with a ball over the top, which was clearly flagged by the lino but not blown by the ref. The Wolves defense completely stopped, and the Rangers reacted by putting it in the back of the net. 2-1. A sucker punch and a lesson learnt, always play to the whistle!! So soon in the second to go down 2-1 is demoralising, but there was plenty of time in the game. But shortly after, the Wolves attempting to play out the back, had a ball nicked high up in there half and was squared and finished neatly by the Rangers striker. 3-1. With over 40 minutes to go, it was going to be an uphill battle, but the Wolves were still in it. As the kick off commenced the game was beginning to be dominated by the Rangers, who started moving the ball well and looked to comfortable in their lead. Gaffa Rishi made two changes, Rudy off for Jamie and Tamim off for Bilal. The Wolves needed goals and needed one soon. On Jamie's arrival to the pitch, he showed much intent and copped a yellow with his first challenge, a very soft challenge, the first yellow of the game. But shortly after this, Jamie found himself open on the back post, Bilal squared, and Jamie tucked it away nicely. 3-2. With 25 minutes to play it was all to play for. With Mo being forced off due to injury, Sanjit replaced him, pushing Sergio back to CB and Sanjit slotting in at CAM. The Rangers seemed to sit deeper to protect their lead, which invited the Wolves pressure, but with some good defending and keeping they kept the Wolves at bay. With 20 minutes to go, Jamie found himself in a 50/50 in which he caught his man and left the referee with a decision to make in which he obliged and gave him his second yellow. Red card for Jamie and the Wolves were down to 10, and it was going to be tough. The Wolves did well to contain the Rangers and tried to catch them on the counter, but with 15 to go the Rangers found the back of the net again with a freekick on the edge of the box which snuck under the wall, which really put an end to the game. 4-2.

After the full time whistle the Wolves knew they weren't at the standard they would've liked to be, and the Rangers were solid today, taking their chances when it came and kept the ball well when needed. The gaffa knew that we had to put this game behind us and move on to next week cup fixture against a strong Grenfell Athletic team.

MOTM

Rudy