The Nelson Bays Price Charity Cup football final went right down to the wire at Saxton Field on Saturday as Rangers AFC edged Smith&Sons Richmond 2-1.
Home advantage was huge for Richmond in the Grade 1 showdown as it had suffered two heavy defeats in Blenheim during the league season but held Rangers to 0-0 at home.
That was the scoreline at halftime on Saturday before Ben McLean almost broke the deadlock for the hosts 20 minutes into the second spell.
“I just put it over the bar. My left foot is not super strong,” says Ben.
Rangers then responded with a thunderous volley 30 metres out from Pat Fleming to go 1-0 up, the score that the Blenheim side beat Richmond by in their previous cup final clash three years ago.
But Ben made no mistake with his second chance, getting his head to a corner and flicking it past the keeper in a very tight space.
Richmond had gone to extra time to win its semifinal and this match looked like heading the same way, only for Rangers to score in the dying minutes.
Keagan Mortimer, who had been a constant threat, sent a low drive from out wide past the goalie to clinch a 2-1 victory.
“We had a lot supporters here today and that definitely helped. We started our season off badly, got better and ended with a strong cup run. Both those Rangers goals were pretty unreal,” reflects Ben.
The effort of defender Gary Swain epitomized the Richmond effort.
The 36-year-old was the last player to return to the field after halftime, hampered by knee and thigh issues.
Gary was clattered twice by Rangers but somehow got back to help his keeper Daniel Dowding deny which looked like a certain Rangers goal.
“There were no centre back replacements, so I had to press on. I was waiting for our player-coach Daryl Fenemor to put himself on, but he said he didn’t have the heart to sub me off. I could hardly walk but adrenalin takes over,” says Gary, who broke his leg on the same field last year but returned to play every minute of this season.
“He’s a trooper, puts in a shift every game,” quips Ben.
“Rangers are pretty good, but we stopped the guys that normally score against us. We had a full-strength team today unlike games over the hill where we often struggle to get players. If we had had this throughout the season, I think the table would have looked a lot better,” concludes a gutsy Gary.
