Rangers back home for league match

Graeme Cooper

Peggy Gordon’s New Plymouth Rangers return to league action on Saturday after a timely win over Whanganui City in the Federation Cup last week.

This weekend sees their first home match in a month when they host Palmerston North End at Merrilands Domain.

North End arrive here off a cup defeat to local side Moturoa 5-2. This will add a bit of pressure on Rangers as they need to emulate their cross-town rivals.

Coach Andy Hamilton’s squad has been decimated by injury and now illness.

Nathan Morath, Jess Brooks and Niall Leggett are all sidelined. A late decision will be made on Tyler Snow, Oskar Wano and David Garner, who have been under the weather this week.

Jack Thomas and Gregor Forrest will start for the reserve side to get valuable game time. Michael Lahood will make his first league start while Sam Jiggins may also be in the frame.

North End’s chances may depend on the availability of player/coach Nathan Cooksley who has been sidelined by injury recently.

Cooksley has been an outstanding stalwart of the Palmerston North club for some time. Lucian Armstrong will be a handful, scoring a hat-trick in their last league match, a big win over Levin 6-1.

Central Women’s Federation League

New Plymouth Rangers travel to Palmerston North to play top of the table Marist on Sunday on the back of an emphatic 8-0 victory over Massey University in the national Kate Sheppard Cup.

Taradale, Massey and Rangers are separated by just three points in the league table.

The team will be buoyed by last week’s success and increased confidence and will be keen to show Marist they are a threat. Holly Kleinsman continues to be the shining light with 14 goals this season, but the team is now matching the other teams elsewhere on the pitch.

The introduction of former Austrian professional Jennifer Stoiber last week, after previously featuring at local level only, could be a key factor. Stoiber has shown her class for Rangers over the past year or so and coach Andrew Moore will be keen to have her available regularly.

Although a young side the experience of Stoiber, former Miramar Rangers’ Lizzie Ingham and Jess Browne is vital. Over recent weeks the younger players’ confidence has increased with Lily Dowsing, Ruby Hales, Saskia Pelham and Kendall Moore putting in great performances. It’s interesting that Dowsing, Pelham and Hales all started playing in junior boys teams at the club.

After the win in the Cup last week Rangers have been ‘rewarded’ with a trip to Wairarapa United in Masterton in the next round. Wairarapa are currently in second place in the Capital W league, a level below National League. This will be a hard but eagerly anticipated match for the Rangers women.

Taranaki Premier League

After last week’s great effort in the Chatham Cup, FC Western returns to local league action in a top of the table clash with NP Boys High School. Both teams go into the match with 100 per cent records, so something must give.

Home advantage at Taranaki’s best footballing surface at the school’s Webster Field could possibly aid what might be a surprise win for current champions NPBHS.

Third place Moturoa meet Waitara at Onuku Taipari Domain with the chance to narrow the lead of the top two. Waitara have given good performances in recent weeks although Moturoa should prove too strong.

Inglewood host Kaitake in what could be an intriguing game. The home side will be buoyed by their recent hammering of NP Rangers while Kaitake appear to play better on the road. Kaitake should nick this one.

NP Rangers play Eltham in the curtainraiser at Merrilands Domain. Rangers have had a woeful start to the season having lost their last four games. Eltham have won their last two away games and could take all three points.

In the final match of the round, Woodleigh take on Peringa United at Sutherland Park still seeking their first win of the season. Peringa come off a cup win over Gisborne United and should prove too strong for Simon Green’s struggling side.

New Zealand Football CEO in town

New Zealand Football Chief Executive, Andrew Pragnell made his first official visit to the province to speak to the Central Football management and club delegates about New Zealand Football’s plans in the years ahead. It was disappointing to see so few local clubs represented at the meeting.

Pragnell said “the focus for the next year or so is the hosting in this country of the Women’s World Cup in 2022 and the restructure of top level football across the country”. It will be an exciting time especially hosting the World Cup for women, which will be bigger than hosting the men’s Rugby or Cricket World Cup.

New Zealand is hosting the event in conjunction with Australia and will showcase this country to its biggest ever worldwide TV audience.

“New Zealand previously hosted the Men’s Under 20 World Cup in 2015 but this is even bigger and should also boost the economy,” he said.

Although Taranaki will not host any matches, as in 2015, it is in the running to become a base for a national side that would fly in and out of the region for games.

Importantly we want to leave a legacy to make football No. 1 in normally male dominated sports.

The restructure of the top level of men’s football has seen the dismantle of the franchised set up clubs back to the traditional football clubs.

A 10 team National League will contested by the top four clubs from the Northern League and three from the Central League and two from the South Island completed by the Wellington Phoenix Reserve team.

The teams will be decided by the winter league competitions and will be played in the following spring and summer.

A team in the Australian Women’s A League for 2022 is also a priority.