Boys’ High upset Rangers

For much of the premier football season, New Plymouth Boys’ High School have struggled to both put away chances and keep their opposition out.

Sitting bottom of the table after 11 matches, something needed to change if they were to make a late season run up the ladder.

Up against third-placed New Plymouth Rangers, no one would have predicted a Boys’ High win. However, the High School side proved their doubters wrong as they trounced Rangers 7-2 at Webster Field on Saturday.

With the loss Rangers, who are one of four teams fighting it out for a second-placed finish, saw the gap between them and current secondplaced Eltham expand to five points, with the South taranaki side beating FC Western 3-1.

Western now fall six points behind Eltham in fourth place, however they have a game in hand.

The other side still in with a sniff of a top-three finish, Francis Douglas Memorial College, gained ground on Western and Rangers as they toppled Inglewood 3-1.

Francis Douglas move to within a point on Western with the win, while Inglewood fall back to the bottom of the ladder.

Elsewhere, Moturoa maintained their 11-point lead at the top of the table with a 4-1 win over Woodleigh, while Hawera beat Peringa 3-1.

In the men’s Federation League, braces from Sam De St Croix and Keith Mudawarima lifted Rangers to a 6-0 win over Red Sox Manawatu. Lee Conley and Ethan Bird also got on the scoresheet.

The win lifted rangers back into second place on the ladder, three points behind league leaders Havelock North.

❏ In the women’s Federation League, New Plymouth Girls’ High School have jumped over Moturoa into third place following a 4-0 win over Port Hill.

With Moturoa going down 3-0 to Palmerston North Marist Reserves, Girls’ High move two points ahead of them in the standings.

In the Taranaki women’s league, Waitara continued their winning ways with a 5-1 win over Hawera, Moturoa beat Rangers 3-1, while Inglewood beat Peringa 3-1.