The Marlborough senior football season kicked off in perfect autumn conditions at A&P Park on Saturday.
As usual, the John Columbus Senior Men’s Tournament opened proceedings for 2025. Nine local club sides took part, placed in two separate pools, with semifinals and play-offs resulting later in the day. The teams played abbreviated matches, contesting 12-minute halves, with most sides playing six matches over the course of the day, a solid preparation for the forthcoming season.
The final was contested by two Rangers sides, Rangers Athletic taking the John Columbus Cup with a 3-0 victory over Rangers City.
Final placings: 1 Rangers Athletic, 2 Rangers City, 3 Central, 4 Trojans, 5 BV Masters, 6 Renwick, 7 Rangers Reserves, 8 Picton and 9 Rangers Masters.
Rangers AFC
Meanwhile, the Nelson men’s division one competition began on Saturday, with Marlborough representatives Rangers AFC travelling over the hill to take on champions FC Nelson at Guppy Park.
The new-look Rangers outfit, containing a large number of players new to the league and missing a couple of their more experienced operators, lost 3-0.
The first half was scoreless, Rangers hitting the post although the home side had the lion’s share of possession, then came the game’s turning point when Rangers’ talisman centre back Tore Waechter was red carded in the 48th minute for a late tackle.
It was an uphill battle from there, with re-organisation required, and FC Nelson took control, scoring two goals in quick succession, then adding a third with five minutes to play.
Team manager Wolfie Waechter said “I can’t fault the effort. The boys played their hearts out … for some of the newcomers that would have been the hardest and most physical game they have played”.
“They will certainly take it as a learning experience.”
College students Ben Lindfield, Caleb McAulay, Alejandro Fernadez-Puertaz and Connor Pugh made strong debuts, along with experienced keeper Luc Sherwood and the closely-marked striker Keagan Mortimer.
Next up for Rangers is a home game against Richmond at A&P Park on Saturday.
The local club competition begins on Saturday, 18 April. This season a 15-team senior men’s open grade has been formed and they will play a 14-round competition ending on July 18.
