The Cochrane Rangers O35 team has brought home the prestigious John Burns Memorial Cup to cap off what has been a highly-successful season.

The Rangers laid claim to the trophy after defeating the highly-ranked Scimitar O45A team, 2-1, Oct. 6. 

Scoreless at the half, the Rangers struck first on a free kick, only to have Scimitar score the equalizer 30 seconds later. A goal with about 15 minutes remaining gave the Rangers the victory.

Greg Barclay, of the Rangers 035, says they were expecting a tough game after Scimitar beat the Masters Premiere Blue Steele team to reach the final.

"They beat them to get to here, so we knew it was going to be a really tough game," says Barclay, "and it was."

Miguel Melgar and Ben Hamer scored for the Rangers.

Ben Hamer is new to the team this year and hails from the Manchester, England area. He was the division's golden boot winner as the top scorer. In the Rangers' 7-3 semifinal win against Scimitar Blizzard, Hamer scored five goals.

The Rangers 035 placed third in the Masters 3 division this season with a 13-5-1 record. To their credit, they were the only team to defeat the division-leading FC Calgerona team.

Barclay says the O35 team picked up some new players this season and in combination with a solid core of veterans built a solid season. 

At the beginning of the season, they selected to compete for the John Burns Memorial Cup for the first time.

"We almost entered the Tony Marques Cup but there are guys that are quite young in higher divisions playing for that cup and we would just be outclassed. So this is a really good fit for us; this and the Centennial Cup."

The O35 Rangers won the Centennial Cup in 2011 and were a finalist last season. This year, though, the O45 Rangers entered the Centennial Cup but lost to the Ginos Drillers in a 3-2 decision.

The O45 team won the 45B division. With that success, they will be advancing to the top O45 division next season

Also competing for a cup were the Rangers Firsts. They made it to the semifinal after upsetting the 4B Cruzeiro team, 4-2.

The Calgary United Soccer Association organizes six cups annually in addition to 22 divisions of regular season play.