Hall Road Rangers vs Barton Town

Saturday December 23

Haworth Park, 3pm

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division

By Oliver Harsley

It is a local derby for Hall Road Rangers this Saturday as they welcome Barton Town to Haworth Park for what will be a hard fought match in the NCEL Premier Division.

Rangers will be looking to bounce back after their 3-0 defeat at AFC Mansfield last Saturday and it is a perfect chance to get some points on the board just before Christmas, with a home game against ‘The Swans’ who arrive in East Yorkshire sitting in 19th place in the NCEL Premier Division table.

Hall Road can be quietly confident of taking all three points in this match, as they had the upper hand in the reverse fixture between these two sides back in September, as their visitors haven’t been the greatest travellers in recent times after three defeats in their last four away games.

Gary Bradshaw gave Barton the lead but goals from Chris Spinks and a Sam Belcher wonder-strike completed a remarkable turnaround to give Rangers the points.

Hall Road’s home form hasn’t been too bad so far this season apart from a couple of particularly frustrating defeats against Liversedge and Athersley Recreation.

The 4-0 win against Worksop Town earlier this season was fantastic and if this level of performance can be replicated this Saturday, then it should be a fairly comfortable afternoon for Rangers.

Barton’s last league game was less than a month ago when they beat Staveley Miners Welfare 1-0 at home with Callum Terrell scoring the only goal of the game as like Hall Road have been dogged by postponements due to a wet and cold December.

The Swans have been rather inconsistent lately as they have won 3 and lost 3 of their last 6 league games.

Furthermore, The Swans have lost 9 of their 13 away games so far this season but this doesn’t mean that they will be easy pushovers this Saturday.

Barton will be looking to avenge that 2-1 defeat against Hall Road earlier in the season and they may surprise their hosts this Saturday if they show any sign of complacency.

Hall Road boss Bill Gill is delighted to have a home game this Saturday.

“We are glad to finally get a home game after a couple of trips on the road and previous home games being postponed”, Gill said.

Gill is also keen to warn his players about the challenge that Barton could pose this Saturday and wants them to remain focused on the job in hand.

“Barton are a hard working team with some experience and have recruited well so far this season.

We won’t be letting league positions have any bearing on our approach to this game and 3 points nothing less will be demanded this Saturday”, Gill concluded.