Hall Road Rangers 4, Worksop Town 0

Saturday November 4

Haworth Park

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division

By Ollie Harsley

It was a brilliant afternoon for Hall Road Rangers on Saturday as they thrashed Worksop Town 4-0 at Haworth Park. The hosts dominated the game throughout and arguably could have won by a bigger goal margin.

Rangers made a blistering start to the game as they scored within the 1st minute as James Piercy headed home from a Louis Bruce long throw into the Worksop penalty box. It got even better in the 13th minute when Hall Road’s lead was doubled after Josh Batty slotted home past Jason Alexander in the Worksop goal after being sent clean through. Batty should have got his second goal of the game later in the half but he couldn’t find the final finish to make it 3-0 to the hosts. However, it soon became 3-0 in the 26th minute after an exquisite lob by Chris Spinks over the helpless Worksop goalkeeper which found the back of the net. More calamitous defending from the visitors allowed Fraser Hansen to round Jason Alexander and slot home from a tight angle to seal what was a perfect first half from Hall Road. The delight of the fans could be heard in the stands as they chanted “come on Rangers!”.

The second half was more about Hall Road seeing the job out and ensuring that they didn’t let Worksop back into the game. Apart from a couple of half chances, there was no real danger for the home defence to face and it was a relatively easy game all round for James Hitchcock in the Rangers goal. The major event in the second half was the sending off of Jed Phillips for Worksop in the 69th minute after a hideous challenge on Fraser Hansen. Thankfully, Hansen got back on his feet relatively unscathed and was able to carry on for the rest of the match.

Every Hall Road player put a real shift in and they worked tirelessly to see out the match. Josh Batty was particularly effective in the first half and caused a lot of problems for the Worksop defenders as they couldn’t handle him. Tom Bennett in the middle of midfield led by example as he controlled the game for the hosts and allowed his teammates to flourish from an attacking point of view.

Hall Road boss Bill Gill was delighted with his players in how they collectively performed throughout the game. “The boys were outstanding as they kept a great shape, showed great discipline and were tactically superb. We took the game straight to them and proved to be clinical in front of goal”, Gill said.

Gill was also full of praise for the club’s backroom staff for their hard work hours before the game kicked off. “Today was all about the club, from the Vice Chairman ensuring the game was on with the help of the Secretary to the Chairman organising the facility, food and staff”, Gill concluded.