Hall Road Rangers 3, Rainworth MW 0
Saturday April 14
Haworth Park
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
By Oliver Harsley
Photograph supplied by Lee Myers
PHOTO: Fraser Hansen’s two goals was a key reason to Hall Road gaining three valuable points yesterday afternoon
Hall Road Rangers registered a second consecutive victory on Saturday in the NCEL Premier Division and also lifted themselves out of the relegation zone as they picked up a 3-0 win at home against Rainworth Miners Welfare. The game grew as it went on and Rangers managed to create the chances and the quality needed to score a couple of goals.
Hall Road boss Bill Gill felt that his side didn’t perform exactly as he would have liked but he was pleased in the way they took their chances when they came. “This was one of those days where you don’t play that great but you get your goals and the 3 points. We will take that as in previous weeks we have played really well and lost games”, Gill said.
The first half was void of any real quality from either side which meant that there were not many real opportunities on goal. Chris Spinks did fire a Hall Road free kick wide of the Rainworth MW goal when he maybe could have done a little bit better with his effort. This came after Richard Adams was sent off for Rainworth MW due to a late challenge on Fraser Hansen. The visitors weren’t too damaged by going down to 10 men as they managed to give Hall Road some problems from an attacking point of view. Rainworth MW nearly took the lead when a fierce shot came back off the post and they also hit the crossbar from a header which gave Rangers a warning that their 9th placed opposition were not going to give up the fight.
Gill was also satisfied with how his players won their respective battles all over the pitch during the course of the match. “I thought throughout the game we were just edging our 1 v 1s in key areas and that was the difference for me. Obviously we can talk about the sending off but I’m not interested to be honest as our lads have been on the wrong end of a few bad decisions themselves this year. They deserved their fortunes and were rewarded with 3 valuable points and we are now out of the bottom three since receiving our harsh deduction of points in November”, Gill said.
Hall Road finally found a moment of quality in the 38th minute and took the lead when Fraser Hansen had a mazy run into the box and calmly slotted the ball into the net. This goal just before half time was the one that Hall Road needed and it set them up nicely for the second half.
Rangers increased the level of quality of their play in the second half and took control of the game as a result of this. They doubled their lead in the 50th minute as Fraser Hansen got his second goal of the game after his shot went through Andy Francis in the Rainworth MW goal. Hall Road then got their third of the match in the 57th minute when Chris Spinks produced a fine strike from distance that flew into the back of the net to seal a very important victory.
Gill is now looking to move up the table after this victory and points out the number of games in hand his side have on those sides above them. “Everyone’s talking now about the fact we are safe and we have 4 games in hand and Rainworth MW dropping out of the league will create a reprieve for one of the bottom three anyway. However, we as a group want to finish respectably as high as possible and we don’t want to just survive. That’s now our mindset and we would still like to finish in mid table. With the 12 point deduction we can look and see where we would have finished as that’s the true reflection of our season”, Gill said.
It was a solid performance from Rangers as they saw the game out very well and didn’t allow Rainworth MW back into the game. Jordan Clark was given his first start for a while at left back and played well throughout as he formed a potent partnership with Fraser Hansen down the left flank. Another youngster in Reggie Waud started in the centre of midfield and also put in a good shift. Charlie Birley and James Tullett were both brought on as substitutes and gave out good impressions in the time they were on the pitch.
Gill summed up by praising the youngsters in his squad who have made the step up from the reserves and made a positive impression in recent games. “Another positive is that we had 5 reserve/under 19s in the squad due to injuries and holidays and they have again shown their worth. These youngsters will be important in the last 3 weeks of the season”, Gill concluded.
Attention now turns to another home game at Haworth Park as Bottesford Town are the visitors on Tuesday night. This will be a more difficult test for Rangers but it is also another game where they can pick up a result if they perform well and take their chances when they come.
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