Hall Road Rangers 1, Athersley Recreation 5

Haworth Park

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division

Saturday November 18

By Ollie Harsley

It is now three successive defeats in all competitions for Hall Road Rangers after they were comprehensively beaten 5-1 by Athersley Recreation at Haworth Park. It was a forgettable afternoon for the hosts as there wasn’t any real cohesive attacking threat shown which threatened Daniel Vinten in the Athersley goal.

The visitors started the brighter of the two sides as the game kicked off and began to create some meaningful opportunities on goal. The Penguins took the lead in the 19th minute when Lee Garside found space in the Hall Road penalty box and finished well after being picked out by a left wing cross. It could have got even better for Athersley straight away but they saw a shot go just over the bar. Hall Road couldn’t find the final pass which would have led to them creating proper goalscoring chances. The closest they came to scoring was when Tom Bennett saw his shot cannon back off the post. Athersley’s lead was doubled in the 38th minute by Aidan Salmons who tapped home after a couple of ricochets in the Hall Road box.

Athersley continued their dominance in the second half as they sustained their attacking prowess in front of goal. Lee Garside saw his shot go just over the bar and all of the momentum was with the away side at this point. The Penguins found the all important third goal in the 69th minute when Dominic Riordan headed home from a corner. It very quickly turned into a rout as the visitors scored a fourth goal in the 76th minute with Aidan Salmons grabbing a brace. There was to be some consolation for Rangers as Chris Spinks converted an 83rd minute penalty. However, The Penguins got a fifth and final goal in the 90th minute when Lee Garside scored from a spectacular long distance strike to claim his own brace.

Hall Road boss Bill Gill was very disappointed with the way his side lost the game. “This defeat was hard to take, every team has one like this as it is a long season. I’m gutted because it was at home and on the back of a slip up in mid week against Liversedge”, Gill said.

Gill also hinted that he will be looking to freshen up his squad for next Tuesday’s match against Pontefract Collieries. “It isn’t the result that bothers me, it was the manner in which we lost. This will force me to make some changes for the mid week game against Pontefract”, Gill concluded