Hall Road Rangers 3, Clipstone 2

Saturday October 7

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division

Haworth Park

Match Report by Ollie Harsley

Hall Road Rangers came out victorious in a closely fought match against Clipstone FC at Haworth Park as they won 3-2.

Both sides had a sizeable amount of opportunities on goal and they could have had more goals if their attacks were more effective.

Clipstone started the better of the two sides in the first 15 minutes of the first half as they frustrated Hall Road and caused the hosts to be quite nervy at the back.

Nevertheless, Hall Road took the lead in the 17th minute when Danny Norton slotted home after a Louis Bruce long throw in caused problems in the Clipstone penalty box.

The hosts nearly doubled their lead when Josh Batty cut inside and produced an excellent save from the Clipstone goalkeeper, Levi Owen.

Hall Road eventually got their second goal in the 28th minute when Danny Chambers pounced on a rebound to poke home after Levi Owen had again produced a good save in the Clipstone goal.

A near perfect first half performance was complete just before half time as Danny Chambers bagged a brace from a cooly slotted finish after a quick attacking move.

The second half was a complete contrast to the first as Clipstone worked their way back into the game and they deserve some credit for doing so as most teams in their position would have simply given up altogether.

However, they were assisted by some questionable defending from Hall Road which resulted in Tim Gregory’s 53rd minute strike for the visitors.

More opportunities came in the form of a free kick that went just wide and a strike that hit the side netting.

They also saw a shot go agonisingly wide which would have been a great end to a good attacking move.

The visitors’ second goal came in the 5th minute of stoppage time when Matthew Hubbard scored after another piece of lacklustre defending from Hall Road.

Hall Road held on until the final whistle and they now have 3 more points in the NCEL Premier Division and they can now focus on the visit of Staveley Miners Welfare to Haworth Park next Tuesday evening.

The main focus for Bill Gill and Andy Watts will be to work on the defensive side of their team as there were some rather shaky moments but for the majority of the game it was steady enough.

From the dug-out – By Bill Gill

Today was all about the three points regardless of the score.

We also made changes to give squad players game time and it paid off.

Clipstone worked hard and didn’t stop for the full ninety minutes.

We have put another 3 points on the board and given players back confidence after some bad luck on the road.

We also gave Tom Bennett the role of club captain today and this worked well showing good leadership and rounding up the lads when it was needed