Maltby Main 2, Hall Road Rangers 1

Saturday September 16

Muglet Lane

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division

By Ollie Harsley

Hall Road Rangers suffered a heartbreaking defeat at Muglet Lane as Maltby Main took all three points after a 93rd minute header by Dean Smith. Rangers were in the game for the whole 90 minutes and should have at least taken a point back to East Yorkshire but they lacked quality in the final third.

Hall Road had the majority of the chances in the first half but didn’t take advantage of their superiority to take the lead.

Their best chance fell to Josh Batty who failed to convert after being sent clean through.

Batty also had a header which went wide and had a shot that went over the bar.

Maltby created some of their own opportunities but they didn’t cause too much trouble for Phil Dobson in the Hall Road goal.

As a result, the sides went into half time goalless.

Maltby started the better of the two sides in the second half as they saw a shot cleared off the line by the Hall Road defence.

Maltby took the lead in the 51st minute when Steven McDonnell headed home after a fine cross from the left wing picked him out in the Hall Road penalty box.

Hall Road were awarded a penalty later in the half which Chris Spinks converted in the 75th minute to level the scoreline at 1-1.

Minutes later, Spinks saw his free kick smash back off the crossbar and it was a glorious chance to put Rangers in the lead.

Maltby put a dagger into Hall Road’s heart in the 93rd minute as Dean Smith nodded in from a corner to hand the hosts all three points.

Bill Gill was pleased with the spirit his team showed but lamented the lack of quality in the final attacking third. “Today’s game showed our team spirit once again to come back from 1-0 down and dominate the game missing several chances.

Our lack of converting opportunities and switching off on set pieces cost us the game” Gill said.

Hall Road will now turn their attention to next Wednesday’s match at Bottesford Town and Bill Gill is optimistic about his side’s chances.

“It’s our first season at this level and each game brings a different challenge.

We have learned valuable lessons again today which we will take note of and we go again on Wednesday at Bottesford” Gill concluded.