Albion Sports 3, Hall Road Rangers 1
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Saturday September 30
Throstle Nest
Photograph and report supplied by Lee Myers
Photo: Tom Bennett gets embroiled in a battle for the ball at Albion Sports yesterday afternoon
Hall Road Rangers travelled to Albion Sports yesterday afternoon looking to capitalise on their good work from the midweek win at Handsworth Parramore.
It wasn’t to be however as Rangers came up against a strong, physical, and determined Albion Sports outfit, by running out 3-1 losers on the day.
In torrid weather conditions in the first half, which provided plenty of entertainment for the neutral there was some end to end football, but Hall Road captain Phil Dobson was by far the busier keeper.
With Rangers cross bar and upright both rattled within the first 10 minutes in the torrential rain, the signs looked ominous for an Albion deluge as they dominated the first half.
Danny Facey grabbed the home side’s opener on 16 minutes with Lamin Janneh getting the second on 25 minutes.
Tempers flaired and with a handful of yellow cards were brandished Rangers way, and it came as no surprise when a string of tasty tackles culminated in a bad tackle from Fraser Hanson and his dismissal.
Hall Road had it all to do in the second half, however the rigorous effort put into their 4-1 away win at Handsworth Parramore in midweek was extremely evident coupled with a strong first half display this time out by their hosts.
By comparison the second half was a more composed performance by the 10 men of Hall Road however.
Josh Batty’s sweet lob of the Albion keeper looked to have galvanised an unlikely comeback, but as Rangers pressed for a point Stephen Smith grabbed a third for the home side in the final few minutes.
After the game manager Bill Gill wasn’t too disheartened with his side’s performance.
“I’m naturally disappointed about the result, however I would have taken a point mid week and a point today.
We have three from both games though so I’m happy with that.”
Gill was philosophical about the defeat after looking at the bigger picture.
“Our attitude and work ethic for the first 25 min was poor, and the lads know this too.
To top it off one of our younger players has had a straight red card, and from there despite looking more positive and having chances it was always going to be a tough task.
Not making to make excuses regarding today but we had three first team players missing, and have played four times in nine days coupled with a lot of travelling.”
Rangers will have another quick turnaround as they travel to Penistone Church on Wednesday evening looking to keep their points tally up.