Hall Road Rangers vs Maltby Main

Tuesday March 27

Haworth Park, 7.45pm

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division

By Ollie Harsley

A fresh sense of optimism will be in the Hall Road Rangers camp ahead of their game against Maltby Main at Haworth Park on Tuesday night. Their fine 2-0 win at Staveley MW has bred a new wave of confidence and belief throughout the club and they will be raring to go ahead of this upcoming match.

This game will be the first of four successive home games which provides the perfect chance to pick up some very important points in Hall Road’s bid to stave off the threat of relegation. It also allows Rangers to try and build momentum ahead of their hectic fixture schedule as the season draws to a frenetic close. Pickering Town, Albion Sports and Hemsworth Miners Welfare are all due to come to Haworth Park in the next week or so and it is down to Rangers to make their home turf a fortress and uncomfortable for other teams to play their game.

Hall Road boss Bill Gill is well aware of the fixture congestion his side have in the next month and hinted that he will look to make changes when he can as each game comes thick and fast. “After this week we play 3 times a week in April and we also need to look at rotation for game time and recovery. Luckily we have a good size squad to do this”, Gill said.

Maltby have virtually secured 5th position in the NCEL Premier Division table and arguably have nothing to play for in their remaining games. However, they will want to ensure they don’t relax too early so the 3 points on Tuesday night will be a must for them. Their form recently has been quite inconsistent with 3 defeats in their last 6 league games but they did pick up a very creditable point against Handsworth Parramore in a 0-0 draw on Saturday. Their last two away games have both ended in defeats at Penistone Church and Bridlington Town so that will be something they will want to rectify when they visit Haworth Park.

Gill recognises Maltby’s recent indifferent form but also points out the danger they can cause teams. “We face a very good Maltby team who have been frustrated themselves recently with inconsistency. You don’t need to look far though to see some of the great results they’ve had this season including the 10-3 victory at Clipstone recently. We won’t be taking anything for granted and we know we will have to be disciplined, organised and bang up for it to get something from the game”, Gill said.

Another victory for Hall Road in this game would be an excellent achievement but a lot of hard work will have to be done on the pitch against what is a very good Maltby team. There will be some added motivation in the Rangers camp due to the late winner Maltby scored in the reverse fixture to win 2-1. The positives from the Staveley MW win should lift the overall spirit of the players and this should be reflected on Tuesday night but the same level of desire and application needs to be put in.

Gill also admits that he has no injury worries in his squad but he may make one or two alterations to his team on Tuesday night. “We have no injury concerns but do have a few missing for this fixture which will allow some other players the opportunity to impress and take their chance”, Gill concluded.

The continuous support of the team by the fans has been fantastic recently and that needs to carry on up to the end of the season. The club needs the supporters at Haworth Park to help sustain the mood of positivity that is around after the win at Staveley MW and to help push Hall Road Rangers to safety.