Hill header settles tense Heys derby
Goalscorer Gareth Hill celebrates with skipper Macauley Wilson.
Ramsbottom United took on neighbours Prestwich Heys on Tuesday, with a well-tended green pitch under the lights, an evocative backdrop to gladden football fans’ senses of a fine evening for football.
Prestwich, in teal blue, started brightly with Bryson Appleton not scared to run at the home defence, where Matty Cleary made a number of early interventions in a fine start on his home debut.
Appleton continued to probe and find space to fire in a fierce shot, but home keeper Reece Trueman read his intentions and was well positioned to confidently take it on his chest and prevent the ball spilling back into danger.
Gradually the energy of the home side started to tell. Charlie Cox got into some promising positions on the left flank, balancing Oscar Radcliffe on the right. Terry Cummings proved lively in his advanced role with strong running and astute pitch awareness adding another dimension. The returning Matt Dudley made it a front three, easing the pressure on goal-machine Gareth Hill.
The nearest Rams came was a fierce driven shot from Matt Dudley, arrowing for the top corner before eluding the far post. Moments later the lively Terry Cummings charged into the box and glanced a header wide.
The game developed into an absorbing rather than incident packed encounter with intricate passing patterns and some lovely ground football played by both sides. it lacked a killer instinct at times however, with few clear-cut chances created.
Half-time arrived nil-nil, with everything still to play for and perhaps a game in which one goal would be enough to win it.
In the second half, Prestwich again started brightly, prompted by Luke Findlow’s intelligent control and distribution from the back, finding willing runners all over the pitch from his full back berth.
Urged on by an increasingly expectant home crowd, the Rams started to wrest possession and, on 55 minutes, won a corner. Dudley fired in a vicious in-swinger from the left and, and as it arrived in the box, it was met with a fine leap by Gareth Hill who used its pace to direct the ball past Heys keeper Hall and into the back of the net. It was just in front of the Ultras and Hill’s ninth goal in just eight games in a blue shirt – and one which they celebrated together.
Prestwich responded with a series of substitutions as they continued to probe as they fashioned sustained and clever passing moves but sometimes the angle or weight of the final ball let the home side off the hook.
In the latter stages, Prestwich won a series of corners and, with referee Flynn allowing a generous eight minutes of injury time, shredded home nerves – with Prestwich keeper Hall joining the fray. They were repelled by the hard-working home team, with captain Macauley Wilson leading by example and working well alongside the impressive Cleary.
The final whistle was met with a loud roar as players and delighted Ultras communed to celebrate a second victory in four days, with the six points keeping Rams at the business end of the table as the season unfolds.
They go again with a tricky fixture against near neighbors Irlam on Saturday.
Manager Rob Henry was a proud man at the end of the game.
“A hard fought three points against good opposition in a tight game”, was his assessment. “Tonight, we showed a different side to us in the latter stages of the game, we showed character, togetherness and a team spirit needed to grind games out, to secure points and a clean sheet.”
He added, “This showed the progression the group is making and how the mentality is starting to grow and evolve.
“We still have lots of aspects we need to improve at but we must use the last two games as a platform to really kick on and find that consistency in performance and results which will be pivotal this season.”
RAMSBOTTOM UNITED: Trueman, Radcliffe, Cox (Lam), Collinge, Wilson, Cleary, Chambers (Beamon), Sowerby (Dimba), Hill, Dudley (Forbes), Cummings (McCann)
GOALS: Gareth Hill (55)
ATT: 228
• The Ramsbottom United Youth team progressed to the 1st Qualifying round of the FA YOUTH CUP after returning home from NPL club Warrington Rylands on Tuesday, on the back of an excellent 5-1 victory.
Rylands were pre-match favourites, but the Rams made a nonsense of such, putting in an emphatic display over 90 minutes with goals from Benny Thornton (2), Callum Ogden, Dominic Filidoro and Tom Platt, to thoroughly justify their progression with hopes of making it further in the competition.
