OZZY STRIKE SEALS ABBEY WIN

Oscar Radcliffe fires home our 32nd minute winner at The Abbey Stadium.

At a sun-soaked Abbey Stadium, it was the Rams, in their home blue strip, who worked an opening for the first attempts of the game, with the eventual goalscorer Radcliffe having a first effort blocked before pulling the rebound left of the goal five minutes in, as he found space just outside the area on his favoured right hand side. A few moments later, a Rams corner saw Luke Barlow rise highest, but his effort was only straight at home ‘keeper Connor Beard.

Abbey Hey looked to get themselves into the game with a series of swooping balls over to the right hand side, however Lucas Braganca had the better of the tricky-looking Jamal Crawford in the earlier stages, the latter’s early crosses all being shepherded out by the recently-turned 18 year old.

Beard was called into action from a dangerous Harvey Hayhurst cross, clawing the ball clear as men in blue approached at the back post. Some smart footwork from Jacob Holland-Wilkinson threatened to create a couple of openings, but after Harvey Whyte’s deflected shot on the half hour mark after Matt Dudley’s lay off only fell generously for the ‘keeper, it looked as though the Rams’ period of possession in the Abbey Hey half was not going to convert into a deserved lead.

However a minute later, Whyte found real space in the centre of the park for the first time, picking out the forward pass, Holland-Wilkinson immediately laying-off to Matt Dudley whose through ball found the onrushing Oscar Radcliffe, who had been involved in the move in it’s primitive stages, who finished emphatically past Beard to open the scoring.

A couple of loose touches and poorly timed free kicks meant the last 90 seconds of the half were a little nervy at the back for the Rams, but they did take a deserved slender advantage going into the interval.

Abbey Hey gaffer Simon Heaton decided to twist at half time – a triple substitution that had an immediate effect on the game. Two of the three fresh-legged men combined within 60 seconds, with Edward Schryburt and Moses Yoak creating an opportunity from a right-sided free kick and some more nervy moments on the other side of the break. A good passing move a few minutes later from Hey resulted in Rhys Webb having the space to wrap his right foot round one, but he fired high & wide.

A series of corners brought Brad Rose into action for the first real time – he punched over a free-header from the Home captain Josh Dickin. The chances kept coming, and cross from Jamal Crawford, who began to find more success against Braganca, from the right was met by an acrobatic effort from Webb, who this time pulled it left.

Steve Wilkes responded to the flurry of chances by turning to the bench, with Terry Cummings being quickly followed by Jamie Proctor and later Jamie Rother. Two of the three combined to almost put the game to bed – after a frustrating first few involvements, Proctor found his touch and played in Cummings in a 2 v 1, who opted to shoot himself but only fired straight at Beard.

Less than 60 seconds later, Abbey Hey were back at the other end, and the ball fell kindly for Webb once more after another good move, and he mirrored Cummings’ effort. A free kick from Leighton Egan perfectly picked out an unmarked teammate, but he couldn’t quite twist his body enough to direct his header goalwards. Luke Merrill had the chance to chest the ball down and volley first time as the clock continued to tick down, but the ball was always rising over Rose’s bar.

Despite the seemingly never-ending home onslaught, Brad Rose still wasn’t called into shot-stopping action on many occasions, which only earns credit to the back-line for a hard-earned clean sheet. As the Hey began to tire into added time, the Rams showed their experience to run the remaining seconds down without further drama, but the relief was still clear to see upon the faces of all those in blue as the full time whistle blew.

RAMSBOTTOM UNITED: Rose, Radcliffe, Braganca (Cummings), Walder, Barlow, Baker, Hayhurst, L Sephton, Dudley, Whyte (Rother), Holland-Wilkinson (Proctor)   Not Used: Whittingham, Stacey

GOAL: Oscar Radcliffe (32)

ATT: 193