RAMS HOLD OUT FOR THE WIN
Harvey Hayhurst and Henri Ogunby at the final whistle after a late Charnock surge.
A first half where the Rams were excellent and blew Charnock away with three goals was in contrast to a second half where the crossbar, a Brad Rose penalty save and two late goals left the home side clinging on to the three points at the death.
Football supporters turning out in persistent drizzle under the lights on Tuesday underwent a roller coaster of emotions as high flying Ramsbottom entertained green-clad Charnock Richard.
The home side began well, stringing together passes on the ground with the football easy on the eye. It was no surprise when they took the lead on sixteen minutes. A vicious Maine Walder corner was swung in from the Rams right and headed back across the box, before being fed back into the path of the onrushing Oscar Radcliffe who fired an unstoppable first time shot past former Ram Ryan Hamer to the delight of his teammates and the home fans.
Ramsbottom were swarming over Charnock at this stage, creating clever incisive moves based around rhythmic triangular passing. Moments later there was a strong claim for penalty which was brushed away to the dismay of the massed Ultras with their excellent view.
By now the home side was rampant and not to be denied. A move down the left produced a low cross nodded into the path of Matt Dudley who headed emphatically past Hamer for a well-deserved second for the Rams.
More was to follow as the game unfolded with the home side’s total football, combined with a high press work rate preventing Charnock gaining a foothold.
Another slick passing move around the edge of the box led to a Rams third. Central defender Luke Barlow had joined in the attack and played a neat one-two before crashing a low shot which flew past Hamer and embedded itself in the net.
The home supporters were in dreamland. It looked like the Rams were on course to replicate their four-nil win at Euxton or even the eight-goal hammering meted out to Glasshoughton on the same ground a couple of weeks earlier.
The visitors were grateful to get in at half-time without conceding further and rang the changes in the second half with substitutions and a bolstering of their defence. It worked as there was a notable improvement as they stuck with their pleasing game putting together a series of fine passing moves – not always easy at three nil down and away from home.
The Rams seemed content to manage the game although there was a great chance for Harvey Whyte which he blazed over the bar from six yards out, but these became isolated raids rather than the dominance enjoyed in the first half.
Around fifteen minutes from the end Charnock were awarded a penalty. Rose dived to his left palming the ball away from danger for a magnificent save to keep the three-goal lead intact. The full importance of Rose’s save was to become evident later as the management rang the changes, bringing on a series of substitutes including Scott Sephton – how nice to see him back in a blue shirt.
The changes themselves may have disrupted the Rams rhythm as the game entered its closing stages. Two minutes from the end a passing move down the left led to Jordan Darr entering the box and flashing a low shot which beat Rose and nestled in the far corner for what appeared to be a consolation and blemish any cherished clean sheet.
Infused with confidence and in injury time a Charnock move down the right was smashed past Rose by Nathan Nickeas to bring the score to three two and the almost unthinkable prospect of points being jeopardised as the Rams fans recalled the chastening injury-time meltdown against Silsden.
Rams, however, managed the situation well – with a couple of attacks seeking the corner flag as their destination before the final whistle went to some home relief.
The players went to the fans at the end. The match was full of excitement and incident, and the first half performance was as good as anything ever seen on the ground. The late lapse can be addressed as the formidable defensive presence of Teague and Sephton make themselves felt in the remaining three quarters of the season.
The Rams sit second on a healthy twenty-nine points.
RAMSBOTTOM UNITED: Rose, Radcliffe, Hayhurst, Teague (S Sephton), Barlow, Walder, Baker, Whyte (Walker), Dudley (Ogunby), Holland-Wilkinson (Stacey), L Sephton Not used: Whittingham
GOALS: Radcliffe (15), Dudley (28), Barlow (36); Darr (89), Nickeas (90+2)
ATT: 243
