TEAM: SUTCLIFFE,THIRKELL,BALL,GRIFFITHS,RILEY,RADCLIFFE,CARTMAN,HENRY,JONES,RYAN.S,RYDER
SUBS: SMITH,JOHNSON,RYAN.L,YORATH

On a bright afternoon Rail were hoping to continue their good work against mid-table Woodley Sports.
Things set off pretty even for both teams as Rail tried to press forward and pressurise the Woodley defence. The first half hour continued in the same vein with neither keeper being really tested. The game finally came to life in the last 15 minutes of the half. On 35 minutes Woodley suprisingly took the lead. There seemed to be no danger when Woodley went forward. They worked the ball into the far righthand corner and the attacker somehow managed to cross the ball in. The ball looped up and dropped to the far post with Liam Sutcliffe struggling to cut the cross out. He may of got a fingertip to it but it came off the angle of the crossbar and post and the ball dropped kindly to an unmarked Mike Clarke and from just a few yards out he blasted the ball into the back of the net. Rail 0 Woodley Sports 1
This stunned Rail into action and virtually straight after Woodley had taken the lead they had a chance to equalise. Ben Jones robbed the defender 30 yards out and squared the ball to Nathan Cartman. He took the ball on and shot but the keeper blocked his attempt. The ball came out to Nathan again and he tried to get into position to shoot his final shot was rushed and went past the post. However he didn’t have to wait long to make amends. Rail worked the ball down the left to Steve Ball and his outswinging cross was met by Nathan’s head. Although his header was on target it took a slight deflection of a defender and this took it past the despairing dive from the keeper and into the back of the net. Rail 1 Woodley Sports 1 (44 minutes)
A minute later Nathan found himself on the wide right and as he tried to beat the defender he was taken out by what looked like a forearm smash. Although the defender got away with a warning Nathan was lucky to escape without any serious injury. Seconds later the referee blew for half-time. Rail 1 Woodley Sports 1
Neither side made any changes for the start of the second half.
Rail started the second half on the front foot and were having a lot of joy down the left with Nathan and David Henry both operating well together. The first real major threat from Rail came when Dave Henry cut in from the left and his shot from 15 yards out clipped the outside of the post with the keeper struggling to get down and cover the shot. Minutes later it was Nathans turn to cut in from the left. He beat one defender and made inroads into the area and as he tried to beat another defender his heals were clipped and the referee pointed straight to the penalty spot. Up stepped Steve Ball. Although his shot was well struck Ben Connett dived to his right and palmed the ball away for a corner. Seconds later Woodley Sports made their first change of the game. On Woodley Sports first attack of the half nearly resulted in them taking the lead. A cross in from the right resulted in hesitation between our defender and Liam and the ball bounced free but the attackers shot was well saved by Liam and the ball went out for a corner. Rail then made a substitution as the tiring Tom Griffiths was replaced by another debutant - Steve Smith. Woodley Sports did get the ball into the back of the net but the lines persons flag went up for offside. Nathan was causing the Woodley Sports defence all sorts of problems and this time it was from the right side. He robbed the defender and took the ball in and his blistering 20 yard shot was finger-tipped over the crossbar for a corner. A substitution was made by both sides as Dave Henry was taken off and replaced by our third debutant - Matt Johnson. Scotty Ryan was having a quiet game but his right wing cross resulted in Rail taking the lead. The ball found Nathan on the edge of the area and he controlled the ball well. He turned and beat the oncoming defender and his low shot found the bottom corner of the net with the keeper desperatly trying to keep it out. Rail 2 Woodley Sports 1 (74 minutes)
Rail were having a lot of possession with Woodley Sports rarely threatening. From a corner on the right Rail should have extended their lead. The cross evaded all the players at the front and it ended up at the feet of Steve Smith at the far post. He just about controlled the ball and his shot was cleared off the line. From the same position Steve again found himself free but it didn’t look as though he was expecting the ball and it hit his chest and was cleared away by a defender. Nathan was still having a lot of joy down the left and as he cut in once again he was brought down by Gary Gee. A free-kick was awarded and the referee produced a yellow card. It was turning out to be a one-man show by Nathan and he was determined to finish off in style. Another run with defenders unable to cope with him nearly resulted in him getting his hat-trick but the keeper did well at the near post and stopped his goal bound shot. Time was running out for Woodley so they brought on their final sub to see if they could rescue a point. They very rarely threatened and except for a few heart flutters the Rail defence held out but not before Josh Radcliffe was shown a yellow card for an innocuous challenge. Final Score: Rail 2 Woodley Sports 1

MY COMMENTS:
The morale of the players seems to be lifting game by game. Once we took the lead there was no panicing and they seem to control the game quite well. One or two of the new players obviously aren’t match fit but seem to fit into the side easily. My only worry as we have now lost Rob Morgan that once Josh Radcliffe has finished his loan spell that we are going to be short of a quality central defender. I’m sure Phil Sharpe will be on the lookout for a ready replacement. The pre-match build up seems to be working so long may that last. Things are steadily taking shape after a very shaky start.