A LATE GOAL IN THE FA TROPHY ROBS RAIL OF VICTORY AGAINST WOODLEY SPORTS
WOODLEY SPORTS 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 2
TEAM NEWS: Rail made 3 changes from the side that lost heavily against Mossley last week. In came Ryan Haigh, Steve Ball and Phil Mitchell replacing Andy Wright, Chris Clarke and Craig Ramplin who was on the bench.
On a blustery day the conditions were going to be difficult to play any decent football on it but as it turned out especially in the 2nd half the game was entertaining to watch. In the first half both teams struggled to cope with the conditions with chances at a premium. The first real chance came to Rail on 15 minutes but the shot didn’t match the build up play and was high, wide and handsome. Most of the play was played in the middle of the park as both defences cancelled each other out. It didn’t really help matters with the man-in-the-middle making one or two strange decisions although to be fair they weren’t match affecting decisions. Rail’s defence looked strong again with Dan Verity marshalling the back 4 with authority. With the wind blowing in all directions any dead ball situation was causing problems for both defences. Woodley had 4 corners in a row late on in the first half and it was a struggle for Manny as on a couple of occasions he had to punch the ball instead of normally coming to collect the cross. Rail held out and in what can only be described as an uneventful first-half.
HALF-TIME: WOODLEY SPORTS 0 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0
If the first half turned out to be uneventful the second half certainly made up for it. Within minutes of the restart Woodley Sports took the lead. Strangely enough it was virtually the same time as when we conceded last week and thoughts of another defeat did enter our heads. Rail had 3 chances to clear the ball and was punished for not doing so. The ball fell kindly to Liam Hogan and his sweetly struck half volley from 20 yards out gave Manny no chance as it flew into the back of the net.
WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 0 (47mins)
With the wind still blowing around Rail had to up their game to have any chance of getting anything out of the cup tie. Changes were made by both sides as Darren Evans came on for the goal scorer Liam Hogan and moments later Phil Mitchell was replaced by Steve Smith. Rail slowly got back into the game as Danny Thirkell long throw-in’s were beginning to pay dividends. On the hour mark Rail got themselves back into the game. Dan took a throw-in deep into Woodley Sports half which ended up at the near post. It was met perfectly by Dan Verity who bulleted the header past the keeper who did manage to get a hand to it but couldn’t stop it going into the back of the net.
WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 1 (60mins)
Everything was up for grabs now as Rail pushed forward with purpose and moments later Tom Sellers found himself in the referee’s notebook for a crude challenge on Steve Smith. Within minutes of the booking Dan Thirkell mysteriously found his name alongside his. An innocuous aerial challenge where Dan fouled the player warranted the yellow card much to Dan’s amazement. It was one of several strange decisions made by the referee in the second-half. The game was very open with Rail getting the better of things and it was no surprise that Rail took the lead. A Ben Jones shot was blocked and he then passed it to Paul Stansfield. The ball was slightly in front of him but he managed to get a toe to it just before the keeper brought him down. The referee pointed straight to the spot. Ben placed the ball on the spot and coolly slotted it home sending the keeper the wrong way.
WOODLEY SPORTS 1 HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 (75mins)
Woodley had not really threatened since scoring the opening goal but if they had any chance they had to come at Rail and try to get an equaliser. Two bookings followed both for Rail. A ball down the middle ended up in a race between Danny Husband and the attacker. Danny seemed to have won the race as the attacker fell over but the referee awarded a free-kick to Woodley and produced a yellow card as well. Moments later Steve Smith became the third Rail player to be booked as he needlessly kicked the ball away after Woodley were awarded a free-kick. Woodley were now throwing everything forward as Rail held out but with minutes remaining Woodley were awarded a corner down on our right. The ball was floated in and there was a mix up in the area where Matt Cotton pounced and finished from close range.
WOODLEY SPORTS 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 2 (84mins)
Woodley pressed forward but couldn’t find another way through and with only 3 minutes injury-time remaining the game ended in a very entertaining two all draw.
FULL-TIME: WOODLEY SPORTS 2 HARROGATE RAILWAY 2
BOOKINGS: 4- Tom Sellers (Woodley) Dan Thirkell, Danny Husband & Steve Smith (Rail)
ATTENDANCE: 81
RAIL MAN OF THE MATCH: DAN VERITY
PLAYERS MARKS:
James Mann – 7
Ryan Haigh – 6
Steve Ball – 6
Craig Smith – 7
Danny Husband – 6
Dan Verity – 8
Phil Mitchell – 6
Paul Stansfield – 7
Ben Jones – 7
James Nestor – 7
Dan Thirkell - 7
