31st October 2020 - Rockleaze Rangers edge out Hanham Athletic
Ron Holpin
Covid 19 and the weather saw four fixtures postponed today.
A really exciting game at Hillside Gardens where Rockleaze Rangers played host to Hanham Athletic. Both sides played some attractive football on the 4G surface the passing movements by both teams were outstanding at times. The home side probably shaded the possession during the game but when Hanham attacked they looked really dangerous. Rangers were unlucky not to have taken the lead on 7 minutes when Jordan Buckett’s header thumped against the crossbar following a corner. On 14 minutes Rangers opened the scoring after Miles Hatfield fed the ball to right full back Ile Jarrett to fire past Mason Hawkins from 14 yards. Rangers keeper Jordan Dunning then made two outstanding saves to deny Hanham getting on level terms the first a 25-yard drive from Ben Alexander which he tipped over the bar and then a minute later he turned the ball around the post. On 31 minutes Hatfield was again involved with the second goal for Rangers drifting past a number of Hanham defenders before slipping the ball to Jordan Dent to score. 5 minutes later Rangers under pressure gave away a penalty and Sam Brown hit a tremendous shot into the roof of the net to make it 2-1. The visitors almost levelled on 38 minutes but Connor Hartley’s header hit the post. Rangers should have made it 3-1 when a long ball was latched onto by Dent and with just Hawkins to beat, he pulled his shot wide. He made up for that miss in the 65th minute when he rose above the Hanham defence to head the ball on to Miles Hatfield to run clear and dink the ball over Hawkins to make it 3-1. Rangers Jordan Dent had the ball in the back of the net again on 72 minutes but it was ruled out for offside.
Wick hit back after their defeat last week to win 2-1 at home to Henbury who have yet to find their first win this season. The home started well and both Jordan Scott and Paul Coles had early chances but Henbury keeper Lewis Jefferies kept them out. On 9 minutes Scott had a great chance to give Wick the lead but after meeting a Jordan Yeo cross headed wide of the target. A few minutes later a Mike Hardiman effort was headed over the bar by the Henbury defence. But surprisingly with all that early pressure from the home side they fell behind in the 17th minute from a free kick that they failed to clear and Shaquille Hunter hit the ball through a crowd of players into the Wick net. The lead lasted just a minute when Mike Hardiman’s shot was turned into his own net by Sam Fitzpatrick to level the score. The second half belonged to the home side and they had numerous chances to take the lead but were unable to break down a very stubborn Henbury defence. Then in the 80th minute the home side eventually broke through that defence when Jefferies who had been the Henbury hero spilled a long range shot from Kyle Curtis and Jordan Scott was there to hit the rebound into the net.
Ruardean Hill Rangers led their home game with Gala Wilton 2-0 but collapsed to eventually lose 6-2 to the Gloucester side. Rangers had a great chance on 2 minutes but Steve Clarkes cross into the box was missed by everyone and went out for a goal kick. Gala’s Ryan Dobbins could have given them the lead on 5 minutes but for Underwood’s brilliant save form his header. On 25 minutes Underwood was in action again this time saving well from Jay Dare. Rangers went ahead on 35 minutes finishing off by Stuart Cornwell-Boote following a great team build up for the goal. Then in the 42nd minute after a good build up again the ball came back to Luke Brown to round keeper Lewis Skyers to make it 2-0. A couple on minutes later Steve Clarkes shot whistled past the post. Gala pulled a goal back just before the break when Ryan Dobbins headed in a great cross into the box. Then before the whistle blew for half time Underwood brilliantly saved from Gala’s Jack Holmes. 2 minutes into the second half the scores were level Ryan Dobbins grabbing his second of the afternoon. Then just 3 minutes later Dobbins was put clear to complete his hattrick and put his side 3-2 up. Gala’s Jay Dare should have made it 4-2 a couple of minutes later but failed to beat Underwood. Gala did score a fourth on 70 minutes when Martin Smith was put clear to fire past the Rangers keeper. A looping header for Dan McNally on 85 minutes made it 5-2 and a second from Martin Smith a minute later gave the visitors a resounding win.
Sharpness and Quedgeley Wanderers shared a point each with a 1-1 draw in difficult conditions at Hamfields. A 15th minute corner by the home side was cleared to Paterson who hit a left footed shot at the Wanderers goal but keeper Nathan Charnock pushed it behind for another corner. The first half an hour was a balanced affair with Quedgeley breaking the deadlock on the half hour mark with a great cross field ball to Jimmy Thomas who rounded Dan Hobbs and smartly finished passed the back-tracking Sharpness defence. Sharpness had a goal marginally disallowed for offside from Strickland and found themselves trailing 1-0 at the break. The second half saw an instant reaction with Ryan Ponting floating a great ball for Sam Strickland to volley home. The game could have gone either way with Quedgeley having a Liam Thomas corner cleared off the line by Mitchell Malshanskyj and Sharpness having both Brad Gibbs and Brad Hewer blazing just wide from outside the box. Two great chance in the second half for the home side saw the Quedgeley goalkeeper saving twice from Alex Gayner with one being clawed off the line.
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