Dronfield Town 5-1 Hall Road

Hall Road Rangers suffered a comprehensive defeat at Dronfield Town on Tuesday night as they lost 5-1. The hosts made the better start to the game and took the lead in the 9th minute thanks to Callum Mawbey who fired an effort into the back of the net.

On the half-hour mark, Rangers almost got themselves back on level terms. Jacob Galloway saw a header cleared off the line and Joe McFadyen subsequently had an effort saved by Dronfield keeper Lewis Naylor. James Piercy then put a header over the bar.

Dronfield doubled their lead in the 41st minute as Owen Lester got himself on the scoresheet. A couple of minutes later, Hall Road conceded a penalty which was converted by Mark Fereday to extend Dronfield’s lead.

In the 52nd minute, the hosts increased their lead even further thanks to a Stu Hill goal. Eight minutes later, Fereday grabbed his 2nd goal of the game to make it 5-0. There would be some consolation for Rangers which came from Joe McFadyen slotting the ball home in the 64th minute to get his 4th goal for the club.

The rest of the game was played out without any further goals for either side.

Rangers joint-manager Dave Ricardo was disappointed with his side’s performance.

“This defeat was exactly what we thought we’d get if we didn’t win the battle as I stated prior to the game. The management team emphasised the need to stand up and be counted and win personal battles all round the park and, other than James Piercy and Harry Griffin, we didn’t.

Football is a simple game, especially at this level, and we didn’t get to grips with the basics. Full credit to Dronfield who hit us hard on the break got their tactics spot on, won the 50/50s and were clinical.

At 1-0, we missed three point-blank headers through poor finishing and a decent save and, instead of keeping it tight until half-time, we let Dronfield in. We had four/five u18s in the side and it showed.

For those lads, it’s a learning curve. However, we expect more from the more experienced players that were out there in terms of leadership and quality. We know the standards we can attain and the players must do that on a more consistent basis although this could be said of any mid table side.

Since the Ferriby win, I don’t think we’ve been able to put out the same 11 once and, not only that, the number of players at times unavailable due to holidays and non-attendance is not something that sits right with me.

Injuries and suspensions have hit us, but they hit any side at some point and it’s how you deal with that which represents you as an individual, a team and as a club. We work hard on player recruitment throughout the season and especially Leon who puts a hell of a lot of work in which should be appreciated.

The best appreciation is being able to work your nuts off and grind out a win even if we’re not at our best. That work starts again on Saturday in a tough home fixture against Retford where we look forward to putting the wrongs of last night right” he said.

Oliver Harsley