Hedon Rangers U12s welcomed Bridlington Rangers to the Stadio de la Eastside on a bright, fresh Sunday morning.
The previous night’s heavy rain made the pitch slick and the game went ahead with great thanks to the Eastside groundmen’s tireless work. Hedon Rangers were without Dobbs and captain Rogers for this league game, with manager Smith opting to challenge his team to take a victory without a full squad.
Brown deputised as captain and Hedon started on the front foot, passing the ball along the ground very well with some great ball retention and creating several good opportunities but were unable to find an opener. It did come eventually when Johnson found himself with space and time on the edge of the box.
He picked his spot and found the bottom corner to give Hedon a well-deserved 1-0 lead on the 15-minute mark. Much respect to Brid Rangers who responded to going down very well and came back fighting.
After one request for a penalty was turned down a second was awarded minutes later. The Bridlington forward who was fouled dusted himself down and coolly slotted into the bottom corner to make the scores even going into half-time.
The second half was pretty much a continuation of the first, with Hedon Rangers heavily dominant but unable to unlock the door as Brid Rangers keeper made some tremendous saves from Smith Jnr, Heidstra and Matthews.
Hedon eventually regained the lead from an umpteenth corner swept in by Johnson. There was uncertainty in the Brid Rangers penalty box, but certainly not by Shipstone as she proceeded to thrash the ball into the back of the net to give Hedon a well-deserved three points.
Players of the match were Mosey and Johnson.
Manager Smith concluded that, once again, he was left wondering how they had not scored a hatful of goals today, but also very pleased with only conceeding one penalty in 60 minutes of football as well as putting on a great performance while a few players down, which shows how they are progressing as a team.
Next week the Rangers travel to Pride Park in Hull to try to avenge last month’s penalty shoot-out cup defeat against Priory Wildcats.
