Rangers Win Scrap In The Fog
Bingham Town 1-2 Woodthorpe Park Rangers
Rangers have two games in hand over Bingham and this victory has meant that winning both of those matches would leave them above the Butt-Fielders in the division by two points. However, this was no joyride for players, coaches, officials, or spectators alike. There was fog. I had seen none en route from Solihull until I reached the Nottingham area and really, it was fortunate that the game went ahead at all. Fair play to the referee for giving it a chance but in all honesty, the gloom worsened after the interval and the final ten minutes or so made life very tough for filming with a hand-held camera. The weather apart, there was a good deal of untidy football played. It was gritty, physical stuff but also there were several unpleasant scenes, whereby players contested decisions made by the referee and indeed one or two players would be smirking afterwards because they escaped not only cautions for some really unpleasant dissent but also periods in the sin-bin. That nobody was punished in any way was shocking.
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| THE TOSS... |
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| AWAITING THE ASSISTANTS... |
An early goal for Town’s leading scorer Jake Hardy was overturned by Markell Bailey’s brace for Woodthorpe, including a penalty which was hesitantly flagged for by a linesman and almost abjectly awarded by the main official. Bailey’s second goal had a hint of offside about it, although the video clip is perhaps inconclusive. However, nothing must be taken away from Rangers’ superb effort to cling onto their lead, although it must be said that Bingham’s offense rarely troubled visiting goalie Callum Marks.
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| READY TO GO... |
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NO FAG IN HAND, LIKE WHEN MAKING HIS WAY INTO GOAL FOR THE SECOND PERIOD, BELOW... |
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| WILDERNESS... |
Neither team was able to mount much opening period offense but lively Woodthorpe left-flanker Darren Oldham did waltz past two weak Town challenges to cut inside from the left byeline and test home gloveman Harry Hayward, forcing a tip-over of the rising drive at the near stick. Other than that, a curling effort by vociferous central striker Conor Carter which passed by the left upright and a poked effort by skipper Corey Johnson in a horrible scramble were the only real attempts at goal by the visitors. Johnson’s effort was actually hacked away by home skipper Tom Spencer on his goal-line in a crowd, following a Bailey corner.
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| THOSE ORANGE SHIRTS WERE USEFUL IN THE GLOOM... |
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| DISMAL CONDITIONS... |
Early on, Bingham had seen a touch by Callum Leach at the left post go wide and in fact the Town winger and his marker Ant Birks would subsequently be involved in quite a tussle. Then Euan Sweeting fed Leach who managed to escape the attentions of both Johnson and Oldham to reach the right byeline and Hardy was in at the near post to jab his team ahead at full stretch. Later in the half, Hardy ballooned another Leach assist and the busy Matt Snellgrove lifted an effort well off target, beyond the right angle of crossbar and post. But Bailey then took centre-stage…
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| 1-0... |
First, we all stood cold in heavy mist whilst the forward addressed his malfunctioning bootlaces, before he drove a low spot-kick into the bottom left corner of goal to regain parity for his team. And then he continued to address his bootlace malfunction…
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| 1-1 & BAILEY CELEBRATES WITH HIS BOOTLACES... |
A leaping back-header by the argumentative Carter (just the kind of centre-forward I like to watch) soon freed Bailey at inside-right to rifle a low shot past the helpless Haywood. Maybe Bailey moved too soon and was offside, maybe not. The break thus arrived with the guests spoiling the hosts’ party. A hot toddy, warm mince pie and a quick clutch of a water bottle was what the players needed. What I needed was to feel life in my ice-cold left hand…
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| 1-2 NOW... |
In truth, the second period in worsening and rather spooky fog was a defensive battle for the Rangers, for their offense was rarely a factor. Dan Walker did head a Bailey corner just over the target and a substitute, not Callum Moss, but the other guy whose number I simply could not decipher through the smog from the opposite side of the field, forced Haywood to save low, late in the proceedings. Otherwise, more pressure was exerted by Bingham but despite shoving defender Ed Hodgson into attack, his pair of headers from set-pieces flew too high, to his disgust. Sweeting couldn’t get his head to a Rob Lakin centre and he also shot twice from distance but way off target. Sweeting did veer left past Marks but his angled delivery failed to find either the net or Hardy’s slide in front of an open goal. A Sweeting free-kick struck Rangers’ defensive wall but Spencer’s rebound effort went wide and the home skipper later shot straight at the ‘keeper at his near stick.
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| DISCUSSIONS... |
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| OLDHAM & BAILEY CLOSELY MARKED... |
Marks earned, er, full marks for rushing at both Lakin and Hardy to block attempted shots in a melee, Cole Maule shot weakly at Marks and Lucas lifted a shot tree-high in the closing moments. And that was that, really…
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| PLAYING MUSICAL STATUES... |
Certainly Bailey was emotional during the closing minutes, Carter continued to put himself about but in all honesty one has to applaud Johnson, Walker and Jake Towlson in the Rangers defence, for their efforts were selfless. Adam Chenery worked hard in midfield and Toby King plied his trade well on the offensive right but with Birks and the wholehearted Dan Dennis supporting the defence from the full-back positions, Sweeting and Hardy were generally kept downtown.
For the hosts, Jay Archer and Snelgrove were industrious but something appeared to be missing with the team’s creativity and the service which I presume Hardy and Sweeting must be used to was lacking.
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| CARTER MAKES A POINT... |
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| BAILEY HAS A WORD, TOO... |
Thanks to Bingham for the fine welcome and to Rangers’ Corey Johnson for fishing out his team-sheet for me to photograph before the match began…
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| JOHNSON, THE RANGERS SKIPPER... |
Awful fog harassed my journey home until some way down the A46, when all became clear…
Unbelievable…
TEAMS:
BINGHAM TOWN:
HARRY HAYWOOD, ED HODGSON, MIKE LUCAS, ROB LARKIN, COLE MAULE, MATT SNELGROVE, CALLUM LEACH, JAY ARCHER, EUAN SWEETING, TOM SPENCER (CAPT), JAKE HARDY.
SUBS:
RICKY BENWELL, HARLEY COX, LEWIS RAY.
WOODTHORPE PARK RANGERS:
CALLUM MARKS, DAN DENNIS, ANT BIRKS, DAN WALKER, JAKE TOWLSON, COREY JOHNSON (CAPT), TOBY KING, ADAM CHENERY, CONOR CARTER, MARKELL BAILEY, DARREN OLDHAM.
SUBS:
KIERAN WHEAT, CONNOR SCOTT-PARKIN, CALLUM MOSS, TOBIAS RICHARDSON.
