Aaron off to flier as Rammy double up
EVO-STIK NPL DIVISION ONE NORTH PRESCOT CABLES .......... 2 RAMSBOTTOM UTD ....... 4 TONY CUNNINGHAM
THROUGH the mist that descended on Merseyside on a December afternoon, the Rams improved their poor away record in an entertaining, if hardly classic, game of football.
On a pitch hardly conducive to passing and running, both teams gave plenty of effort, but at the end, the points deservedly came back to east Lanca- shire, as the Rams doubled their tally of away wins for the season.
They could hardly have asked for a better start, nor could new signing Aaron Hollindrake, recently arrived from Barnoldswick Town.
It took him just seven minutes of his debut to open his account for the Rams, as he poked the ball just inside the post at the end of a flowing move down the left hand side of the pitch.
At that point the healthy Rammy support were expecting an avalanche of goals against a team that ●● Ryan Salmon goes close against Prescot Cables had leaked in seven just a week before, but the home side gradually wrestled control as the visitors struggled to cope with the playing surface.
On the half hour Rob Doran raced through the Rams defence to blast home the equaliser, and at this point it was no more than Cables deserved.
It seemed to wake up the men in blue, and Ryan Salmon could count himself unlucky not to have grabbed a hat-trick before the break, as his team attempted to regain the upper hand. The experienced Phil Priestley, in the Prescot goal, won his personal battle with the Rams No.9 to keep the scores level as the teams went in for the break.
As the mist began to thicken, too many offside calls appeared to be blocking the Rams’ hopes of regaining the lead, but they eventually managed to beat the home defence on 61 minutes, as Hollindrake timed his run to perfection as he held off his marker to crash home his, and his team’s second.
The lead was once again pegged back, as just six minutes later Paul Linwood unceremoniously ended a run into the box, and Doran stepped up to level from the spot.
This time, Salmon was not to be denied as he attempted to put the visitors’ noses in front. Having been frustrated by the home side’s custodian in the first half, he finally gained his revenge on 70 minutes.
Priestley’s legs again denied the striker, but from the half-cleared resultant corner, Salmon charged forward, nipping in to flick the ball over the advancing keeper, and despite a brave lunge by a Prescot defender, saw the ball bounce up into the roof of the net, and once again Ramsbottom had the edge.
While restricting the home team to long-range efforts, another goal for the Rams would have eased the nerves, and that promptly arrived ten minutes from time.
A free-kick ten yards outside the box, to the left-hand side, was lined up by Grant Spencer, and he expertly clipped the ball over the wall and into the near top corner, much to his, his team-mates’, and the supporters’ delight.
The final whistle blew on an entertaining game that was hardly for the football purists, but the Rams and their supporters cared little about that. It was all about the three points, and as the mist continued to descend, had the game gone on for another ten minutes, it may well have been called off.