7 days ago
Birthday boy Ben gets Warrington Rylands their first win
WARRINGTON Rylands' first home match of the new season yielded their first victory on Tuesday night.
A solitary first-half goal decided the contest against Bamber Bridge at Gorsey Lane, with Ben Hardcastle notching just after the half-hour mark on his 31st birthday.
After George Waring had worked hard to win the ball back high up the field, the ball broke to the midfielder who smashed home from just inside the penalty area.
Having taken a point from their season opener at Rushall Olympic on Saturday, it is a solid four points from a possible six to start the Northern Premier League Premier Division campaign for Neil Reynolds' side.
What was the main talking point?
Under the guidance of Jamie Milligan, Bamber Bridge have established themselves as a team that like to keep the ball on the floor at all costs.
While it can have spectacular results, however, it can also be their downfall as it was on this occasion.
Many of Rylands' clearest attacking moments came from pressing high and forcing mistakes in the Brig rearguard - they had an early warning when Alex Kiwomya tried flicking to an unaware George Waring as opposed to shooting, but it was one they did not heed as Hardcastle's opener came from a botched attempt to play out from a goal kick just after the half-hour mark.
That is not to say the rest of the game without incident - far from it, with both sides enjoying moments of joy during a lively first half in particular.
Rylands could legitimately say they could have been two goals up inside the first 10 minutes and will argue the margin could have been greater, but the result adds to a solid start to the campaign for Neil Reynolds' men.
Having begun slowly last season, there are no such issues thus far at Gorsey Lane.
Which players stood out?
The Rylands midfield is functional but fluid at the same time, with the ageless Dean Furman acting as a fire blanket to release Hardcastle and Ben Hough to get involved higher up the field.
Further back, skipper James Neild was his usual assured presence at the back - deployed on the left of a back three, he never seemed to be forced out of second gear by anything the visitors sent his way.
When he did have to exert himself after the break, Neild made two critical interventions to prevent Bamber Bridge from troubling goalkeeper Luke Pilling, particularly stretching acrobatically to stop Jamie Allen from reaching a ball over the top.
'A really professional performance' - what they said
Hardcastle missed from the penalty spot during Saturday's draw at Rushall Olympic but post-match, Reynolds said his ability to bounce back and make the ultimate difference three days later spoke to his "strength of character."
Overall, he hailed "a really professional performance" from his side,
"They caused us a lot of problems – you could see why they had a good win on Saturday and we had to be at our very best," he said.
"I thought it was an excellent performance – we knew they played with a midfield diamond and we tried to nullify it.
"We broke it a couple of times in the first half and Alex Kiwomya got in, as did Ben Hardcastle.
"Massive credit to Ben Hardcastle – his head was in the bin on Saturday after missing a penalty but the strength of character of him to come back and grab the winner. That's what he does.
"We gave him a little more freedom but all over the park, it was a really professional performance."
