Rylands buzzing as Tigers tamed

By Garry Clarke Pictures John Hopkins

WARRINGTON Rylands returned to second in the NPL Premier Division table with a 2-1 victory, overtaking Worksop Town who had leapfrogged the home side in midweek.

Worksop going into the game on the back of a seven-game winning streak enjoyed the better of the territorial battle and greater share of the ball in a cagey first half in which both sides largely cancelled each other out with there being very few attempts on goal.

Worksop took the lead in the 41st minute when Vaughan Radford sent the Rylands goalkeeper the wrong way from the penalty spot after Luke Hall’s jinking run into the box is halted by a foul.
Rylands had appeals for a penalty of their own turned down five minutes earlier. Racing onto a through ball which split open Worksop’s defence Scott Bakkor, pushed from behind, managed to, while stumbling, nudge the ball past the Worksop goalkeeper Seb Malkowski agonisingly onto the post before defenders scramble the ball clear.
Rylands were on level terms on the stroke of half time; Clive Smith’s cross was knocked down by Worksop’s Regan Hutchinson into the path of Hardcastle who drilled the ball into the bottom corner.

The second half was a much more open affair with Worksop continuing to have more of the play with Hall scooping Worksop’s best chance over the bar while Rylands goalkeeper Luke Pilling made a good save to keep out a Jay Rollins shot and Alex Starcenko drove a shot inot the side netting.
The game’s decisive moment came in the 79th minute when substitute Adama Sidibeh blocked an attempt and reacted quickest to loop a header over a stranded Malkowski to send the home contingent home from the recently renamed Hive Arena buzzing.
After the game manager Michael Clegg said: “I’m over the moon. We got everything spot on today. It’s easy to talk about tactics and the lads delivered it. They’re a very, very good side – by far the best we’ve played alongside Radcliffe and Macclesfield, but we worked hard on that this week.

RYLANDS – Pilling, Smith, Swaby-Neavin, Neild, Regan, Furman, Baillie (Touray), Hough, Piggott (Thiam), Hardcastle, Bakkor (Sidibeh) . Subs not used German, Hurst.

WORKSOP TOWN: Malkowski Hutchinson Daniel Starcenko Bencherif Taft Hawkridge Green Hall Redford Rollins; SUBS: Tomlinson Atherton Broadhead Wedgbury Cooper

Attendance 535 Referee Christopher Porter
Man of the match selected by match sponsors Bedspace = Dean Furman.

GOALS@AdoSidibeh wins the points for the blues with a brilliant headed finish https://t.co/oimIuXATQc

— Warrington Rylands FC (@RylandsFC) November 19, 2023

GOALS@BHardcastle_ levels the scores with an expert finish after the ball found its way to him from a Clive Smith cross https://t.co/NpF5JkuQ6J

— Warrington Rylands FC (@RylandsFC) November 19, 2023