North Ferriby VS Hall Road Rangers

Villagers Too Strong For Rangers

North Ferriby FC 2-0 Hall Road Rangers

Attendance: 409

North Ferriby United made it six games unbeaten with victory over Hall Road Rangers at The Dransfield Stadium.

With numerous changes for the hosts, Manager Chris Bolder was clearly trying to rotate players to avoid injuries with a gruelling few weeks ahead. Jordan Douglas replaced Lewis Exhall in goal, as well as  Joe Dale and Will Annan dropping to the bench after the midweek draw at Hallam.

The Villagers started the brighter of the two teams, with Gary Bradshaw creating a half chance in the early stages, but Hall Road managed to clear their lines. On 9 minutes though, Ferriby were 1-0 up. A mazy run and smart finish from an acute angle from Luke Lofts put The Villagers in front. The forward did very well to create the chance, and then finish from such a difficult angle. A quick succession of corners almost saw the lead doubled, but the score remained 1-0. 

On 22 minutes, Gary Bradshaw made it 2-0. Brody Robertson did very well out wide, and pulled the ball to Tom Corner, who calmly squared the ball to Bradshaw who managed to poke it past the Hall Road goalkeeper Jody Barford. It looked like the chance had gone as Bradshaw seemed to tread on the ball before scoring, but he kept his cool and slotted home. Ferriby kept the ball well and the only real chance Hall Road had was a long distance effort from Rangers skipper Richard Metcalf. Jordan Douglas in the Ferriby goal just managed to get back on his line and save the attempt, and at half time the score stayed at 2-0 to the hosts. 

The second half was a much more scrappy affair, with Hall Road taking a physical approach to the game. Robertson in particular felt hard done by on a couple of challenges, and there was also a possible penalty shout on Luke Lofts, but in truth neither side looked like scoring. The only attempt for the Villagers came when substitute Will Annan was one-on-one with the Hall a Road ‘keeper, but Barford managed to save smartly and keep the deficit to two. The only booking came for a challenge by Callum Stone on Robertson, but chances were at a premium and North Ferriby ran out 2-0 victors. 

After the game, manager Chris Bolder said: “They’re always tough - local derbies – Hall Road have been in good form, so it was pleasing to get the 2-0 win”.

When asked about the only negative of the afternoon – Tom Corner having to be substituted after a knock – Bolder said, “Tom’s picked up a little bit of a calf problem. We’re not quite sure how serious that is at the moment. It’s not a pull, it’s more of a bang – so we’ll have to see how he responds”.

Bolder’s men have a quick turnaround now to Tuesday, where they will face Hull United in the Semi Final of the East Riding Senior Cup for the right to play Hull City U23 in the final.