North Ferriby United

Ferriby were made to work hard by Hall Road Rangers at The Chadwick Stadium on Thursday evening. The game had been re-scheduled following Tuesday night’s cancellation at Haworth Park due to  a dangerous pitch. 

The Villagers won Thursday’s match 3-2 with all the goals coming in the first-half. James Nichols fired Ferriby ahead after 17  minutes with a first-time shot. Kent Bannister doubled Ferriby’s lead eight minutes later with a low shot from 18 yards. It was his second in successive games.

Ferriby were looking in control and comfortable but were rocked when Rangers scored twice in a minute through Martin Jones. The first goal, after 35 minutes was close-range header and the second was a well-struck low shot.

The winning goal came on the stroke of half-time with Luke Lofts driving home from just inside the penalty area. It was a goal that Lofts thoroughly deserved as he had been a constant threat to the visitors’ defence throughout the half.

As in the previous game, Chris Bolder made a number of changes at half-time. They had little effect on Ferriby’s control of the game. The Villagers regularly threatened to score. It was pleasing to see players have the confidence to shoot at goal when the opportunities arose. The defence looked solid and well-organised.

Credit needs to go to Chris Bolder and Paul Robson who have got the players performing to a plan after just a few training sessions. It bodes well for the new season as the players seem to have confidence in their ability and in their organisational play.