4th Oct 2008 Kingston upon Hull 4th *(Away) 1 - 0 win
BRIGGS M, HATTON T (1), KETTEMAN M, SUMNALL A, SHUTT I, SNOOK J, APPLEBY H, DAWSON R, HOLMES J, SUGDEN R, BUTTS S,
Ben Rhydding 5th continued last weekend's impressive result with a hard fought victory against a physically big and strong Kingston upon Hull team.
In an evenly matched first half, Rhydding defended stoutly with the defence well marshalled by Sumnall and Appleby, and the midfield tracking back well to prevent man of the match Briggs having to make too many saves. Ben Rhydding's pressure on the East Yorkshire side often came from good build up play down the flanks, with Butts and Dawson combining well and Ketterman making himself available in the middle to switch play to Holmes and the dangerous Snook on the right. Tony 'the goal machine' Hatton (his description, not mine) caused problems and created space for several well timed runs by the midfield who were unlucky not to get on the end of some great balls across the face of goal. Rhydding's goal came from a well worked short corner with Butts striking the ball out to Hatton, who exchanged passes with Ketterman, wrong footing the defence giving him time to control the ball and beat the Hull 'keeper.
Half-time saw a reshuffle as Butts had unfortunately suffered a hamstring injury during the first half, and predictably the majority of the second half was played in the Ben Rhydding end, with disciplined tracking back and marking being the order of the day. Briggs was forced into making a number of excellent saves, and despite Hull having the luxury of 14 players to swap against Ben Rhydding's 10.5, they became frustrated and were unable to force an equaliser. Indeed, it was particularly satisfying to see Rhydding not resorting to hit and hope but instead playing the ball neatly out of the defence, using Sugden down the left and Holmes down the right to good effect. This created a late chance to put the game beyond doubt as Hatton found himself one-on-one with the 'keeper only for his touch to be too strong, leaving time for the defence to get back.
