1st Feb 2020 Mens 2nd v University of Leeds 1(Home) 4 - 0 win
Ben Rhydding’s 2nd team were at home to Leeds University 1’s. The reverse fixture resulted in a comfortable 5-0 win for Rhydding who were hoping for more of the same this time round in their push for promotion.
The game took a while to get going as the strong winds made it hard for Rhydding. They did dominate the opening exchanges but no goals came. This was until the ball was crossed into D, taking a deflection off a Leeds stick, which bounced nicely to Lorimer on the back post who volleyed the ball into the goal. Leeds had a couple of chances after this opener but the defence of Ibison, Terry, Horseman and Powell stood firm to keep the ball away from the Rhydding D, aided by some decent saves from Benedikz. Rhydding managed to play some nice hockey after this and a shot was saved by the Leeds keeper, leading to the ball falling to Maddaford who had an open goal to shoot into from 2 yards out. However rather than replicating Lorimer’s volley, Maddaford opted to spice things up a bit and go with his foot instead, calmly slotting the ball into the back of the goal, only for the umpire to give a foul the other way. Rhydding went on the attack again with Hagan taking on several players before winning a short corner. The initial attempt was saved but the ball came back to Lorimer who reversed it in for 2-0 with half time soon approaching.
The second half allowed Rhydding to play some good hockey as the wind wasn’t as impactful as in the first half, and they soon went 3-0 up after Matthews scored from close range. The game got a bit scrappy after that with a couple of cards being showed, but Rhydding still controlled the game. The final goal was potentially the best of the lot as Hagan found Matthews on the back line with a pass down the line. Mathews then crossed the ball into the D where the ever-running Fraser managed to deflect it in at the near post.
After 2 disappointing results leading up to this game, Rhydding were back to winning ways with a 4-0 win, and they hope to get another positive result next week in Sheffield.