Top of the League – Week 3
A great win for the Mens 1st team on Saturday against Preston, with 5 goals for Charlie Smith (photo by Alfie Yates above) and one each for George Gamble and Callum Franks. Not so successful for the Women in front of their home crowd as they lost 3-1 to Brooklands Poynton – Rebecca Birch scoring for Rhydding.
This weekend sees the Women travel to Swansea on Saturday while the Men have a shorter journey to Sheffield Hallam on Sunday – 2pm start.
Ben Rhydding 7 Preston 2
Newly promoted to the National Conference League, Ben Rhydding at three games in, sit at the top of the table after a convincing win at home against Preston. Opening the game at full throttle, it took less than 10 minutes for Rhydding to score courtesy of a far post manoeuvre from Callum Franks. With their tails up, Rhydding continued at a fiery pace set by the electric Charlie Smith who showed no signs of fatigue in his legs after completing a marathon the previous day and roofing a glory goal to make it 2-0. Preston were up for the fight, and legendary goal keeper, David Carter was called upon to deliver his excellence on several occasions. Goal 3 was a total delight; Mark Portnell picking a through ball for George Gamble to lay off to Charlie Smith who rewarded his kindness with a return pass for an easy and beautiful goal. Rhydding were all over Preston now and a penalty stroke was saved but Smith struck again to make it 4, after some dynamic press work from the in-form Mark Portnell, connecting up with Ewan wardle to put Smith through on the post. Going into the break 4-0 up did not leave Rhydding complacent as they knew they were facing the best comeback team in the league, and sure enough, within minutes Preston had scored from a messy goal mouth scramble to keep their hopes alive. Charlie Smith dampened their spirits with another exceptional goal and took his team to a 5-1 lead, followed shortly after with another on his backhand to make it 6-1. And again minutes later from a corner to make it 7-1. Preston were dignified and valiant in their response and continued to fight to the bitter end, keeping the game alive and claiming a late corner to close the gap. But it was Rhydding that shone and left the field with a might 3 points. Coach Demy Dowley commented, “ we get better with every game both as individuals and as a team. We have plenty still to work on but this was a very satisfying performance.”