Under 11's. Stockport Metro League. 3rd Division.
Away v Rose Hill

  Result - Reddish North End 3 Rose Hill 11

Match Report: Andy Johnson

After lasts weeks exhausting draw with Richmond Rovers, RNE had to travel to Marple for a very tough game away to ‘top of the table’ Rose Hill Rovers. To make matters worse, Reddish were without three key players in Joe Hargreaves (GK), Khaleal Johnson (MF) and Dillon Hughes (MF).  This also had an effect on the defence as Chris Brown, who usually occupies the left back spot, had to stand in as goalkeeper.

Once the match was underway, Rose Hill showed why they have a 100% record this season with some great build up play against a makeshift RNE back four. Zac and Emi were tackling back as RH won their first corner of the game. RH piled on the pressure, which resulted in the first goal. As the ball was bouncing about in the Reddish area, a RH player got a foot on the ball and slid it into the corner of the goal. The shot fooled the defence, Chris B and everyone else, who all thought the ball was going wide. 1-0.

RH started to dominate the match with the second goal flying in off a head from a corner kick not long after the first. 2-0. They continued to create chances against an under strength Reddish side, with Chris B clearing a few loose balls from the area. Upfront James was doing all he could to get RNE back in the game but was being held by a very strong defence. Once again RH broke down a Reddish attack and then proceeded to counter-attack. They chose the right wing; cutting inside and forcing a brilliant save from Chris. Cruelly, the shot rebounded to a RH player who poked the ball into the back of the net. 3-0.

Most of the RNEs player’s heads were going down but James held his high and carried on battling. The team responded to this and, with some resilience they started to apply some pressure of their own on the RH goal. This time it paid off. After a couple of near misses, James stabbed the ball into the corner of the net. 3-1. This was to be a false dawn as RH quickly regained their 3-goal advantage as a wicked deflection from Chris O clearance beat the stand in keeper. 4-1. Towards the end of the half, RH killed off any hope of a comeback with two well-taken goals found both top corners, which Chris could do nothing about. 6-1. In a half that RH dominated, a demoralised RNE needed something great to happen in the second.

HALF TIME: 6-1.

The second half kicked off and you could tell instantly which team had more confidence. But some fighting spirit from Reddish gave James another goal, which provided a glimmer of hope for them. James’ shot bounced straight back off the keeper, but he made no mistake with the rebound. 6-2. RNE started to try and enjoy the match and created more and more chances, which, on another day, would have gone in. Proving to be a big handful, James crossed for Dillon P but he couldn’t get that telling touch. And just as in the first half RH provided two more killer blows to take the score to 8-2. After another brilliant save from Chris B the ball again fell to a RH player who couldn’t miss.

RHs attacks proved too much for RNEs make shift midfield and defence after they added there 9^th with a break down the left wing. 9-2. Once again James proved to be the danger-man for Reddish. He beat the RH defence only for the referee to pull him back an offside, which looked very harsh. He did it again moments later but this time the referee kept his whistle silent and James tucked the ball away brilliantly for his hat trick. 9-3.

This match was full of goals but we also witnessed a fantastic save as well. Chris B dived down to his right and lifted the ball over the bar to deny a certain goal. But RH showed they will be very hard to beat and can kill off teams with two late goals to make the final score 11-3.

As RNE lost their unbeaten start to the season they impressed a lot of people with their spirited fight back in the second half despite the missing players. The score-line today will be very hard to take but it is certain there will not be many days like today. I’m sure they will be up for revenge when Rose Hill visit us at home in December. Lets hope they can forget about this result next week against New Mills Juniors A. See you all there.

Scorers : James (3) 

Man of the match : James