(Ry)Hope springs eternal for battling Town

RYHOPE CW 3 NORTHALERTON TOWN 1

TOWN'S promotion hopes were dealt a blow with defeat at Ryhope CW on Saturday but the eleven players who represented the club should feel nothing but pride for the effort and total commitment they showed throughout the 90 minutes.

With 6 players and manager Peter Mulcaster all missing, Town were always going to up against it, but their task was made even harder when three others failed to show on the day, leaving just the bare-eleven.

When Jon Burton, who had scored two goals in the last three matches, was then injured inside fifteen minutes, that task became mission impossible. Burton battled on bravely until finally succumbing ten minutes from time and that set the tone for a display that more than made up for in spirit what it maybe lacked in quality.

"I thought it was a great battling performance and effort from the lads today under the circumstances," said stand-in manager Martin Mulcaster, who had come off his sick-bed to fill in for his father. "I echo the disappointments of the players for the three lads that didn't come today, two of which contacted us late and one who just didn't turn up at all.

"We must now however forget about today and look to get back to winning ways in what will be a difficult game against a good Chester-le-Street team on Monday night."

The pre-match talk was all about Ryhope's ground, which recently failed an FA inspection, but that paled into insignificance when Mulcaster was thrown a curve-ball at the 11th hour.

Already missing Grant Hickman, Steve Banks, James Bowman, Ian Smurthwaite, Adam Emson and Carl Chillingsworth, Mulcaster's plans were thrown into complete disarray when Col Anderson, Dan Clayton and David Cooke all cried off at the last minute.

Therefore the team picked itself. Gav Parkin was employed in a more advanced role alongside Michael Dunwell in attack with Steve Butterworth and Marcus Laing in midfield. Burton and Alex Caisley took up the wide positions with a back four of Andrew Porritt, Danny Shoulder, Craig Winter and Stu Dunn in front of goalkeeper James Briggs.

Town started well and gave as good as they got for fifteen minutes or so until Burton went down with a nasty looking injury. He was patched up by physio Paul Jackson but was unable to move freely and was pushed up front, with Parkin dropping back into midfield.

And the hosts went in front five minutes later. The Town defence could only half-clear a corner from the right by Lee McMahan and Chris Winn drilled the ball back past Briggs from 20 yards with the aid of a deflection to take him on to 40 goals for the season.

Mulcaster's side regrouped and were close to an equaliser soon after. A shot from Parkin was tipped over the crossbar by Ryhope goalkeeper Chris Rooks, although he appeared to injure himself in the process and failed to reappear for the second half.

By then the hosts had doubled their advantage. A clearance from Shoulder was charged down by  Chris Trewick on the edge of the Town penalty area and the ball rolled into the empty net.

Town needed something quickly at the start of the second period but it was Ryhope who grabbed a third goal six minutes after the resumption. The front two of Butler and Winn have found the back of the net nearly 90 times between them this season and they combined again to show that whichever league Ryhope are in next season, these two will surely be playing at a higher level.

Butler, unable to add to his impressive tally on this occasion, slipped in Winn in the inside right channel and he fired the ball across Briggs with the air of a man who knew he was not going to miss.

But out of adversity, Town showed great pride to find a way back into the match. Just four minutes later Parkin flighted over one of his trade-mark free kicks, and after the slightest of touches from Dunwell, Winter arrived to show he can finish as well as any 40 goal striker.

Had Town managed to find another goal now it would have made for an interesting final twenty minutes, but the nearest they came was a far post header by Butterworth that landed just the wrong side of substitute goalkeeper James French's right-hand post.

Burton, who had battled on bravely since the early injury, eventually hobbled off ten minutes from time and only the brilliance of Briggs prevented Ryhope adding to their tally in the closing stages. Twice he denied Butler with saves of the highest quality before going full-length to tip an effort from Michael Charlton around the post.

At the final whistle, the travelling Town fans showed their appreciation for what had been a magnificent effort from the boys in yellow and green, giving them a fully deserved ovation as they trooped off - beaten but in no way disgraced.

The possible impact of the no-shows was made clear when news of defeats for Morpeth and North Shields came through, meaning a win here would have brought 4th place ever closer. And with Ryhope's ground not looking likely to reach the required standard by the end of the season, that could still be good enough for promotion.

With several players due to return for Monday night's trip to Chester-Le-Street and another away trip to Horden CW two days later, six points could yet push Town back into promotion contention. If they show the same commitment to the cause as they did here then you would certainly not back against them getting it.

RYHOPE CW - Rooks, Stead, Metcalfe, Hall, Dunn, Trewick, Charlton, Johnson, Butler, Winn, McMahan. Subs - Cook, Bambreugh, Jordan, Davies, Pounder, French.

TOWN - Briggs, Porritt, Burton, Shoulder, Winter, Laing, Caisley, Butterworth, Dunwell, Parkin, Dunn. Subs - None.

REFEREE - J. Harper.

ATTENDANCE: 56