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Functional win rather than fantastic

30/ 4/2008

Ramsbottom Utd........0
Glossop NE.................1

END-OF-SEASON games are often low key affairs between tired teams and this match – the last in Ramsbottom’s disappointing campaign – fitted the cliche.

Neither side was able to find top gear but North End controlled the midfield almost throughout, giving Steff Fielding one of his quietest games of the season.

Having only been able to field one substitute during Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Silsden, Glossop were again down to the bare bones as teenage keeper Matt Ince was forced up front for the last 20 minutes.

The first half was barren in terms of goal chances with no shots on target, although half the crowd thought that Darren Hamilton had netted from a flick from a corner which had actually hit the side netting.

The second half followed a similar pattern until the 63rd minute when Hamilton cleverly seized on a defensive hesitation, taking a throw which Ramsbottom thought was theirs and finding Acton who finished smartly at the near post.

United had nothing to offer to level, although the ball was put into the net by a player clearly offside, while North End only once looked like adding when a corner was superbly punched off the line by goalkeeper Ogden.

While there was a lack of entertainment in terms of goal action, North End supporters got some enjoyment from Ince’s cheeky step-over on the rare occasion he found the ball at his feet, but overall, this was a hard working victory and fully deserved.

Attendance: 90

Jonathan Haggart