U'15 Manager looks back on Grange match

Calvin Wong and Luke Hopkins grasped the opportunity to step into the breach as our numbers had been depleted by injury and illness. Also, in the absence of goalkeeper Andrew Tarpey, Ben Rothery and Bradley Cryer agreed to do a half each in goal. Hulme created several clear cut chances in the first half but, against the run of play, Grange’s centre forward narrowly beat Ben Rothery to a speculative long ball to give Grange the advantage. Ben jogged off to retrieve the ball from the back of his goal while the centre forward lay polaxed on the ground. Brad Cryer’s well placed header into the top corner converted Jake Riley’s perfect cross to bring the scores level. Sam Clark’s strong run into the box beat four players and his cool finish gave Hulme the lead come half time.
There were chances for both teams in the second half but Hulme were determined to keep Grange at bay, giving Brad Cryer a clean sheet in goal. Sam Flanaghan’s efforts were commendable once again and Jonathan Lobley put in a gritty display in his first full game of the season. Hulme should have converted from Nathan Coverley’s fantastic free kicks from deep and Jack Shepherd’s long throws into the box. There was no doubt that the outstanding player on the day was Jake Riley who was named Man of the Match. He received a well deserved round of applause from his team and the supporting parents who had turned out in force.