Toolstation NCEL League Cup
Hall Road Rangers 0-2 Pickering Town
Pickering Town’s Lewis Taylor
Two late goals were enough to see a strong Pickering Town side see off a spirited Hall Road Rangers at Haworth Park last night.
Rangers battled away against their higher ranked opponents, but Lewis Taylor’s 76th minute strike and Ged Dalton’s goal deep into added time proved the difference for the visitors.
Pickering asserted their quality from the first whistle and with three minutes on the clock, defender George Bissett connected from a corner on the left but steered his volley over from close range having escaped his marker. A constant thorn in Rangers side all night, was visiting striker Dalton.
His movement and trickery were first evident two minutes later when after dancing his way into the penalty are from the right, fired through the legs of skipper Ash Dexter, only to have Phil Dobson smartly save low down.
It was Dexter’s central defensive partner Dane Mortimer, who collected the first caution of the match when he pulled back Dalton outside the area. Dobson again had to be alert from the resulting free kick, as he sprung himself to his right to punch away Joe Danby’s effort.
Rangers threatened briefly at the other end as visiting keeper Toby Wells had to tip over a dangerous looking corner. Rangers skipper Dexter, then had to be removed after 18 minutes following a nasty looking clash of heads, which required a trip to the hospital for stitches. James Whittingham came on to replace him.
Whittingham was then nearly punished for a crossfield pass, which was intercepted by Dalton, however Whittingham was let off the hook as Dalton finished poorly, scuffing his effort well wide of the far post.
Dalton’s strike partner, Ryan Blott also went close, connecting with Danby’s cross, but his bullet header, narrowly flew over the crossbar.
The visitors looked dangerous coming forward, whilst Rangers showed fleeting glimpses, and Craig Muirhead was unfortunate, but a diffcult chance saw the Rangers striker back-pedaling to reach a cross from the right, and failed to get over his header, and missing the target.
The first half definitely belonged to the visitors, as Whittingham had to be alert to snuff out a potentially goalscoring opportunity with a finely timed challenge on Dalton.
It was Dalton who then stung the palms of Dobson, with the 40 year old keeper winning this dual, before Jules Gabbiadini, son of former Sunderland and Derby County striker Marco, fizzed one past the left post, as he met a smart lay off from the left.
Sam Belcher was cautioned five minutes before the break, before the pick of Dobson’s saves kept the scores level shortly prior to the interval.
Dobson palmed the ball off the line from a headed effort on goal, which seemed destined for the bottom right corner.
Hall Road started the better in the second period, as having absorbed large amounts of pressure in the first half, they began to see more possession, however Pickering still looked dangerous on the break as the game swung from end to end.
Wells had to save well at the feet of Muirhead just prior to the hour mark whilst Dobson had to acrobatically tip a long range pile-driver over the crossbar.
With 30 minutes remaining, and neither side looking favourably at the prospect of extra-time, Ricardo swapped Sherwood for leading scorer Scott Phillips and visiting manager Paul Marshall brought on Ryan Cooper for Alex Robinson.
After the changes, Muirhead won a free kick in a central position just short of 25 yards from goal.
With Rangers shading the second half, they were punished when sixteen minutes from time Taylor netted for the visitors.
A cross from the right hand flank, was cleared and Taylor found the bottom corner with a well placed finish.
Rangers to their credit, kept battling away, and when 16 year old Archie Brown replaced in-form striker Josh Batty, they threw everything at their more illustrious opponents.
With this though they left gaps in midfield and defence, and Pickering had the better chances in the final stages.
Danby smashed an effort over the bar, whilst Ryan Blott’s jinxing run into the penalty area ended with him rattling the outside of the near post from the left angle.
Ryan Cooper also went close, firing over having taken a deflection on its way through to goal.
Pickering did make sure of their place in the last sixteen of the competition deep into added time though when Ged Dalton’s cool finish beat a defender to the net.
The Teams
Hall Road Rangers: Dobson, Belcher, Binns, Ricketts, Dexter (captain) (Whittingham 16), Mortimer, Cooper, Piercy, Muirhead, Batty (Brown 80), Sherwood (Phillips 60). Subs: Whittingham, Phillips, Brown, Needham, Granger.
Pickering Town: Wells, Parker, Danby, Taylor, Turnbull, Bissett, Thompson (captain), Gabbiadini, Blott, Dalton, Robinson. Subs: Cooper, Tilsey, Chipps, Marshall, Ingram.