Toolstation NCEL Division One
Leon Sewell admitted his Hall Road Rangers side were very fortunate to escape from Glasshoughton Welfare with three points.
Sam Robinson’s incredible 35-yard pile-driver snatched a 2-1 for Hall Road, but Sewell wasn’t overly impressed with his side’s whole display.
“It was some strike and to be fair to Sam he scored a very good goal at North Ferriby so I just hope he just kicks on,” Sewell told Non League Yorkshire.
“We made it really hard work for ourselves. The first half has put a dampener on the first few games and we have got to get our house sorted out in terms of application and attitude.
“We could have come here tonight and gone home losing 1-0 and it wouldn’t have been a great start. In terms of first three (league) games, we’ve won one, lost one and drawn one and we’ll take the positives. Even at North Ferriby there were positives to take.
“Second half here (at Glasshoughton), the lads to a man stood up and the subs who came on made an impact. It was dogs of war. It was backs against the wall at times, especially first half.
“We had to turn the screw in the second half and we had to push on. Credit to the boys there was a lot of character and our purpose was there and we had passion.
“It was a massively smash and grab and definitely a game of two halves. I would definitely agree a draw was a fair result looking at our second half performance and Glasshoughton’s first half performance. If I’m brutally honest as we speak right now it doesn’t feel like a win.”
The Glasshoughton victory was Hall Road’s first win of the new campaign and it sets them up for a busy October.
“We now go into October with eight games to play,” he said.
“Five of them are at home. It is about us turning teams out game-in-game-out and making sure players are well-rested and recover properly.
“Tonight there’s four or five lads not involved, but they are going to be used. That’s what we have said from the get-go in August.
“We need a big squad because not everyone is going to be able to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday.
“We’ll make sure our house is in order for Brigg at home on Saturday and that’ll be another test and challenge for us. Marcus Newell knows the league inside out and he’s won trophies so it will be tough, but every game is tough and that shows in what we have already experienced in Parkgate, Ferriby and Glasshoughton.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. As we slowly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and because of the cancelled Lucille Rollinson Memorial Tournament, we are down on projected income for the year and we have incurred losses in the last few months.
We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. Several of our players are suffering from effects of the lockdown and we are determined to be in the strongest position possible to provide services for them.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.
