Report: Rangers 0 v 3 Horsforth St. Margarets

KDRAFC Media
Aug 26, 2021
3 min read

Updated: Aug 28, 2021

Rangers lost their first match of this season against a good Horsforth side who will do well in the Premier League.

Deighton welcomed back multiple players from the 4-1 win over Whitkirk Wanderers, including Joe Palmer in goal and Ali Thompson upfront.

After an initial spell of testing each other's defences out, both teams settled into a more attacking pattern, and after good work by Conor Buckley and Ashley Tatler to bring the ball down the left flank, Thompson saw his shot blocked. Horsforth countered, but the final cross couldn't beat Palmer.

Offsides also became a reoccurring theme in the opening twenty minutes, with Tatler, Harvey Ribbons and a couple of Horsforth players being caught out.

A run down the right-wing by former Deighton player Charlie Yates was unceremoniously ended after Tatler, who had tracked him the entire way, slid in and dispossessed him.

Minutes later, and on the opposite wing, Buckley had to do the same to prevent Horsforth from breaking into the area.

A good pass down the middle gave the Horsforth player time to cross the ball to the back post. Heading the ball back through the six-yard box, there was no yellow shirt at the other side to apply the finish.

Deighton had a glorious chance to open the scoring in the 36th minute when Roman Neal flicked a header into Ribbon's path. Curling in a cross to Neal, the striker set himself to hit it only to see Josh Barden arrive first and shoot wide.

Rangers suffered a double injury, and Jake Bollon and Jake Little replaced Thompson and Dubery.

On the 40th minute, Horsforth opened the scoring when Palmer, thinking that a long shot was going wide, reacted in horror as the ball flew into the back of his net.

Trying to respond, Buckley and Tatler set up Neal, but his long shot was saved by the Horsforth keeper.

Half-Time: Kirk Deighton Rangers 0 v 1 Horsforth St. Margarets

Rangers tried a more direct approach at the beginning of the second half after Tatler flicked Palmer's long kick into Barden's path. However, the keeper got there first and stopped the danger.

Following a good spell of pressure, Rangers won a trio of corners. On the second attempt, Tatler headed goalwards only to see the keeper pull off a superb reflex save and push the ball onto the crossbar. On the third attempt, the keeper came to Horsforth's rescue again when he got his body behind Tatler's header and pushed it wide.

The game entered a sloppy phase of play, where both teams seemed more intent on passing to each other rather than a teammate, but this ended when the visitors cut through Deighton's defence, although the final shot crashed into the trees behind the goal.

The 57th minute saw Horsforth double their lead with quite a fortuitous goal. Some close control saw the player get into a shooting position on the left of the area, but his shot nicked off a Deighton defender and lifted it past a surprised palmer.

Things got worse for Rangers in the 63rd minute when Yates ran into the right side of the area before powering his shot past Palmer.

Not giving up, Deighton tried to find a toe-hold back into the game, and a hooked pass by Barden picked out Tatler, but not for the first time his header flashed wide.

With George Widdows and Joe Turley on for Barden and Neal, Rangers tried to push forward again, but they found it difficult to make any progress, although a pinpoint pass by Rob Holliday picked out Turley, but his cross evaded Tatler.

The match finished with Turley at least hitting something for the home side. However, it turned out to be the camera pole behind Horsforth's goal, but his fierce shot from some distance wasn't all that far away.

Full-Time: Kirk Deighton Rangers 0 v 3 Horsforth St. Margarets.

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