LEAGUE SEASON 2001 - 02

FAC = F.A. Cup, FAT = F.A.Trophy, MPC = Manchester Premier Cup, CSC = Cheshire Senior Cup, ULC = Unibond League Cup,  UPC = Unibond Presidents Cup, UNI =Unibond League, qr = Qualifying Round,  gs = Group Stage, qf =Quarter Final sf =Semi Final  

04-03-02 HYDE UNITED 3 BURSCOUGH 2 UNI Att. 322
The Tigers bounced back from the disappointment of the Marine game to claim their first double of the season by defeating Burscough in a pulsating game. In true Hyde style for this season there was an anxious five minutes at the end as Burscough secured a disputed second goal but it’s three points and that what matters.

Hyde left out Martin Filson, Steve Foster and Chris Young from Saturday’s team and welcomed back Peter Band from suspension, and Dale Hawtin and Ben Obong from the bench.

The Tigers started brightly and could have had a penalty after five minutes when David Nolan was brought down. The referee waved play-on but minutes later Nolo was forced to limp off with a knee injury to be replaced by Foster. The severity of the injury will not be known for a couple of days but he could be out for two weeks.

After a pretty even first half with the Tigers just shading it, Lee Evans rifled home right on half –time. Within 14 minutes of the restart, Burscough were level after a defensive misplaced header allowed Tommy Molloy to score. Minutes later Peter Band rattled the crossbar after good work by Paul Ashwell. Another draw was looming until Lee Madin, on his home debut, showed great pace to burst clear and slot past their Matthew Taylor after 67 minutes. With six minutes to go, Filson with almost his first touch, flicked on for Simon Yeo to run clear and round the ‘keeper and score number 3. Some breathing space at last but seconds later Felgate appeared to be fouled as Billy Knowles knocked the ball home. A desperate five minutes including three minutes of injury, but the Tigers held their cool and a victory was secured.

Just seven more wins needed now. The Worksop manager in the crowd probably left with plenty of food for thought, that we may do the same to them next Monday. We should have won at Worksop, so let’s hope we can extract revenge.

Hyde – Felgate 7, Madin 7, Taylor 7, Crookes 8, Ashwell 7, Band 9, Evans 7, Obong 7, Yeo 7, Hawtin 8, Nolan (inj). 
Subs Foster 7, Brookes 7, Filson 7

Burscough – Taylor, Leahey, Stanton, Molyneux, Nolan, Molloy, Lawless, Knowles, Furlong, Dugdale, Bowen.
Subs Barlow, Alty and Mason

REPORT BY TONY BEARD 

02-03-02 MARINE 2 HYDE UNITED 1 UNI Att. 269
The Tigers failed to reproduce the form of recent games and gave an uninspiring performance at College Road. To add to their problems, Martin Filson was sent off in the last minutes for comments made to referee Paul Ireland. Whilst you can't condone dissent, Mr. Ireland had a dreadful game throughout being totally inconsistent and getting key incidents wrong. With regard to Martin, he was clearly pulled back going for the ball, but the referee chose to ignore it or perhaps he didn't see it as frequently he was too far away from the action. Minutes before Hyde should have had a penalty when Steve Foster was pulled down as he burst through. This was the theme of the game. Dominic Crookes did one foul in the game and was booked, Anton Lally did numerous, was eventually booked but then not sent off when a worse one followed. However the Tigers can't just blame the referee. They started badly and didn't significantly improve. 

A slow start after a two week lay-off resulted in conceding a goal in 5 minutes as Bainbridge scored from close range at the second attempt as David Felgate saved the first point blank effort. The rest of the half was pretty even with new signing Lee Madin showing some good touches, but Hyde gave the ball away far too easily and didn't show great urgency in getting it back. However in injury time good work by, skipper for the day, Simon Yeo on the right enabled David Nolan to head home his cross and get a kick in his unmentionables for his efforts. 

Marine stepped up the pace in the second half but it was still a poor game. Hyde replaced Madin with Ben Obong, who injected some life up front, and later Chris Young with Tom Brookes who took it badly as he walked straight off to the dressing room as Madin had done before him. Not the spirit we are looking for at a time of need. Disaster struck on 72 minutes as a hopeful free kick by Eddie Hussin drifted in at the far post with nobody getting a touch. Very similar to Nolo's goal against Marine at Hyde two weeks ago. Still time for the Tigers to come close, but when an opening appeared, Mr Ireland looked away. It was that sort of game on a firm bouncy surface, but when you are at the bottom, you need points and there just wasn't enough urgency on the day. Nolan was superb as were Filson and Crookes at the back. As usual Felgate produced good saves when he needed to, but overall a game to forget.

At least eight wins are still needed, but now only fourteen games left. Relegation is a real threat as we just didn't pick up enough points against average teams. We need three points against Burscough for starters as a minimum. Anything less and we need to be reaching for the map as we will be visiting new places next season. Let's hope not! 


Hyde - Felgate 7, Madin 6, Taylor 7, Crookes 8, Ashwell 7, Evans 6, Young 5, Foster 6, Yeo 6, Filson 8, Nolan 9. 
subs Obong 7, Brookes 6. Hawtin not used 

Marine - Clarke, Wareing, Mullin, Lally, Rimmer, Gautrey, Bainbridge, Hussin, Black, Townsend, Douglas. 
subs Morgan, Robinson and Dolan. 
REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



16-02-02 BARROW 0 HYDE UNITED 0 UNI Att. 1053
The Tigers produced another dazzling display on a good surface at Holker Street and were desperately unlucky not to come away with three points. Once again a combination of poor finishing, some superb goalkeeping by Simon Bishop, and just downright bad luck prevented Hyde taking all the points. However a point away to one of the best teams in the league is still a great result. 
The Tigers made one player change with Tom Brookes replacing Neil Critchley, but also reverted to 4-4-2 with Martin Filson taking a central defensive role, and Paul Ashwell moving to right back. The whole defence played brilliantly being well marshalled by the influential Filson. There was even time for Matty Taylor to journey over the halfway line at regular intervals and keep the Barrow defence busy. 
The first half belonged entirely to Hyde. Chances came thick and fast and too many to mention, suffice to say the "Management Team" missed at least one each! Steve Foster and Simon Yeo were brilliant up front but just didn't have any luck when they needed it. Barrow struck a post early on but that was it as the Tigers camped in their half for the rest of the time. 
Barrow made two half time substitutions and stepped up the pace in the second half with the backing of the large crowd. The defence held firm despite increasing pressure and when Barrow did get through they found David Felgate in fine form.A couple of long range efforts from the excellent Scott Maxfield kept Felgate interested. Dominic Crookes cleared off the line with three minutes to go but that was the nearest we came to conceding a goal. Barrow had done the same at the other end from a Filson header and in the last ten minutes Bishop produced superb saves to thwart Evans and Yeo as the Tigers pushed for victory. 
A great display overall and we were very unfortunate not to come away with a win. 
Harsh bookings for Peter Band and Filson, but otherwise referee Hay had a good game and wasn't influenced by the partisan crowd. 
What next? Let's hope we can build on the outstanding performances of the last three games for our trip to the Autoquest Stadium a week on Wednesday. The defence now looks solid since the arrival of Dominic Crookes and David Felgate and we just need a bit of luck in front of goal to get some wins under our belt. Others around us keep scraping wins, but look out for Bishop Auckland who continue to slide down the table.(which incidently started when we beat them in November). 

Hyde - Felgate 8, Brookes 7(Evans 7), Taylor 8, Crookes 8, Ashwell 8, Band 7, Young 8, Foster 9, Yeo 8, Filson 8, Nolan 8. 
Subs not used Hawtin and Critchley.

Barrow - Bishop, Shaw, Maxfield, Rogers, Hall, Anthony(Housham),Hume, Warren,Ellison(Gaughan),Bullimore(Doherty), Waters 
REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



11-02-02 HYDE UNITED 2 MARINE 2 UNI Att. 341
An equaliser six minutes from time was all the Tigers had to show from this gripping 
encounter, but it should have been so different as they carried on the form they showed last 
Friday for the first 45 minutes.

Hyde started strongly and went on to produce a dazzling first half performance but just 
couldn’t find the net. At least six guilt edge chances went begging and then when they got 
some on target, they found ‘keeper Chris Clarke in fine form. Martin Filson headed against 
a post and that was the nearest we came. Marine must have been mightily relieved to hear 
the half time whistle.

The Tigers were then to pay dearly as two defensive mistakes allowed the impressive 
Richie Townsend to score two opportunist goals within 18 minutes of the restart. Instead of 
having the match won, the Tigers found themselves unbelieveably two goals down. Much of 
the first half fluency had deserted the Tigers as Marine went from strength to strength 
helped by some inept refereeing by Mr. Brittain. He had already booked Peter Band (for a 
tackle with the Assistant waving for free-kick to Hyde) and Chris Young for petulance after 
the ref had missed a bad tackle on the midfielder moments earlier. In addition Hyde should 
have had a penalty when a defender went ‘over the top’ on David Nolan but the ref waved 
play-on as Nolo was left in agony in the area. He was to extract revenge minutes later as he 
floated a free kick into the area and in the resultant melee, the ball found its way into the 
net without another touch. A lifeline at last. The fluency returned and with six minutes to go 
David Nolan jumped like a salmon to head home. Still time for some anxious moments at both ends 
before David Felgate producing a superb save at the death to save a point for the Tigers. 
Once again it should have been three, but it could have been none. Felgate has struggled 
throughout the game with a back injury picked up in the warm up. It mainly affected his 
kicking, but when he had to do the business and, not for the first time, he produced the 
goods.

This was definitely a match we should have won. How many times have we said that this season? If the Tigers are to survive, they have to start converting some of the many chances they create.

Hyde – Felgate 8, Critchley 6, Taylor 7, Crookes 7, Ashwell 7, Band 8, Young 7, Foster 7, Yeo 8, Filson 7, Nolan 9 Subs Evans 6. Obong and Brookes not used

Marine – Clarke, Gelling, Douglas, Lally, Wareing, Gautrey, Bainbridge, Hussin, Black, Townsend, Randles. Subs Morgan9for Hussin). Robinson and Dolan.

REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



08-02-02 HYDE UNITED 1 LANCASTER 1UNI Att. 251
Torrential rain before kick-off put this match in doubt and it was only after four pitch inspections the game could go ahead with a delayed kick-off at 8.15pm. Referee Rod Cook was soon vindicated as any surface water quickly disappeared through the sand based pitch, which then played superbly as the Tigers turned on the style against championship hopefuls, Lancaster City. It was a shame there was not more to see it as many spectators had been put off by the atrocious weather or gone home whilst the ref was deliberating. 
Hyde, who brought back Martin Filson and Steve Foster up front and dropped Ben Obong and Lee Evans to the bench, were in charge from the outset with Simon Yeo twice going close in a one sided first half. Despite playing against the wind Hyde were the best team until Brian Butler put Lancaster in front in a goalmouth melee totally against the run of play. The Tigers fought back and Critchley was just inches wide with a free kick. 
Within two minutes of the restart Ruud van Filson had hammered the Tigers level and then it was all Hyde as first Foster had a great shot against the post and then Yeo struck the bar. In between shots were blocked on the line but it just wouldn't go in. Lancaster were still a threat on the break and David Felgate handled supremely well in the conditions ( including some dives!) to keep them at bay. Both teams suffered at the hands of Mr.Cook who was inconsistent at best and who finished with a notebook full of names in a game without a bad tackle and played in excellent spirit throughout. Deja vu sprang to mind after Frickley away 
A great all round performance from the Tigers and they were so desperately unlucky not to come away with the three points as Lancaster held on for a point. Nigel Clough and Gary Crosby from Burton had seen Hyde turn in another excellent performance, yet this was the first time we had even got a point. Emley away and Burton at home should have both produced wins as this one should. They are still convinced we are one of the best (and most unluckiest) teams they have seen this year. 
Just a word on Lancaster City's manager Tony Hesketh. He has had pioneering hip surgery and will be out of action for a few weeks. All at Hyde wish him a speedy recovery. 
All that's left is to watch the teleprinter at 4.45 to ensure our nearest rivals haven't picked up three points. We certainly deserved to! 

Hyde Felgate 8, Critchley 8, Taylor 8, Crookes 8, Ashwell 8, Band 8, Young 8, Foster 9, Yeo 8, Filson 8, Nolan 8 
Subs not used - Obong, Evans and Brookes 
Lancaster Thornley, Rigby, Haddow, Birks, Kilbane, Sparrow, Clitheroe, Butler,Yates, Welch, Potts 
Subs Brown, Holliday and Mayers 
REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



02-02-02 GAINSBOROUGH 1 HYDE UNITED 0 UNI Att. 375
The Tigers gained their first point of the season at home to Gainsborough and more points were there for the taking at the Northolme, but in the end they were beaten by a 41st minute fortuitous strike by Phil Brown which left 'keeper David Felgate all at sea in the atrocious conditions. Hyde were without Martin Filson who was still suffering from a previous injury and how we missed him on the pitch . 
When Hyde arrived in Gainsborough the sun was shining and the day was more akin to early May than February. However this soon changed and by 3pm there was driving rain down the length of the pitch. The first half then belonged to Hyde with plenty of possession with the strong wind and rain at their backs but they couldn't create clear cut chances. Then disaster struck four minutes before half-time as Brown was not closed down and let fly from 22 yards. A deflection, a bobble, a swerve, who knows.. but it finished in the back of the net. 
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with plenty of possession for the Tigers but it was always Gainsborough who looked more likely to score. Felgate showed "Luke and Tom" that he can dive after all with three superb saves including a penalty after Ben Obong had made a rash challenge. It was all to no avail as despite increasing pressure, Hyde could not find the net. The nearest they came was a header from Dominic Crookes which fell to Simon Yeo in the six yard box. He did everything right only to see it strike a defender on the line and be cleared to safety. The posing Andy Page infuriated both teams with a string of poor decisions but although he turned down a couple of penalty appeals, we couldn't really blame him. It was just not Hyde's day and then it was compounded with Hucknall, Whitby and Bamber all securing the most unlikely of wins against Top 4 opposition. This is definately a game which got away. We can't afford many more. 

HYDE Felgate 8, Brookes 6(Critchley 6), Taylor 8, Crookes 8, Ashwell 9, Band 6, Young 7, Obong 5, Yeo 8, Evans 6(S.Foster), Nolan 7 
Sub not used - J.Foster. 

Gainsborough Ingham, La Rocca, Hall, Hurst, Brown(D), Gonshall, Stanhope, Brown(P), Ellington,Williams, Lewis. 

REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



18-01-02 HYDE UNITED 2 ACCRINGTON 4 UNI Att. 416
In a pulsating and exciting game, the Tigers eventually finished up with nothing after twice leading against big spending Accrington Stanley. The main difference ultimately between the teams was the quality of the strikers and the ability to convert half chances. 

With a strong wind at their backs, Hyde had the best of the first half and had already hit the post twice before Simon Yeo headed home three minutes before half-time after good work by Matty Taylor and Ben Obong. With hindsight they needed to have at least converted one more of the many chances which came their way. The second half was a different story however after Stanley had received a massive rollicking at half-time which could be heard around the ground. In a matter of minutes, they too had hit the woodwork twice, and it was no surprise when Paul Mullin equalised on 66 minutes. Hyde immediately pulled off Lee Evans and sent on Steve Foster and within two minutes, Simon Yeo lashed home to put Hyde back in front. 

The joy was short-lived, however, as substitute Gary Williams slotted home three minutes later. Williams made a dramatic impact on the right and the only surprise was why he spent the first half on the bench. Accrington then turned the screw in the last twenty minutes with former Hyde favourite Lutel James adding a third and Mullin completing the scoring four minutes from time. There was still time for Foster to hit a post - it was that sort of game - and you could argue Accrington had the luck when they needed it with two of their goals going in off the woodwork which was hit seven times in all! However on their second half display they are the best team to have visited Ewen Fields this season and won't be far away from the honours come May. 


Hyde - Felgate 6, Hawtin 7, Taylor 8, Crookes 7, Ashwell 7, Band 8, Rowe 6, Obong 8, Yeo 9, Evans 7, Nolan 7. 
Subs - S.Foster 8, Matthews, Critchley 

Accrington - Speare, Cavanagh, Hart, Burns, Smith, Flitcroft, Payne,Carden, James, Mullin, Robinson. 
Subs - Brennan, Williams and Howarth. 

REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



12-01-02 HYDE UNITED 2 GATESHEAD 1 UNI Att. 301
Another victory for the Tigers! Two in a row now and fully deserved. And that with five first team regulars missing, three suspended and two failing fitness tests. Things are certainly looking up and for once other results going in our favour with Hucknall and Whitby losing whilst Marine and Bamber only managed draws. Look out too for Bishop Auckland who appear to be in 'freefall' after losing Manager Tony Lee and declaring they have no money. 

Hyde got off to a dream start with only three minutes gone as Benjamin Obong chased a long hopeful ball towards the corner flag where, for some reason, he met 'keeper Graeme Waind! He managed to slip the ball past him from the acutest of angles slowly towards an empty net. A great goal out of nothing. Eighteen minutes later Lee Evans intercepted a sloppy pass and coolly slipped the ball past the advancing Waind who proceeded to have a nightmare of an afternoon with his kicking, not helped by some poor backpasses. The Tigers then lost Peter Band with a 'dead-leg' but reached half-time unscathed. 

Gateshead stepped up the pace in the second half but the Tiger's back three of Hawtin, Taylor and Crookes coped well. Dominic Crookes on his debut had a superb game and inspired those around him. David Felgate behind them had another commanding game and was unlucky to be beaten by a great header from Mike Morrell with fifteen minutes to go. Allegedly his mate! 
A grandstand finish followed with Lee Matthews having two gilt edge chances to seal it for the Tigers whilst at the other end last ditch tackles and good handling kept Gateshead at bay. 

Enter Martin Filson. With everybody expecting him to slot in at centre-half, he decided to be the new Alan Shearer and took the ball to the corner flag whenever he had the chance. Experience counts and so it did again as Filson, Crookes and Felgate ensured the Tigers hung on for three valuable points in what overall was a pretty tetchy game. 

Nine more wins needed from eighteen games......its not impossible! 

Hyde - Felgate 8, Hawtin 8, Taylor 8, Crookes 9, Ashwell 7, Band 7, Rowe 7, Obong 8, Evans 7, Leadbetter 7, Nolan 8. 
Subs Critchley 7, Matthews, Filson. 

Gateshead - Waind, Batey, Talbot, Mc.Kenzie, Kitchen, Agnew, Thompson, Painter, Preen, Bowey, Mc Alindon. 
Subs Alderson, Bowman, Morrell. 
REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



07-01-02 HYDE UNITED 0 STALYBRIDGE CELTIC 3 Friendly Att. 141
In this hastily arranged friendly to give both sets of players some match practice, Stalybridge always had the upper hand and came out comfortable winners. Both sides turned out strong teams in the first half, but then made numerous substitutions in the second. Hyde gave home debuts to Dominic Crookes (against his old team) and Nathan
Townsend, formerly with Hednesford. In a pretty even first half both teams had hit the woodwork before 'Sid' Pickford put 'Bridge ahead on the half hour. Chances came thick and fast with Paul Ashwell and Lee Evans coming closest for Hyde, and @Bridge hitting the woodwork twice more. In the second half Richard Peacock soon beat substitute Richard Acton for the second on 50 minutes and Turley completed the scoring on 66 minutes
with a well taken goal. Hyde struggled to get back into the game as 'Bridge pushed forward with an ambitious 4-2-4 formation. A good workout overall with the pitch standing up well after the recent frost. Crookes had a good match and hopefully will bring some solidity to
the back four which still concedes too many goals. Steve Foster and Simon Yeo played the second half but will miss Saturday's game with Gateshead as will Chris Young who was forced to sit out the game through suspension. John Foster had a calf strain, but hopes to be fit for Saturday.


Team - Felgate, Crookes, Taylor, Critchley, Hawtin, Band, Ashwell, Rowe, Evans, Townsend, Obong. Subs Leadbetter ,Nolan, Acton, Matthews, Yeo, S.Foster.

Stalybridge - Fish, Murphy, Perkins, Wood, Woods, Beesley, Peacock, Parr, Ayorinde, Courtney and Pickford Subs - various


REPORT BY TONY BEARD 



29-12-01 BURSCOUGH 0 HYDE UNITED 2 UNI Att. 276
This was a critical match for the Tigers having lost the previous six, but the team responded magnificently with a hard-earned victory to lift them off the bottom of the table and give notice the season is far from over. Chris Young and John Foster were forced to sit it out through suspension whilst David Felgate, on loan from Leigh RMI, was introduced in goal, and Tom Brookes made his debut in midfield. 

Right from the outset, the Tigers were on top, but as usual failed to take their chances and make their superiority count. Brookes had an impressive first half until he pulled a hamstring right on half time, whilst Felgate brought some stability to the defence as well as using the ball well on clearances. Gareth Rowe replaced the unlucky Brookes and played well as the Tigers produced a storming second half display. They took the lead on 52 minutes when Kevin Leadbetter hammered home and it could and should have been more. It was not until the second minute of the six minutes added time that Simon Yeo added a second after good work again by Leadbetter. In between Hyde worked hard and controlled the game with just the occasional scare. Felgate did the business when he needed to and Matty Taylor was outstanding again as sweeper. Leadbetter was the star up front and it was good for Simon to get on the scoresheet as it looked it was not going to be his day as Taylor had produced a breathtaking save to thwart him earlier in the half. Overall a tremendous performance and something to build on for the New Year. The only disappointment was that Steve Foster and Yeo picked up bookings and will now miss the Gateshead game. 

Hyde: Felgate 8, Hawtin 8, Taylor 9, Critchley 7, Ashwell 8, Band 7,Brookes 8, S.Foster 8, Yeo 8, Leadbetter 9, Nolan 7. 
Subs: Rowe 8, Evans 7, Obong.

Burscough: M.Taylor, P.Taylor, Molloy, Molyneux, McMullen, Lawless, Knowles, Dugdale, Furlong, Bowen Subs Birch ( for Molloy), Alty (for P.Taylor). Hanson - not used 

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21-12-01 HYDE UNITED 1 BARROW 2 UNI Att. 241 
Hyde were desperately unlucky in Friday night's game as Barrow scored a superb winner with just ten minutes to go to leave the Tigers pointless and on a run of six successive defeats. 
Barrow opened the scoring on 23 minutes through Housham after a Tigers attack had broken down and the ball cleared downfield. There was almost an immediate equaliser as a Chris Young shot took a wicked deflection but Bishop made an outstanding save. The rest of the half belonged to Hyde ( as usual) but there was little penetration despite the presence of on loan striker Kevin Leadbetter. Star man for Barrow was left back Simon Maxwell who controlled everything at the back and looked dangerous going forward. 
After 62 minutes, Steve Foster was brought on and with his first touch slotted the ball past Bishop for a deserved equaliser. Everything to play for now, but it was Barrow who took the points. A hopeful ball downfield found Ellison who laid it off brilliantly for Gaughan to hammer past Acton. It was cruel on the Tigers who deserved something from the game, but the plain facts are that with half their league games now completed, they only have 13 points with probably 45 needed for safety. Leadbetter made his debut in this game with another new signing Lee Evans on the bench. Experienced 'Keeper David Felgate has also been signed on three months loan. It is imperative Hyde start to string a run of wins together and they must start keeping clean sheets. Hopefully the return of Martin Filson and Felgate will help, but there are a couple of suspensions pending and another three players just one booking away. its going to be hard... 

Team - Acton, J.Foster, Taylor, Critchley, Ashwell, Band, Young, Obong, Yeo, Leadbetter, Nolan. 
Subs: Evans, S.Foster, Hawtin 

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15-12-01 BRADFORD PA 3 HYDE UNITED 1 UNI Att. 216
In their first visit to the Horsfall Stadium, the Tigers promised much but ultimately came away with nothing in a match they desparately wanted to win and should have won. Hyde started strongly and within ten minutes Simon Yeo, returning after injury, hit the bar with a great shot. Things were looking up, then disaster struck on 14 minutes as former Frickley star, Andy Hayward poked the ball home in a melee following a disputed free-kick.
John Foster got booked for his protests, firstly against the foul and then because the referee had not blown for the kick to be taken. In fact the referee, Mr J.D.Smith from Wakefield had a nightmare and infuriated both benches with pedantic behaviour. The Tigers remained on top but contrived to miss chance after chance. Montgomerie in the Bradford goal making his debut was having a 'mare but we could not capitalise. With 20 minutes of the half left, the lights went out where the Tigers were defending. true to form, Mr Smith insisted we carry on despite protests from both teams and the Assistant agreeing! Thankfully no goals were conceded in the gloom. Halftime duly arrived, the lights returned and within a minute of the restart, Steve Foster slotted the ball home for a deserved equaliser. It was then all Tigers. Thommo on the Bradford bench was losing humour with
his team and resorted to abuse. We cannot print it here, but he certainly got his point over. Tempers became frayed on the pitch as well with tackles flying in. John Foster came in for some stick, but the Tigers held their own. With a winner seemingly imminent for Hyde, Bradford won a throw in down near the corner flag. The ball was hurtled across and another melee produced another scrappy goal for Hayward. Ten minutes left. still time for Hyde to mount further attacks, but right on time O'Brien added a third scrappy goal to give the scoreline a surreal look based on the game. However the plain facts are that the Tigers conceded another three goals ina match they dominated. Admittedly Richard Acton and Martin Filson were missing from defence, but until we stop the tide, we won't climb out of the relegation zone. It was hard on the lads at the back as they had given their all. Other bad news for the Tigers was that John Foster picked up a booking to take him to five for the season and an automatic one match ban. He will miss the Burscough game. Chris Young also picked up a booking to make it ten for the season and he will also miss the Burscough game, if not more.

Lyons, J.Foster, Taylor, Hawtin, Ashwell, Band, Young, Obong, Yeo,
S.Foster, Nolan
Subs Filson for Obong (82) .Not used Howard and Critchley 

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