LEAGUE SEASON 2003 - 04
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
16-08-03 BRIDLINGTON 3 HYDE UNITED 1 UNI
att.259
Not the start the many Hyde faithful in the crowd had been hoping
for. It was always going to be a tough encounter against a team who
had secured back to back promotions, but the Tigers did hot help
their cause with two gift goals in the first half, from which they
never recovered. However it was a lovely day at the seaside – just
a shame the football did not match it.
The day had started badly with Tony Watts phoning with flu, so
Robert Trees and Ian Pendlebury were signed on route and both made
their debuts in defence.
Hyde started the stronger, but after 15 minutes, John O’Kane handled on the edge of the area and after a long delay, Paul Farley slotted the ball home past David Fish. It should have been saved by either the wall or the ‘keeper. Hyde were level on 35 minutes when Neil Tolson turned well and was brought down in the box. He got up to score the resultant penalty, just.
The Tigers’ fans joy was short-lived as inside a minute, Bridlington were back in front as Andy Thompson squeezed one through the legs of Fish. A really bad goal to give away at any time, but especially so soon after the equaliser.
The Tigers were still in the game at the start of the second half, but their chances all but evaporated within 6 minutes as the dangerous Jason Harris added a third. For the rest of the half, Hyde had plenty of possession but never in the last third and were well beaten by the finish.
Anthony Kielthy was the best player for the Tigers, but most others had disappointing starts. We need another striker to assist Tolson if we are going to make headway in the league and it is important to get into winning ways against Farsley.
The referee had a poor game. He finshed with
eight bookings in a game without a bad foul and was pedantic in his
interpretation of technical offences. He failed to deal
satisfactorily with a first half brawl in front of his nose, even
after asking both assistants for help. He then failed to take any
action against the defender who brought down Tolson for the penalty.
Having said that it was not his fault Hyde lost, it was just poor
defending.
Hyde – Fish, Trees, Pendlebury, Jones, Kielthy, O’Kane, Challender, Salt, Tolson, Barker, Callaghan.Subs – Ellis, Buckley and Evans
Bridlington – Kelly, Thompson, Robinson, Baker, Harper, Heath,Burdick, Thacker, Drayton, Harris, Farley. Subs – Houghton, Ingram and Palmer.
REPORT MARK
DRING
18-08-03 HYDE
UNITED 1
FARSLEY CELTIC1 UNI att. 324
A half-time roasting and an improved second
half performance secured the Tigers their first point of the season
and by the close were probably unlucky not to snatch all three as
the perservering Craig Buckley hit a post in the last five minutes.
Hyde were still without Tony Watts, whilst Robert Trees and Neil Tolson were injured from Saturday. Lee Evans led the attack with Glyn Barker and although there was no shortage of effort, the Tigers looked short of fire power up front. John O’Kane moved into midfield and had a much better game than Saturday with Buckley also recalled.
The first half was a pretty mundane affair. The nearest Hyde came was when O’Kane went close with a free kick. Farsley snatched a goal right on half-time with Michael Midwood lashing the ball home after good work by the impressive Amjad Iqbal. A dreadful time to concede a goal.
The Tigers were better in the second half driven on by the Greg Challender, who had come on at half time and the impressive Phil Salt and it was he who scored a screamer with 13 minutes left. More pressure resulted in some last ditch defending by Farsley, but despite the late flurry, Hyde had left it too late and had to settle for a point in a match they would have expected to win..
Hyde – Fish, Prior, Pendlebury, Jones, Kielthy, O’Kane, Buckley, Salt, Evans, Barker, Callaghan.Subs – Ellis, Challender and Gaynor
Farsley – Morgan, Place, Stabb, Shields, Henderson, Brewer, Austin, Iqbal, Hillier, Midwood, Spence. Subs – Brown, Freeman and Newton.
REPORT MARK
DRING
23-08-03 HYDE UNITED 1
BISHOP AUCKLAND 1 att.171
In front of a meagre crowd of just 171,nearly
half of what we had for Farsley, and the lowest for some
considerable time at the stadium, anything which could go wrong,
did.
The referee set the tone as early as the sixth
minute as he booked Anthony Callaghan for a slightly late tackle in
the centre circle. John O’Kane followed for his first foul, but
when Shaun Hope went straight through Tony Ellis, he only received a
yellow. It should have been red. Hope
had already given Bishops the lead on 16 minutes, when he rose
unchallenged in the six yard box to head home.
The Tigers had already come close when Greg
Challender was just wide with a screamer and as the half wore on
both Tony Watts and Tony Ellis severely troubled Bishop’s keeper,
Adrian Swan who had a nightmare all afternoon with his handling.
By the 51st minute, Hyde had used
all three subs with Watts, Phil Salt and Anthony Callaghan all
leaving the field. Hyde stepped up the tempo in the second half
against the physical Bishops, who finished with five bookings. Ellis,
who was Hyde’s man of the match, equalised on 72 minutes and
although Glyn Barker went close on 77 minutes, the Tigers had again
left it too late. There is also a desperate need for another
striker.
The game finished on an unsavoury note as first
Steven West could count himself very lucky as his violent conduct
only earned him a yellow. On another day he would have been first in
the bath, and then Lee Evans twisted his knee and was stretchered
off, and he may be out for
some time.
A totally unsatisfactory conclusion to a very
average game with the referee collecting eight bookings, but failing
to deal appropriately with the key incidents.
Hyde – Fish,
Challender, Pendlebury, Jones, Kielthy, O’Kane, Watts, Salt,
Evans, Ellis, Callaghan. Subs – Buckley, Barker and Gaynor
Bishop Auckland – Swan, Rowe, Batey,Salvin, West, Hope, Ross, Maddison, Chandler,Scaife, Irvine. Subs – Foster, Heiniger and Taylor.
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DRING
25-08-03 STOCKSBRIDGE PS 2 HYDE UNITED 2 UNI att.221
A much improved performance from the Tigers
almost secured all three points from their first ever visit to
Bracken Moor Lane. Only the crossbar prevented Hyde snatching a
dramatic win at the death as John O’Kane’s freekick rebounded to
safety. A draw it remained which left Hyde as the only team in the
Division without a win.
Stocksbridge took the lead on 29 minutes
through on loan striker Ryan Hindley
after good approach play but the Tigers were level two minutes later
with a good strike from Neil Tolson.
Hyde looked the stronger in the second half and
went in front on 58 minutes with a neat strike from Glyn
Barker after seconds earlier, John Gaynor had blocked a goal
bound shot. But with 19 minutes left, a good cross from
Player-Manager, Wayne Biggins was headed home by Steve
Johnson. Biggins certainly made an impact as he had only been
on the field two minutes before the goal. Later he was involved in a
couple of skirmishes with dramatic over-reactions for which he was
lucky not to receive cautions.
The Tigers finished the stronger and were
unlucky not to snatch a dramatic victory. Neil Tolson had a good
game on his comeback from injury, but desperately needs another ball
winner up-front, whilst Gaynor had his best game for some time at
the back
Hyde – Fish, Gaynor, Pendlebury,
Jones, Kielthy, O’Kane, Challender, Buckley, Tolson, Ellis,
Barker. Subs – Prior, Meszaros and Watts
Stocksbridge Park Steels – Siddall, Knowles, Siddall, Middleton, Bonser, Brookes, Richards, Johnson, Knox, Ring, Hindley. Subs – Biggins, Garratt and Riley.
REPORT MARK
DRING
30-08-03 HYDE
UNITED 6 HALLAM 1 FACpr att228
When was the last
time the Tigers won by five clear goals? It should actually have
been more as numerous chances were missed in the second half,
including two one on ones with the ‘keeper. But who cares?
This was a
scintillating performance from the Tigers against unbeaten Hallam,
especially in the first half, as they rattled in five without reply.
And good goals they were too. Tony Ellis hammered in the first after
only nine minutes ( with his left foot). Five minutes later Glyn
Barker was fouled in the box and Neil Tolson put away the penalty
with more aplomb than his Bridlington one. Ellis tapped in number
three on 29 minutes and then added another screamer on 37. Right on
half time another tap in for Tony and four for the half and five for
the Tigers. Not bad for a veteran as this week’s NPL Newsletter
calls him!
The forwards all
played well with Barker ever dangerous and Tolson laying the ball
off well. They were well supported from midfield by John O’Kane
who was instrumental in most things and had his best game so far for
the Tigers. He even managed to miss a sitter after being on the end
of a superb six man move.
The second half
was an anti-climax after Barker had netted a sixth on 52 minutes.
Jamie Smith pulled one back on 57 minutes with a well taken goal and
then it was time to switch the team around. Hyde lost their fluency
, whilst Hallam were pleased just to hang on in there and take
consolation the second half was only 1-1. It shouldn’t have been
as both Barker and Tolson contrived to miss when faced only with the
‘keeper, but other missed chances were soon forgotton as the
Tigers had already booked a spot in the next round with either
Curzon or Mossley.
From the
performance, you would not have guessed that the Tigers had
struggled to field a team. Dave Fish decided on Friday night that
his future was not Orange (jersey), so John Baker was drafted in and
he did well. Lee Evans in on crutches, Phil Salt had not recovered
from his achilles problem and John Gaynor reported sick on arrival
at the ground. That meant a debut for Steven Clegg and he gave an
accomplished performance and only 3 available subs, although five
were named. Phil Salt’s ‘warm up’ was a pie from Lil. By the
looks of JG, it would have made a hasty return if he had one!
Ready for the
next round are strikers Matty mcNeil signed from Runcorn FC Halton
and Anthony Wright signed from Aberystwyth Town. Matty is well known
locally whilst Anthony was part of Barrow’s 1998 League winning
side. Both will be needed for the tougher tasks ahead….starting at
North Ferriby on Tuesday.
Hyde – Baker, Clegg, Pendlebury, Jones, Kielthy, O’Kane, Challender, Buckley, Tolson, Ellis, Barker. Subs – Prior, Meszaros, Watts
Hallam –
Spooner, Francis, Muzyczka, Storey, Hawke, Franklin, Roney,
Campbell, Worsfold, smith, Tibenham. Subs – Clements, Moult and
Howard.
REPORT MARK
DRING
02-09-03 NORTH FERRIBY UNITED 2
HYDE UNITED 0 UNI att.142
This
was a dire performance from the Tigers and I suppose we should be
thankful we wern't playing the whole of Ferriby!
In
an idyllic setting of allotments, views over the estuary, extremely
large houses and the Humber Bridge in the background, Hyde failed to
reflect the surroundings with things going wrong from the very first
kick. Tony Watts had a nightmare, mis-kicking three times and was
probably relieved to pick up an injury and be substituted on 20
minutes. Lee Prior replaced him and was promptly booked for his
first kick, as he missed the ball. That basically summed up the
abject Tigers. They could not control the ball or pass it to a blue.
The playing surface wasn’t brilliant, but Ferriby seemed to cope
okay.
By
this time, North Ferriby had already taken the lead on 15 minutes
through Craig Elliot after the defence
had failed to deal with a bouncing ball. Debutant Mark Westhead had
no chance.
For
the rest of the game, the Tigers huffed and puffed and for a spell
in the second half exerted some pressure. They failed to capitalise
on some half chances and it was all over on 81 minutes as Jamie
Richards added a second. Again Westhead had no chance.
North
Ferriby worked hard and showed plenty of spirit. You would expect
nothing else with two Bothams in the team, but these are matches we
should be winning, but on this performance we were so far off the
pace, it was unreal.
Matty
McNeil was the best player, whilst Anthony Wright showed some great
touches in the last half hour and came closest to scoring. As for
everybody else…well let’s just say they all had off days. They
have to bounce back at Matlock or else….
Hyde
- Westhead,
Clegg, Watts, Jones, Kielthy, O’Kane, Challender, Salt, Tolson,
Ellis, McNeil
North Ferriby – Sharp, Moore, Gowen, Fisher, Dewhurst, Botham D., Hartley, Wood, Elliot, Richards, Botham G. Subs – Wainman, Sheldon and Sewell
REPORT
MARK DRING
06-09-03
MATLOCK TOWN 2 HYDE UNITED 5 UNI att.331
The Tigers had a lot to prove in
this game. A scintillating performance last Saturday followed by
something pretty dire on Tuesday. The Manager made it clear before
the game that nothing less than a victory would do, with reputations
being on the line. There was everything to play for. Matlock were
top of the league and hadn’t conceded a goal at home.
For the first half hour Steve Waywell’s words
seem to have got lost in the translation. We conceded a sloppy goal
on 3 minutes when John O’Kane and Paul Jones allowed Danny
Holland to slip the ball home. And things went from bad to
worse as first Mr. Lawrence awarded Matlock a penalty on 24 minutes
for hand ball by O’Kane. He saw it, but nobody else in the ground
did. Holland scored. And then the
referee gave a goal kick when Matty McNeil was brought down. A clear
penalty. If not a corner. A case of chickening out perhaps?
Anthony Kielthy then suffered a neck injury and
things were looking pretty bleak for the Tigers…but not for long.
A reshuffle to 4-4-2 with Craig Buckley
on as substitute. Three minutes later a shot by him across goal and
a rather heavy footed attempt by Kevin Tye allowed the ball to creep
in at the far post. A lifeline and also an inkling the Matlock
‘keeper was vulnerable. Seconds later Anthony Wright rattled the
woodwork and Hyde started to believe in themselves. A series of
corners, a couple of near misses and the Tigers were roaring again.
Right on half-time Wright headed in a
corner and the Tigers were back where they had started.
The second half was all Hyde. By now Matty
McNeil was winning everything up front and Wright and Neil Tolson
were looking dangerous every time they got the ball. Within three
minutes of the restart Tolson slid the
ball home after great work on the right by McNeil. Chances came and
went until Wright bagged his second on
81 minutes after good play by Tolson. He then completed his
hat-trick on 87 minutes with a superb lob. It could and should have
been more.
There were some excellent individual
performances but man of the match for me was McNeil. He may not have
got on the scoresheet, but he figured in everything going forward.
Wright looked sharp on his first full appearance and we will benefit
from his finishing. All of a sudden, things are looking brighter but
you can’t give teams a two goal start every time. Consistency is
now needed with a stern test on Wednesday with Prescot who have had
a good start.
Matlock – Tye, Varley, Taylor,White, James, Lukic, Tilly, Brown, Barraclough, Holland, Williams.Subs – Clarke, Charles and Taylor
REPORT MARK
DRING
10-09-03 HYDE UNITED 4 PRESCOT CABLES 1 UNI att.190
Another great performance from the Tigers and a very entertaining
game. Much more on offer here than the match down the road at O.T.
Prescot needed a win to go top, whilst Hyde needed a win to show
Saturday wasn’t a false dawn.
The Tigers keep the team which played most of
the match on Saturday and were soon in their stride as Neil Tolson
put them ahead after only seven minutes. The joy was shortlived as
three minutes later, the Hyde defence gave Karl Rendle too much
space and he scored easily.
The rest of the half was end to end with Hyde
creating the better chances. On 25 minutes the perservering Matty
McNeil set up Anthony Wright, but Paul Dahl made a great save. From
the resultant corner, Paul Jones had a header off the crossbar.
Craig Buckley then went close after being set up by Tolson, and it
was that man Tolson again on 38 minutes who put the Tigers in front
after good play from the impressive Wright. Neil has come a long way
since being a scapegoat at Bridlington.
In the second half, Hyde continued to push
forward, but Prescot were fighting hard and were always in the game.
It was not until Tolson completed his hat-trick on 78 minutes with a
superb goal, that the Tigers’ fans could breathe easily. It was
then all Hyde as first Buckley burst through to shoot wide with only
the ‘keeper to beat before Wright made it four to round off an
excellent personal performance and a great team effort.
The Tigers are roaring again.Up to 10th
now, only 5 points behind the leaders and we have played 5 teams
above us. Let’s hope we can tame Mossley on Saturday. On this
showing, we would have beaten most teams.
Hyde –
Westhead, Clegg, Pendlebury, Jones, Buckley, O’Kane, Callaghan,
Salt, Tolson, Wright, McNeil.Subs – Barker, Ellis and Gaynor.
Prescot Cables – Dahl, Holmes, Smith,Chadwick,
Flood, O.Donnle,Garforth, Taylor, McEwen,Rendle, Baker.Subs –
Clark, Prescott and Parry.
REPORT MARK DRING
13-09-03 MOSSLEY 1 HYDE UNITED 6 FACqr att.525
Another sensational performance from the Tigers taking their goal
tally in the week to a staggering15.
The Tigers keep the team which played on Wednesday for what on paper was going to be a difficult afternoon. Mossley thought it was going to be easy as they were scoring freely too and in the programme Jason Beckford said they had nothing to fear from Hyde.
He must have changed his mind pretty quick as the Tigers stormed into a three goal lead within 28 minutes. John O’Kane got the first on 17 minutes after Neil Tolson had hit the bar. A minute later Craig Buckley slipped the ball home after Matty McNeil had hit the post with a brilliant overhead kick. Ten minutes later the hard working Anthony Wright slipped home the third.
On 39 minutes Alan Bailey pulled one back in a rare attack, but within a minute Ian Pendlebury was brought down in the area. Tolson struck the kick sweetly, but Phil Melville got down well to save.
The second half followed a similar pattern to
the first and the Tigers extended their lead on 59 minutes when the
unlucky Tolson hit the bar again, but the irrepresible Wright was on
hand to score. McNeil at last made the scoresheet on 70 minutes when
he scored easily after a long kick from John Baker. It was nothing
less than Matty deserved as he has already laid on about ten goals
for others in his short stay at Ewen Fields!
Still the Tigers were not finished and with
five minutes left, Tony Ellis set up Buckley for his second, which
he took well. Bugsy was all over the field and fully deserved his
two goals. Having said that, everybody contributed to another superb
team effort.
Two FA Cup ties, and two 6-1 victories. Nine
goals in three league games in between. Steve has certainly got the
Tigers roaring again. Let’s hope the fans return quickly. There
was great support at Mossley and hopefully they will come back to
Ewen Fields on Wednesday.
Hyde – Baker, Clegg, Pendlebury, Jones, Buckley, O’Kane, Callaghan, Salt, Tolson, Wright, McNeil.Subs – Barker, Ellis, Gaynor, Prior and Kielthy.
REPORT MARK DRING
17-09-03 HYDE UNITED 0
CREW ALEXANDRA CSC 5 att.199
You certainly get goals when you match the Tigers these days! Unfortunately all five here were scored by an impressive Crewe side. The Tigers had their chances, but Crewe looked likely to score on every attack. This was certainly a soccer masterclass and a rude awakening for Hyde after the excitement of the last couple of weeks.
Crewe took the lead on just 4 minutes when Lee Bell ended a neat move. On fifteen minutes, Mike Higden had made it two and the game was all over on 38 when defender Matt Garner headed in from close range following a corner. Tigers could have had a couple. Matty McNeil had a header off the line and a Phil Salt free kick was brilliantly saved by “ George” Bankole. In fact , former Tiger George had a great game and never really looked like conceding as the game progressed.
The second half followed a similar pattern to
the first and the lively Paul Edwards increased the lead on 68
minutes with a deflection off Paul Jones. Higden grabbed his second
with a minute to go with a sweet volley. Neil Tolson hit the bar in
the second half( becoming a star at that), but unlike Saturday it
did not produce a goal.
Steve Waywell has certainly plenty to think
about before Saturday’s game with Lincoln United. One of his main
concerns must be the defence and the space they gave the maurading
Crewe forwards, especially man of the match Luke Varney..
Hyde – Baker,
Gaynor, Pendlebury, Jones, Buckley, Kielthy, Callaghan, Salt, Tolson,
Barker, McNeil.Subs – Clegg, Ellis and O’Kane.
Crewe – Bankole, Yates, Bond, Garner,
Roberts, Sorvel, Bell, Robinson, Edwards, Varney, Higden.Subs –
Platt, Jones and Howard
REPORT MARK DRING
20-09-03 HYDE UNITED 2 LINCOLN UTD 0 UNI att.270
This was a tough game for the Tigers. Lincoln
played very well until Ian Pendlebury sealed it with eight minutes
left. The Tigers showed resiliance when they needed to but still
managed to create chance after chance with some flowing football
orchestrated by Phil Salt from midfield. The ref did well too, after
the pedantic ones we have had recently, and kept good control of a
sporting game.
Hyde were without Anthony Callaghan and
replaced him with John Gaynor, who got better as the match
progressed. The three forwards again looked lively, whilst the
defence had their first clean sheet of the season.
In a lively opening Matty McNeil brought the
first of a series of good saves from Lincoln ‘keeper Nick Conroy,
whilst at the other end, Gary Bull headed against the post. Hyde
took the lead on 28 minutes when Neil Tolson headed in a Pendlebury
corner at the near post. Five minutes before half-time, Craig
Buckley burst through to be thwarted by another good save from
Conroy.
Lincoln came back strongly in the second half,
but the Tigers continued to create chances and McNeil brought
another great save from Conroy on 72 minutes. A minute later Mark
Westhead produced a good save from Paul Millerand that proved to be
Lincoln’s last chance as Hyde picked up the tempo again.
Anthony Wright went close before Pendlebury
sealed it with a great lob (if he meant it!) to the far post leaving
Conroy floundering. There was still time for the impressive McNeil
to head against the bar as the Tigers finshed strongly to register
their third league win in a row.
The Tigers go on their travels now with only
two scheduled league games at Ewen Fields before November 9th
and both these are dependant on our progress in the FA Cup. We start
our travels with our first ever trip to Kidsgrove on Wednesday.
Another tough game, but the Tigers have proved they now have the
capability of beating anybody.
Hyde – Westhead, Clegg, Pendlebury, Jones, Buckley, O’Kane, Gaynor, Salt, Tolson, Wright, McNeil. Subs – Barker, Watts and Kielthy.
Lincoln United – Conroy, Horsewood, Brown, McDaid, George, Gilbery, Hawley, Bull, Williams, Miller, Hall. Subs – Buckthorne, Hone and Simmons.
REPORT MARK DRING