Ben Rhydding 3 Urmston 2

Ben Rhydding rounded off their Northh Men's Division One title-winning campaign with victory but they weren’t able to produce the centrepiece they wanted to provide to the club’s President’s Day.

After easing into a three-goal lead they became a little complacent and the visitors hit back with two late goals.

Urmston relied on the aerial threat and Rhydding did not have skipper Dave Exley around to bring such balls down.

Danny Foster, holding the position of full back very nicely kept things steady at the back as Rhydding tried to settle.

Nick Bull, back from his military duties put in an outstanding shift in goal.

Half backs, Callum Hodson and Harry Bush were solid and passionate and they will be sorely missed next season as they respectively begin and end their university careers.

Kieran Borrett and Neil Sugden combined well in midfield and kept Urmston chasing.

Rhydding began to open up gaps as they worked the ball from stick to stick.

Tireless work from George Sweeting and Callum Franks offered space for the midfield to get through and Urmston began to falter.

A penalty corner offered Will Musgrave the chance to open the scoring and finish his league tally at 32 goals as Rhydding began to find their rhythm.

Josh Sykes was strong on the ball and Tom Zillessen made good early tackles to break down any Urmston possession.

Youngsters, Harry Sherlock and Elliot Dowley showed composure and Urmston’s tackling became ragged and physical.

Zillessen seemed to receive more than his share of rough treatment but when the corner finally came, Urmston’s goalkeeper showed dissent to the umpire which caused him to get sent off.

A delay ensued as Urmston padded up a replacement keeper. but Connor Dowley stepped up and thundered a flick home to put his side 2-0 ahead.

With Urmston down to nine players Rhydding should have capitalised but the heat had gone out of their play.

They steadily worked back up and began moving the ball around the pitch smoothly.

The lively George Sweeting scored an absolute screamer of a reverse shot to make it 3-0 but this saw the return of complacency and Rhydding conceded two goals in the closing minutes of the game.

It has been a glorious season for Rhydding and to have only lost one game out of twenty two is an impressive record.

A well drilled and fit side that has been consistent in both training and matches has meant that their success has built steadily with each game. They now look to the future and the North Premier with confidence.