Yellows Roll Into Deeping Looking For Elusive Victory

 DEEPING RANGERS V HUCKNALL TOWN

UCL PREMIER NORTH SEPT 16TH 2023 3 PM KO

MATCH REVIEW

Buoyed by a midweek Notts Senior cup win at Southwell in midweek Hucknall will be looking to secure their first league victory of the season at Deeping Rangers.

The mid week win also saw manager Andy Ingle stand down hot on the heels of assistant manager Michael Banister the week before and Phil Henry will step into a caretaker role until a new manager is appointed. 

I'm sorry it hasn't worked out for Andy and Bano I have huge respect for both of them and wish them well for the future. Also"big Nige" has left the club to join Newark and Sherwood and whilst that is disappointing I wish him all the best at his new club.

It leaves the caretaker manager with limited options up front but Trevell and Callum are getting better every week and I'm sure will continue to do so.

Right onto the opposition and correct me if I am wrong but I think it's the first time we have crossed swords and it is certainly a new ground visit for me today. 

Deeping hail from Market Deeping in Lincolnshire about 7 miles from Bourne who are their local rivals. They are a very well established UCL premier league side.

This season their league record reads

Played 8 winning 3 drawing 3 and losing 2 with a GD of plus 3 to lie in 8th place.

Their season didn't start great with an opening day 2 2 draw at home to Heanor Town followed by a draw by the same score away at Boston Town. Two defeats followed away at the only team unbeaten Sherwood Colliery (4 0)and at home to Melton Town (2 0) but three wins and another 2 2 draw at home to Eastwood in their last match have followed.

The victories were against Kimberley (home 2 0) Pinchbeck (away 4 0) and AFC Mansfield (away 3 0)

The FA competitions saw them bow out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle (3 0 away at Ashby Ivanoe) and out of the Vase (home to Loughborough students 3 6)

In comparison Hucknall's league record is dire

Played 7 winning 0 drawing 1 and losing 6 with a GD of minus 18

So another difficult task awaits the Yellows today but at some point we will turn the corner. Whether today is that day remains to be seen but I wish Phil and the lads all the best and as ever we will be there to support in good numbers again.

Useful Links:

address: Deeping Rangers FC

The Haydon Whitham Stadium, Outgang Road, Towngate East

Market Deeping

Lincs

PE6 8LQ

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeepingRangers

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deeping_Rangers_F.C.

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeepingRangersFC/?locale=en_GB

Yellows Suffer Another Home Defeat

 HUCKNALL TOWN 0 SKEGNESS TOWN 2

UCL PREMIER NORTH

SAT SEPT 9TH 2023 3 PM KO

TEAMS: Hucknall Town

1 Alfie Smith-Eccles 2 Jamie Crawford 3 Dillon Rawson 4 Sam sims 5 Aaron Short (Capt) 6 Connor Whiles 7 Brad Lathall 8 Kai Wilson 9 Trevell Lindo 10 Joe Ashurst 11 Louis Czerwak

Subs: Callum Orange, Raife Poplar, Kieron Lane, Jack Smith

Skegness Town

1 Jake Lovelace 2 Adam Millson 3 Elliott Broughton 4 Conor Marshall 5 Nick Jackson 6 Bailey Dilley 7 Jonny Lockie 8 Scott Floyd 9 Declan Johnson 10 Ben Davison 11 Luke Raynor-Mistry

Subs: Harrison Ainsley, Stacey Cartwright, Gary King, Jamie Robinson

officials: Jack Hennell Alan Parker, David Henfrey

Att: 270

Skegness took the victory and the three points back to the seas side but at least the Yellows stemmed the flow of goals and put in an acceptable performance.

Hucknall suffered a big blow when big striker Niall Towle was ruled out with a hamstring injury picked up in the mid week defeat at Newark. This meant a starting place up front for Trevell Lindo. New signing Jacob Sturgess was also missing as was Billy Brooks and Nathan Kelly. Dillon Rawson returned as full back. Michael Banister has stepped down as assistant manager and left the club.

Hucknall started quite brightly with Czerwak having the first shot but it was straight at the visiting keeper.

After 10 minutes the home keeper had to save a Lockie shot from close range.

The visitors took the lead a minute later from a fabulous strike from distance by Declan Johnson. 

Before Hucknall could reset they fell two behind after a good move from the visitors broke down the Hucknall defence. Ben Davison's header from a right wing cross gave Smith-Eccles no chance and once again the Yellows had a mountain to climb. 

Smith-Eccles then produced a great save tipping a free kick over to keep the score down to 2.

The referee decided he needed to be in on the show and showed Aaron Short a yellow card for a challenge on the keeper which was nothing more than an unavoidable collision with both going for the ball.

Czerwak was then brought down in the box but to further enrage a partisan home crowd the referee waved the protests away. 

Then came a decision which needs some explaining. Lindo was tugged outside the box but the official played on with the Hucknall man goal side of the defender. The defender then fouled Lindo a good metre inside the box but to everyone's amazement the referee pulled it back for the original tug. The resulting free kick ended up with Short putting the ball wide. Czerwak also put a shot off target just before the half ended.

The second half saw Skegness content to defend and then break quickly. Despite a lot of Hucknall effort there was very little end result and a couple of quick breaks from the opposition nearly bore fruit with an unsuccessful penalty appeal of their own and a shot that was off target.

Lathall looked to be through on goal but was pulled back by Jackson taking a yellow for his troubles. Again the freekick came to nothing.

68 minutes saw Orange replace Lindo.

A lovely cross by Crawford was met by the head of Joe Ashurst but went straight into the keepers hands.

Ashurst then received a yellow for a bad tackle.

Orange was doing well since coming on but he was involved in a worrying piece of play. After a similar incident that saw Short booked in the first half the young visiting keeper was brave but was knocked clean out in the collision. Some of the home fans didn't realise how serious the situation was but the keeper was given a good round of applause when he was chaired off after a good amount of treatment. The MOM bottle was also given to him as a token of acknowledgement (hope his Mum enjoyed it)

The Yellows pressed in the time added on but the visitors ran out deserved winners.

Next game is a Notts Senior cup game at Southwell on Wednesday followed by a long trip to Deeping Rangers next Saturday.

Hucknall hope to put things right as Skegness visit Town

 HUCKNALL TOWN V SKEGNESS TOWN

UCL PREMIER DIVISION NORTH

SAT SEPT 9TH 2023 3 PM KO

MATCH PREVIEW

After a nightmare week Hucknall will be looking for a much better performance at home to Skegness Town. Every man and his dog would like to take on Hucknall at the moment after the Yellows sank to the bottom of the table after being brushed aside by previously bottom Pinchbeck at home last Saturday. Worse was to follow on Wednesday night in a League cup tie at division 1 Newark Town.

After a pretty even first half which saw the Yellows trailing 3 1 at half time the Yellows fell apart second half eventually losing 7 2 but it could have been double figures. Our goals came from Brad Lathall and Louis Czerwak but they were little consolation. New signing Jacob Sturgess played well despite the score line and I think he will be a big asset but he must be wondering just what he has walked into.

Skegness will be trying to become the next team to wear out our goal nets. 

They arrive at the RM with a record this season of

Played 6 winning 3 drawing 0 and losing 3 with a GD of plus 1

The three league defeats were in their first 3 games. Opening day 3 1 at home to Sherwood, 2 nil away at Sleaford and 3 2 away at Heanor Town. 

Three league wins have followed since against Pinchbeck (home 3 0) , Wisbech (home 1 0) and Melton (home 2 0)

They also beat AFC Mansfield over 2 games in the FA Cup before bowing out to Sheffield FC in the next round..

They are also in the next round of the FA Vase after beating Saffron Dynamo 2 1 away in the last round.

Hucknall will be looking to simply play better and give a good account of themselves tomorrow. I'm sure the supporters will once again be behind them but the attendance will be interesting tomorrow.

It's painful being a Yellows fan at the moment but three points will go a long way to make everyone associated with the club feel better.

Yellows Put To The Sword By The Pinchbeck Knights

 HUCKNALL TOWN 0 PINCHBECK UNITED 5

UCL PREMIER NORTH 

SATURDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2023 3 PM KO

MATCH REPORT

TEAMS:

Hucknall Town

1 Alfie Smith-Eccles 2 Raife Poplar 3 Kieron Lane 4 Sam Sims 5 Aaron Short (Capt) 6 Connor Whiles 7 Jamie Crawford 8 Kai Wilson 9 Niall Towle 10 Joe Ashurst 11 Louis Czerwak

Subs: Trevell Lindo, Callum Orange Michael Banister, Jack Smith

Pinchbeck United: (in no particular order)

Elliott Burell, Harry Cranfield, Sam Edwards, Jake Henderson, Taylor Jaine, Harry Johnson, Ben Robson, Flynn Slater, Nathan Stevens, James Stuffins, Andre Williams

Subs: Kelvin Ibeneme, Joe Melson, Logan Tate, Dan Wright

Officials: Neil Smith, Al Parker, Lee Harrison

Attendance: 204

A day that started full of optimism ended in disbelief and huge disappointment as bottom club Pinchbeck nicknamed the Knights put the Yellows to the sword in ruthless fashion.

The visitors only had to wait 5 minutes before opening the scoring. The old adage of playing to the whistle came to the fore as the entire Hucknall side stopped believing there had been a handball. The official thought differently and Pinchbeck carried on. It was still a good finish from the pinchbeck player from outside the box.

Hucknall's response was a cross from the lively Czerwak but no one was there and Ashurst put one over from distance. In truth there was nothing to bother the visiting keeper and indeed the visitors doubled their lead on 34 mins. The Hucknall defence misjudged a through ball giving the Pinchbeck attack acres of space. Johnson applying the final touch into the net.

Worse was to follow 4 minutes before halftime as Slater tapped home from close range to make it 3.

Manager Ingle elected to keep the Hucknall players out on the pitch at halftime.

Hucknall had plenty of possession for the first 25 minutes of the second half but never tested the visiting keeper. Czerwak and Ashurst blazed shots over. Aaron Short perhaps came closest with an angled header that went narrowly wide.

74 mins saw Lindo and Orange enter the fray replacing Towle and Lane but any hopes of a comeback lay in tatters moments later as the visitors made it 4.

Pinchbeck broke quickly after a Hucknall corner and Tate finished off the move.

Hucknall had visibly gone and the visitors quickly made it 5 a minute later through Johnson. 

Jack Smith who had resigned for Hucknall in Midweek came on and to his credit did well nearly catching the visiting keeper off his line but the ball went over. 

It took until the 92nd minute for the visiting keeper to make a save of any note. Sam Sims angled shot cleared by the keepers legs.

The referee blew the whistle to end the game and while the visitors rightfully celebrated a huge win for them the Yellows replaced them at the bottom and became the only team to not register a win in the league. 

I have rarely seen a Hucknall crowd so shocked at a result on home soil. The players and management seemed equally as shocked.

I waited for a while before writing this report and people including myself have made their feelings known on social media. I admit I don't know the answer but I do believe that it is a culmination of factors. Whilst I never expected to be winning the league I certainly didn't think we would struggle to this low. However like the gaffer says it is early days and there is time to turn this around. The reaction to this defeat is what matters going forward  I truly believe that the players we have got are capable of much better than this.

Yellow's look for victory in key game

HUCKNALL TOWN V PINCHBECK UNITED

UCL PREMIER NORTH

SAT SEPT 2ND 2023 3 PM KO

MATCH PREVIEW

Hucknall will be looking for the elusive victory in the league this season when playing the only other side without a victory and the only team below them in the table.

As only one team goes down this season this even at an early stage of the season is a massive game for the Yellow's. 

Pinchbeck hail from Lincolnshire and groundshare with Spalding United. I don't believe our paths have crossed before but I stand to be informed otherwise. 

After many years in the Peterborough and District league they were promoted to the UCL Div 1 in 2016/17 after finishing runners up. This is when the groundshare with Spalding (who I am sure we have played) began. Winning the UCL div 1 league in 2017/18  they were promoted to the Premier North where thay have been ever since.

Last season saw them finish 17th from 20 teams with a record of 

played 38 winning 8 drawing 3 and losing 27 with a GD of minus 46

This season has seen a similar start to Hucknalls. Having played 2 games more than the Yellows they have a solitary point achieved in a draw away to Ashby Ivanhoe on the opening day of the season.

They then played the team Hucknall had drawn with on opening day but lost 3 1 away. Further defeats followed against Eastwood (home 0 6), Skegness (away 0 3), Boston (away 0 4), Kimberley (away 2 5) and most recently on Wednesday Deeping Rangers (home 0 4)

Of course they will be looking at this game as one to win as well and the home side shouldn't be complacent in thinking this game is easy and I don't think they will.

Hopefully we will be celebrating 3 points on Saturday or I genuinely believe the fans will start asking questions of where we go from here. 

Hucknall's valiant effort ends in no reward

 HEANOR TOWN 3 HUCKNALL TOWN 2

UCL PREMIER NORTH 

MON 28TH AUGUST 2023 3 PM KO

MATCH REPORT

TEAMS: Heanor Town

! Emery 2 Horne 3 Nice 4 Craddock 5 Marriott-Lane 6 Thornberry 7 Gordon 8 Moore 9 Markelic 10 Debrouwer 11 Taylor

Subs: 12 Scott 14 Sandhu 15 Morris 16 Britton 17 Graham

Hucknall Town

1 Alfie Smith-Eccles 2 Jamie Crawford 3 Raife Poplar 4 Sam Sims 5 Aaron Short (Capt) 6 Billy Brooks 7 Trevell Lindo 8 Kai Wilson 9  Niall Towle 10 Joe Ashurst 11 Louis Czerwak

Subs: Kieren Lane, Callum Orange, Michael Banister

officials: Max atherton, Al Parker, Paul Dixon

Att: 305

The hosts remained unbeaten in the league whilst the visitors ended up still looking for an elusive first league win but Hucknall will take a lot of positives from this game going into a clash of the bottom 2 this weekend.

Hucknall once again gave themselves a mountain to climb going two goals down after 28 minutes but found the resilience to get back on level terms only to see their first half efforts thwarted by a dubious penalty decision which gave Heanor a 3 2 half time lead and despite chances for both teams second half that's how it remained.

Heanor saw a cross on 7 minutes cleared over the bar from close range by Jamie Crawford.

Hucknall responded and Ashurst's shot from Lindo's pass forced a good save from the home keeper. The linesman's flag went up when Lindo was through on goal. 

Heanor took the lead on 18 minutes. Markelic took advantage of a mistake in the Hucknall defence and played the ball back to Taylor who slotted the ball home.

Smith-Eccles then made a save from Taylor as Heanor looked to double their lead. 

On 27 minutes they did just that, the dangerous Taylor was played through by Moore's pass and he took a touch before shooting past the visiting keeper.

However any thoughts that the home side would romp to victory were put to bed when Crawford played in Czerwak who blasted the ball high into the net to immediately halve the deficit.

Even better was to come for the Yellows when on 32 minutes Joey Ashurst produced another early doors goal of the season contender when curling the ball superbly into the top corner from the edge of the box to draw the teams level.

The home side responded well and Smith-Eccles had to make a saves from a Markelic free kick on 35 mins and a powerful Debrouwer shot just after.

Heanor were rewarded for their efforts when Billy Brooks was adjudged to have handled Debrouwer's shot in the box. It's the sort of decision the top teams get whilst those at the bottom don't. Debrouwer made no mistake from the spot to restore the home sides lead.

There was still time before half time for Taylor to be denied his hat trick after another good save by Smith-Eccles. Markelic then had the ball in the Yellow's net but the offside flag was raised and the teams went in for half time after a craking half of football.

Markelic had the first chance of the second half but saw his shot bounce off the crossbar when through on goal.

Raife Poplar saw a cross nearly curl in for the visitors as they looked to get back into the game. 

Captain Aaron Short then produced a great tackle to keep the home side at bay. 

Markelic then went close on the hour mark but his shot went wide. Ashurst then did well to block a shot and Smith-Eccles had to be sharp picking up the ball from Debrouwer's feet.

Markelic seemed determined to score and another free kick flashed past the post. 

Callum Orange had replaced Trevell Lindo before this for the visitors.

Whether Heanor ran out of steam at this point is debatable but the last ten minutes belonged to the visitors as they pressed for an equaliser. 

Hucknall had their own claims for a handball in the box turned away by the official despite claims from players and away fans.

Towle's cross then evaded Wilson at the far post. Kieron Lane replaced Wilson afterwards.

Callum Orange then saw a shot saved by the home keeper and then ran onto Lane's pass only to be brought down by Nice (who wasn't being Nice)who was rewarded with a yellow card.

Towle took the free kick but hit the Heanor wall and then with the last throw of the dice Orange's shot was put behind for a corner.

The whistle blew and another frustrating defeat was the result for the Yellows who once again failed to get anything against bogey side Heanor.