The Rams turn up the heat in the second half to secure a much needed victory at home against Glossop in the Isuzu FA Trophy First Qualifying Round.
The opening stages of this one was scrapy at times, with neither side being able to retain possession for substantial periods. The visitors were the first to get a shot off on goal when Harry Freedman saw his effort deflected towards goal but Charlie Monks read it well and made a comfortable save.
Ramsbottom didn’t see their first real chance until the 27th minute when Leon Creech did exceptionally well to hold off his man and get a shot away from 18 yards out.
Glossop were begging to course Rammy all sorts of problems with their corners and freekicks but Charlie Monks seemed to have all the answers to the questions being asked of him.
Despite the Rams faithful not having to much to shout about during the first half they certainly found their voice when James Murphy was bundled over inside the penalty area. Ramsbottom’s players and coaches also seemed convinced that it should have been a penalty but the referee Thomas Swift who had an excellent view of the incident wasn’t interested.
The visitors continued to push for the opener but thanks to some fantastic saves from Charlie Monks and a ball hooked off the line by Sam Holt the sides went into the break level.
The Home side came out of the blocks flying, with Billy Hasler-Cregg hounding the Glossop defence. His persistence paid off just a minute into the second half when he managed to dispossess the visitors on the edge of the 18 yard box. Hasler-Cregg drove into the box dancing past tackles and he then squared the ball to Leon Creech who had the simplest of tap ins to give Ramsbottom the lead.
However the lead didn’t last long and on 54 minutes the away side managed to grab an equaliser through Keaton Mulvey, when he took full advantage of a dangerous Glossop corner.
Then just 10 minutes later again and Rammy had crawled themselves back ahead when James Murphy hunted a ball down the right channel. As Murphy reached the ball he had spotted that goalkeeper Jordan Hadlow had began to come off his line. The Rams number three lobbed the ball over the head of Hadlow and the ball seemed to almost roll down the keeper and into the back of the net.
As the hosts were seeing the game out Glossop had their own penalty shout but once again the referee was not interested in the slightest. The visitors went close again on 88 minutes when a low driven shot was put to Monks’ left hand side but the young shot stopper got down well and managed to keep hold of the ball to ensure his side the win and to put their name in the hat for the next round.
Ramsbottom will face Clitheroe in the next round at home on the 24th September.
