OTS – 11th NOVEMBER

It is time, once again, to have a look back through our history to see what happened on this respective Saturday in our non-league history and today, we reach Saturday 11th November … a day rather dominated by either ex-Rams or future ones!

2017 – ALTRINCHAM 4 RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 1
FA Trophy Qualification Round 2

Ramsbottom United exited the FA Trophy after being defeated by the highest ranked team currently in the competition when they visited Moss Lane on Saturday.

The afternoon started in the best possible way for the Rams when with just 90 seconds on the clock, home keeper Thompson’s clearance hit the back of his own defender Bembo-Leto before the ball fell to ex-Altrincham player Sam Heathcote who finished superbly with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area to give the visitors the lead.

Indeed this gave the Rams a confidence boost as within the opening ten minutes, Greg Daniels turned well and tested Thompson whilst Luke Thompson headed over from a Daniels corner as the away side started the brighter team with the hosts looking uncertain in defence.

Altrincham began to get a foothold in the contest and the equaliser arrived just after the quarter hour mark when former Ram Jordan Hulme headed in an inswinging corner from Johnston to level matters.

The pattern of the match turned in favour of Altrincham after the goal as visiting keeper Danny Taberner was called into action to make three excellent saves to keep the scores level.

Sadly for the Rams they would suffer at the hands of Hulme again on 34 minutes when another inswinging corner found the forward with time and space before he turned and fired into the top corner of the net to give the home side the advantage.

It was the visitors that ended the half positively when a Heathcote free kick forced Thompson into a smart save low down by the post as the half ended with Ramsbottom trailing 2-1.

With no changes at the interval, it took the hosts less than five minutes to increase their lead as Hulme, who scored 32 goals in 122 appearances for the Rams from 2011 to 2015, and the impressive Johnston exchanged passes before the former shot at goal, the ball taking a wicked deflection before sailing past a helpless Taberner to give Hulme his hat-trick against his former side.

The Rams replaced Rother with Meaney as they looked for a way back into the contest but Altrincham showed why they are top of their league with an authoritative performance throughout the second half while playing some eye catching football with Harrop and Poole particularly impressing.

Heathcote made way for Regan Jarrett for the Rams while hat-trick hero Hulme departed to a rapturous reception from the majority of a healthy crowd as the match had turned into a version of the Ex-Factor with all four goals being scored by former players of their respective teams.

A number of yellow cards punctuated the last quarter of the encounter as Altrincham controlled the majority of the possession impressively.  Home keeper Thompson saw a Phil Dean effort deflected over his crossbar whilst a Jerome Wright shot threatened the home goal as the Rams showed a willingness to battle for each other which is a point of note that shouldn’t be ignored.

A fourth goal arrived for the home side with five minutes remaining when a speculative 20-yard shot from Poole found its way through the goalkeepers hands in disappointing fashion.  However, it should be noted that Taberner made numerous superb saves throughout the match without which the scoreline could have been more weighted more in favour of the former Conference side.

As the final whistle sounded, the home side sealed a well deserved victory and progression to the next round of the competition as Ramsbottom United will undoubtedly be looking to improve their league position in the coming weeks.

Rams manager Mark Fell summed up the afternoon. “No arguments for us over the results, on balance they deserved it.  The goals were tough to take, two from set plays which we can defend better, a deflection and a mistake from Tabby (who was otherwise excellent), so when you break them down, we can avoid them all.

“It’s a cliche but we can fully focus on climbing the division now, the trophy run has been good, brought some funds into the club and we now need to rectify our league away form and put us back into the mix.”

RAMSBOTTOM UNITED: Taberner, Stott, K Brownhill, Moran, Thompson, Roscoe, Dean, Rother (Meaney 52mins), Heathcote (Jarrett 73mins), Daniels, Wright.  Subs not used: Ashburner, Kay, Brooks.

2006 – RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 0 PADIHAM 1
North West Counties League Cup Round 2
(report from Lancashire Telegraph)

Padiham booked their place in the third round of the League Challenge Cup thanks to a last minute strike by Ed O’Neill.

Without both regular strikers Paul Fildes and Paul Barrett, Padiham packed their midfield and played one up front.

Ramsbottom made most of the attacking play in the first half and only determined defending and an excellent goalkeeping display from Gavin King and a little bit of luck, kept the home side out.

They continued to defend well in the second half and as the match wore on, posed a threat on the counter attack.

However, the Storks received a setback when Dave Ingham was sent off for a challenge on Paul O’Shaughnessy on 76 minutes.

The winner came right at the death after Chris Bennett went on a mazy run before laying the ball off to midfielder O’Neill who took his chance well to send Padiham through.

 
2000 – RAMSBOTTOM UNITED v CHEADLE TOWN
MATCH POSTPONED

It was another blank Saturday as the November rains continued to cause havoc to the Rams fixture list as the home game with Cheadle Town was lost to the weather.

That was even more disappointing as defenders Mark Thomas and Phil Porter were due to make their home debuts in the game.

Thomas, who had been playing for the Greater Manchester Fire Brigade side, was lined up for his Riverside bow alongside the Rams’ other recent signings Porter, who had joined from Mossley and Barry White, who had come off the bench in midweek at Clitheroe.

There weren’t any further injury issues although midfielder Danny Goodall would have been suspended for the clash.

1995 – RAMSBOTTOM UNITED 2 BLACKPOOL MECHANICS 0
North West Counties League Division Two
(report from Rossendale Free Press)

Ramsbottom United manager Ken Bridge was very pleased with the work rate of the youngsters especially in the second half against Blackpool Mechanics after Rammy had taken a two-goal lead through efforts of Mel Imoh and Steve Johnson, who converted a cross from Mark Isherwood.

“I am never happy with a 2-0 lead as I believe you can only relax when you are 3-0 up,” said Bridge.  “But I felt we had done enough when we had weathered the storm in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

“The younger lads are learning all the time but I believe Johnson and Thompson can take a lot of the pressure off them”.