By Garry Clarke
GOALS at the start and end of the first half saw Warrington Rylands sink to a disappointing 2-0 defeat on the North East Coast against Markse United.
On a chilly evening, Rylands were caught cold as the home side took the lead against the run of play inside the first minute.
From the kick off Sam Egerton played the ball forward to Osebi Abadaki whose progress was halted on the edge of the area by a sliding tackle from Marske goalkeeper Nathan Harker, the red shirted Rylands paused momentarily waiting for a free kick which never came. The home side quickly transferred the ball to their opponent’s area where Adam Boyes muscled his way through to set up Junior Mondal who drilled his shot into the bottom corner after 55 seconds of play.
Marske doubled their advantage in the 43rd minute through Boyes. Luke Pilling pulled off a good diving save to keep out a Mondal shot, the home side reacted quickest to the rebounded with Connor Smith setting up the Seasiders leading scorer who fired home.
In between the two goals Rylands had dominated the game as their host seemed content to sit back and defend their lead, only occasional venturing into their visitors half.
Goalkeeper Harker, named by the home side as man of the match, produced a string of saves to keep Rylands at bay. Having fumbled an early Jordan Mustoe free kick he did well to keep out Colin Oppong’s follow up shot and as the half progressed he also saved efforts from Matt Sargent, Joe Adams and Abadaki while Scott Duxbury was off target with a long range shot and also headed over from a corner.
The second half started with Marske attacking more than they did in the first half with Mondal having several unsuccessful shots at goal while Boyes fired wide from close range, but Rylands regained control as they went looking for a way back into the game.
Harker was still proving too difficult to beat as he saved from Abadaki and Oppong. The nearest Rylands came to beating him was in the 75th minute when an Abadaki cross deflected past him off a Marske defender, however he recovered to scramble the ball clear.
Backing up their goalkeeper, fighting to avoid relegation Marske defenders threw their bodies in the path of shots, won headers to clear danger and held on for a vital three points.
MARSKE – Harker, May, Chirmlilo (Payne), Clark, Burgess, Storey, Smith, Kennedy, Boyes, Hodgson (Horbury), Mondal (Church). Subs not used – Hope, McAvoy
RYLANDS – Pilling, Neild, Mustoe, Duxbury, Egerton, Furman, Adams (Amaral), Sargent, Oppong (Hindle), Touray, Abadaki. Subs not used Hunt, Wright, Hockenhull.
Attendance: 429 Referee: Sam Ross
