Tameside football round-up: Tigers fall into relegation zone

Hyde United’s worst fears came true on Saturday as visitors Workington came out on top in the pair’s relegation six-pointer, plunging The Tigers into the bottom three. 

A single second-half strike saw The Reds open up a three-point gap on Michael Clegg’s side, who now sit three points adrift of NPL Premier safety. 

The jeopardy involved was largely reflected in what was a cagey opening half at Ewen Fields, with no side troubling their opposing goal. 

But the deadlock was broken superbly just past the hour, with substitute Josh Galloway arrowing in from distance, showing the clinical edge that was sorely lacking moments earlier when Hyde forward Edy Maieco blasted over from point blank range. 

The Tigers’ miserable afternoon was then capped off when substitute Max Harrop was dismissed for a second bookable offence just 15 minutes after entering the action. 

“It’s just not good enough,” Clegg told the Reporter following the potentially season-defining defeat. 

“We’ve got too many people cruising. You come here, get your nice Adidas training kit on, you go to the nice warm classroom for a meeting – you don’t get that at other clubs at this level. 

“Some of these are spoilt and they’re not good enough. 

“We deserve a bit of pain, we deserve to look at the league table and it hurt. 

“Some of these think, ‘we’re Hyde, we can’t go down’, well the fact is, we are gonna go down if we keep playing like we are. 

“It’s my job to turn that round, but it's going to be tough with what we’ve got. 

“Me, Martin Coyne, Nicky Spooner, we’ve all struggled with this squad, so it doesn't take a scientist to work out where the problems are. 

“Fitness is an issue. I was concerned after our first training session, I walked away saying these ain’t fit enough, and I think you’re seeing that at the moment. 

“We’ve got some good players, but they can’t all play together. 

“In my teams, I normally have two gems and nine dogs, here I’ve got nine gems and two dogs, it just doesn’t work.” 

Elsewhere, 10-man Stalybridge Celtic strengthened their grip on an NPL West play-off place with a 2-0 home win over fellow promotion hopefuls Lower Breck. 

Despite being a man light for the entirety of the second half, the home side stood firm to move four points clear of their Merseyside opponents, who dropped to sixth. 

Benni Smales-Braithwaite was at the heart of the action in the first period, clipping the post early on, before cutting the ball back for Ellis Horan, who showed great footwork to evade his marker before drilling home the opener on the stroke of half-time. 

Two yellow cards in quick succession – the latter for simulation – then saw Celtic skipper Liam Tongue sent for an early bath, to the bewilderment of the Bower Fold faithful. 

But Jon Macken’s side continued to pile on the pressure after the dismissal, and found the breakthrough 15 minutes from time when Jack Irlam’s deft chip rolled in off the post. 

“I’m delighted for the lads, they deserve that for the effort they’ve put in today,” said a pleased Jon Macken following the win. 

“From start to finish, the work rate and desire was there to see. 

“The reaction from the lads [to the red card] was positive.  

“We didn’t just want to sit in, we wanted to try and take control of the game, and I think we did. 

“Defensively I thought we were outstanding, and I thought we could’ve maybe had one or two more [goals].” 

In the same division, a spirited second-half performance saw 10-man Mossley come from behind to defeat visitors Newcastle Town. 

With the score locked at 2-2, a late strike from super-sub Oumar Camara saw The Lilywhites steal all three points at Seel Park. 

After a goalless first-half, which ended with midfielder Callum Stringer seeing red, Harry Bower slotted the visitors in front 10 minutes after the interval. 

But the home side were back on level terms just over ten minutes later through their skipper Mark Lees, before Camara turned in from the rebound to complete the turnaround. 

Alex Craddock’s side were then pegged back eight minutes from time when Bower headed in his second, only for Camara to complete his brace and make for a dramatic end to proceedings. 

“I thought the subs changed the game,” said Craddock following the comeback. 

“I thought we started the second half poorly, I don’t think we had enough energy about us until we went 1-0 down. 

“Games like this are won by being the team that takes the impetus and puts it on the opposition, and we did that tenfold second half. 

“To come from behind with 10 men, and win, is huge for this group of players.” 

Meanwhile, Droylsden climbed back to the top of the NWCFL First Division North with a 3-1 win at home to relegation-threatened Ashton Athletic. 

The Bloods sealed their fifth straight win to leapfrog title rivals Nelson, who were held to a goalless draw by fellow strugglers Colne. 

An emotional afternoon at The Butchers Arms began with a minute of silence, in honour of lifelong Droylsden fan Nigel Randall, who passed away last Wednesday. 

The hosts drew first blood on 10 minutes through Caelan Kilheeney, who smashed into the roof of the net before defender Emmanuel Udjor Omorogbe poked home his second goal in as many games just before the break. 

Kyle Campbell’s tap-in had virtually wrapped things up before the hour mark, but there was still time for the visitors to find a consolation goal through Adam Gilchrist. 

The win means Dave Pace’s side sit one point ahead of chasers Nelson, who have a game in hand on The Bloods. 

In the National League North, newly appointed Curzon Ashton player-manager Adam Barton kicked off his reign with a hard-earned point at King’s Lynn Town. 

A resolute defensive display in Norfolk saw The Nash keep their first clean sheet since November. 

Curzon stopper Callum Hawkins marked his return to the side with several crucial saves, getting down well to keep out Carlton Ubaezuonu’s effort early on before showing lightning quick reflexes to claw Bailey Clements’ header off the goal line. 

The visitors could have won it late on, with Ruben Curley picking out Jack Stobbs, but the winger’s lofted effort didn’t quite have the required purchase to trouble Aaron Chapman. 

“I’m emotional now,” said new Nash boss Barton following the stalemate. 

“It’s been a quick turnaround this week, and I haven’t slept much, I’ll be honest. 

“We came here with a mindset to be hard to beat, that was it – I didn’t care about anything else. 

“This is a full-time team, a team that’s just beat South Shields 3-0, and one that’s high on confidence. 

“Our confidence is shot, so to come here today and put that performance in - credit to the boys.” 

Finally, Ashton United’s clash with Ilkeston Town also ended goalless, as the pair could not be separated at Hurst Cross. 

A match of few chances ended as it started, as The Robins extended their unbeaten run to three.  

“It was a boring game,” admitted Robins boss Steve Cunningham at full-time. 

“I thought we controlled large parts of it without really affecting their goalkeeper. 

“It’s frustrating because I feel like the game was there for us to go and take the three points. 

“We got ourselves in some fantastic areas, but we’re just gun-shy, and it’s been the same all season.”