FC United suffer narrow defeat at Hyde United
FC United of Manchester endured a frustrating evening on the road on Tuesday as they fell to a narrow 1-0 loss away to local rivals Hyde United.
The result means that Neil Reynolds' side are now without a league win in four games, with two big matches against league-leaders South Shields, and promotion hopefuls Matlock Town lined up over the next seven days.
Coming off the back of Saturday's win in the FA Cup against Witton on Saturday, hopes were high that FC United could kick start a winning run, and in the process gain three valuable league points.
However, the away side laboured to a defeat here, enjoying plenty of possession but struggling to create clear attempts on goal. The team were perhaps affected by having a number of key first team players missing through injury, which resulted in Reynolds being unable to name a full substitutes bench for the evening.
The match had started brightly enough for FC United who started the game on the front foot, moving the ball around well and nearly opening the scoring in the 16th minute when Regan Linney latched onto a low cross in from Jack Anderton on the right wing. His effort was driven hard at the Hyde goal, only for the shot to be cleared away by the feet of keeper Giosue Bellagambi.
Hyde soon grew into the game, quickly finding their feet and taking the fight directly to the United penalty area. The home side came close to scoring through two good chances for forwards Eddie Brown and Jack Redshaw, but found FC United keeper Dan Lavercombe in excellent form.
Pressure was mounting on the FC United penalty area, and in the 36th minute Hyde defender Javid Swaby put his side ahead. The full-back made the most of a lofted ball in from Adam Dawson on the right wing, deftly switching the ball from his left to right foot and lacing it past Lavercombe, straight into the FC United net.
It had been a fairly even contest until that point with both teams producing good attacking play and probing for chances to score. Going into the half time break, the thought amongst the away support was that if the team could create more opportunities on goal then league points were up for grabs.
Again, the away side did seem to start with real intent after the break. The introduction of debutant Mwiya Malumo and forward Max McCarthy at 56 minutes looked as though the double substitution might offer the Reds a new dimension in attack. Indeed, it wasn't long before Malumo cleverly crafted played Linney into the Hyde penalty for a rare, good opportunity in front of goal, only for the Reds' forward to skew his shot and send the ball narrowly wide.
Despite enjoying the bulk of the ball, clear cut chances on goal remained slim for the travelling side, and the sense that it wasn't going to be FC's night only deepened in the 76th minute when the team had what looked like a clear-cut penalty ruled out by the referee.
McCarthy had found himself with the ball at his feet in the Hyde penalty area, and only keeper Bellagambi to beat. The dominant Hyde number one duly rushed out to close him down but only succeeded in bundling over his opponent, seemingly having made no contact with the ball. The referee's resultant decision not to award what looked like a nailed-on penalty left many in attendance, in particular in the away dugout, baffled as to why it had not been given.
Credit must go to the home side, who put in a thoroughly disciplined and astute performance, utilising every trick in the book to see the game out, earning three league points in the process.
Meanwhile, in a post-match interview, FC United manager Neil Reynolds felt that his team had been unlucky in terms of the result, and spoke of what he saw as a big improvement for his side in the second half.
He added: “I have full belief in that team to turn a corner. Everyone's hurting but we'll be back in training on Thursday, and ready for the South Shields game on Saturday”.
Website man of the match: Dan Lavercombe. A typically solid performance from FC United of Manchester's goalkeeper.
Report by Sam Turner
FC United suffer narrow defeat at Hyde United
FC United of Manchester endured a frustrating evening on the road on Tuesday as they fell to a narrow 1-0 loss away to local rivals Hyde United.
The result means that Neil Reynolds' side are now without a league win in four games, with two big matches against league-leaders South Shields, and promotion hopefuls Matlock Town lined up over the next seven days.
Coming off the back of Saturday's win in the FA Cup against Witton on Saturday, hopes were high that FC United could kick start a winning run, and in the process gain three valuable league points.
However, the away side laboured to a defeat here, enjoying plenty of possession but struggling to create clear attempts on goal. The team were perhaps affected by having a number of key first team players missing through injury, which resulted in Reynolds being unable to name a full substitutes bench for the evening.
The match had started brightly enough for FC United who started the game on the front foot, moving the ball around well and nearly opening the scoring in the 16th minute when Regan Linney latched onto a low cross in from Jack Anderton on the right wing. His effort was driven hard at the Hyde goal, only for the shot to be cleared away by the feet of keeper Giosue Bellagambi.
Hyde soon grew into the game, quickly finding their feet and taking the fight directly to the United penalty area. The home side came close to scoring through two good chances for forwards Eddie Brown and Jack Redshaw, but found FC United keeper Dan Lavercombe in excellent form.
Pressure was mounting on the FC United penalty area, and in the 36th minute Hyde defender Javid Swaby put his side ahead. The full-back made the most of a lofted ball in from Adam Dawson on the right wing, deftly switching the ball from his left to right foot and lacing it past Lavercombe, straight into the FC United net.
It had been a fairly even contest until that point with both teams producing good attacking play and probing for chances to score. Going into the half time break, the thought amongst the away support was that if the team could create more opportunities on goal then league points were up for grabs.
Again, the away side did seem to start with real intent after the break. The introduction of debutant Mwiya Malumo and forward Max McCarthy at 56 minutes looked as though the double substitution might offer the Reds a new dimension in attack. Indeed, it wasn't long before Malumo cleverly crafted played Linney into the Hyde penalty for a rare, good opportunity in front of goal, only for the Reds' forward to skew his shot and send the ball narrowly wide.
Despite enjoying the bulk of the ball, clear cut chances on goal remained slim for the travelling side, and the sense that it wasn't going to be FC's night only deepened in the 76th minute when the team had what looked like a clear-cut penalty ruled out by the referee.
McCarthy had found himself with the ball at his feet in the Hyde penalty area, and only keeper Bellagambi to beat. The dominant Hyde number one duly rushed out to close him down but only succeeded in bundling over his opponent, seemingly having made no contact with the ball. The referee's resultant decision not to award what looked like a nailed-on penalty left many in attendance, in particular in the away dugout, baffled as to why it had not been given.
Credit must go to the home side, who put in a thoroughly disciplined and astute performance, utilising every trick in the book to see the game out, earning three league points in the process.
Meanwhile, in a post-match interview, FC United manager Neil Reynolds felt that his team had been unlucky in terms of the result, and spoke of what he saw as a big improvement for his side in the second half.
He added: “I have full belief in that team to turn a corner. Everyone's hurting but we'll be back in training on Thursday, and ready for the South Shields game on Saturday”.
Website man of the match: Dan Lavercombe. A typically solid performance from FC United of Manchester's goalkeeper.
Report by Sam Turner
