Beverley Town Beat Hessle Rangers To Reach Semi Final Of Senior Cup

Town progressed into the semi final of the East Riding Senior Cup for the first time in their history after a hard fought win against Hessle Rangers at Longcroft.

Town started with a strong wind behind and looked to make the most of this. However they were dealt an early blow when midfielder Ben Thomson injured his ankle and had to be replaced by Kegan Rose after only 10 minutes.

This didn’t effect town too badly, and they started to put pressure on the Hessle keeper. Stu Oliver went close from a well worked short corner, his subsequent shot was heading into the top corner only to be tipped over by the keeper. On 20 minutes Craig Muirhead was played in behind the Hessle defence, however his finish drifted agonisingly wide of the goal.

On 35 minutes town took the lead, this time Stark was played in behind the Hessle defence, the keeper rushed a out of his box and it appeared he had handled the ball. Stark played on and gathered the ball and calmly slotted into the empty net.

Hessle almost scored straight from the re start. A well worked move down the right hand side found the striker in space inside Towns 18 yard box. His strike was heading into the top corner but Towns Keeper Mathew Spencer mad a fantastic reaction save and tipped the ball over the bar.

Town were then dealt another blow when the influential Stu Oliver had to be replaced by Jordan Organ due to injury on 40 minutes. It was testimony to Towns strong squad that the quality of the subs did nothing to weaken the side.

Hessle came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half, and with the wind behind them looked to get back into the game as soon as possible. Towns keeper Mathew Spencer was called into action to make a couple of early saves, followed by a fantastic 1 on 1 save after 60 minutes.

Hessle hit the bar on 68 minutes with a fine long range free kick . Spencer made another world class save on 75 minutes from a long range shot that was flying towards the top corner.

Town were struggling to make any impact in the final third, however their determination not to concede was there for all to see. The midfield three and back 5 were all under pressure, but worked tirelessly for each other to keep the visitors out.

On 80 minutes the 17 for Hessle was sent off following a bad tackle on striker Alex Stark, which saw Stark substituted with an injury to his ankle. He was replaced by the Albanian youngster Aldo Hysenaj, who was asked to stretch the Hessle defence with his pace.

Craig Muirhead dropped deeper to help the midfield, and with the extra man Towns task became a little easier. On 82 minutes Town skipper Nathan White played a sublime first time ball over the top of the Hessle defence, Hysenaj used his pace to get there first and loft a fine finish over the on rushing keeper.

“It was a hard fought victory today, Hessle are a good side and second half they really had a go at us. I’ve got to say though the lads were fantastic, they defended with their lives and put everything on the line to fight for the win.”

“The second goal was a really bonus for us and put the game out of sight. Mathew Spencer deserves a mention for his performance for us today. He made a string of brilliant saves and kept us in the game at crucial times. We are really excited to be in the semi final of this cup and can’t wait to see who we get in the draw.”

Final Score : Bevelrey Town Football Club 2 Hedon Rangers 0