The first pre season match for RHP was a tough one. Against the NSL Premier Division runners up Bingham Town. No easy comeback after a memorable Willie Hall Cup final victory, hard celebrations and a few weeks off for the boys which would of have no doubt included plenty of beer drinking, fast food eating and partying.

Bingham Town, a team comprised of players who have played competitively together for years and a well drilled, well oiled team which have good fitness levels all round.
Some notable players to look out for, who in which RHP know through playing against in the league last year with various Sunday teams.

The game kicked off at 7:15pm at the YMCA Sports Village. Roll on, roll off substitutes were being used in this game to maximise the use of all players and help gaining match fitness.

The game started slowly for RHP, Bingham Town passed the ball well and had plenty of movement on and off the ball, a side that looked very match fit. They tried to pattern some early chances that their possession was offering but were limited to very little thanks to hard work from the defence and some fine goalkeeping from Kieran Conway.

The first opening for RHP however led to the game’s first goal on the 15 minute mark, lovely team build up on the right hand side started from a throw in from Craig Self. A flurry of first time passes ended with Leighton Nicholson ducking and weaving past two defenders and crossing the ball into the path of Adam Boddy who couldn’t miss from 8 yards out and slotted RHP into a 1-0 lead. Adam Boddy playing the first half only starting where he left off in the previous season using his size to his advantage to smash through the defence and put the ball in the back of the net.

From the restart, Bingham tried to orchestrate their dominance once again by passing the ball around sharply and try to create chances but were again left frustrated by hard work in the midfield.

On the half hour mark, Bingham finally received a slice of luck as Luke Boddy handled in the penalty area trying to block a shot and the referee pointed to the spot almost immediately. The midfielder sent Kieran the wrong way and made it 1-1.

This gave Bingham confidence, as only moments later a free kick on the edge of the area hit the post and the rebound was brilliant stopped by Kieran Conway who made a couple of crucial stops in a manic 10 minute period after the penalty was scored which saw Bingham throw anything they could at RHP’s backline.

RHP’s resistance at the back was broken after a mistake from Conor Scott led to the striker pouncing on the loose ball and slotting past the goalkeeper to put Bingham in front and turn the tie around. A mistake that proved costly would not haunt Conor Scott who played well throughout the half and would show intelligence and leadership in the second half alongside central defensive partner Luke Boddy.

The half time whistle blew with the score being RHP 1-2 Bingham Town.
RHP had to recompose themselves after a tough 45 minutes which saw a lot of players fighting for match fitness. Some changes for the second half were made, roll on roll off substitutes were being made throughout the game to gain fitness for all the boys.

Recompose themselves was the message at half time and that they did. A second half which started much brighter for RHP almost started with an early goal. A few passes amongst the back line, led to a long ball spread by Conor Scott to Rhys Stanley, who latched on to the ball and slid through a couple of late challenges and pushed an fiery effort just over the bar. A wonderful solo effort it would of have been if it had of gone in.

An energised Rhys Stanley looked threatening once again as he started to run rings round the defence at times knocked the ball into the penalty area in which Chris Self could only knock over the bar. A frustrating game for Chris Self as he couldn’t add to his impressive goal tally of last year but another hard working display from the club captain.

Joe Powell who returned to the side looked confident on the ball, winning challenges everywhere and linking play well with the attacking players. Tom Hill carried on where he left off by being a bulldog in the midfield, going into every challenge and leaving everything on the pitch. The Bingham midfield started to look a shadow of the team that played in the first half. The momentum had shifted and RHP had worked out the Bingham game plan and played them at their own game.

Passes galore from the RHP defence tired the Bingham strikers and midfield and allowed Rhuel Samuels to nip through and slip Rhys Stanley into a shooting position in which he gratefully accepted. Rhys shot a lovely first time effort past the onrushing goalkeeper and find the bottom corner to make the game stalemate once more. 2-2.

Ryan Ashley and Craig Self we’re allowed much more time on the ball and started to make the most of the extra space and time they were being given and worked well with Leighton and Rhys to cause more problems for the Bingham defence.

Luke McClymont, Jordan Boas, Tom Hill and Joe Powell all made central midfield cameos and all impressed with brilliant bits of work off the ball aswell as lovely moments of link up play with attackers when they did have the ball.

Chris Self was getting a lot of the ball and making himself a nuisance all game by using his strength to bully defenders off the ball and bring others into play.

Conor Scott and Luke Boddy who played majority of the game at central defence looked assured and confident after the first half onslaught and limited Bingham to scraps in the second half and made up for little errors they both made to impress managers with the maturity the showed at the back.

Rhuel Samuels impressed managers Neil Reilly and Dave McClymont most however, his constant running and hard work to win the ball back was rewarded with what turned out to be the winning goal. A throw in from Craig Self which was scrappily tapped into the six yard box by Joe Powell was smashed home by an eager Rhuel Samuels to make it 3-2 and really knocked the stuffing out of the tired visitors.

RHP then passed the opponents off the pitch in the closing moments of the game and saw out a hard fought first win of the season for the Green and Whites.
A first half which was tiring and a wake up call for most of the boys. A second half which was intelligent and composed and at times was the RHP of last season which eventually won the cup and gain league runners up status.

A great first test for the boys against a very good opponent who will no doubt do well in the NSL Premier Division once again this season.

Next game for the Green and Whites is another pre season friendly away at Newark Flowserve who we played out a crazy 5-5 draw with in last season’s league finale.

Managers Match Ratings:
Kieran Conway - 9.1
Craig Self - 8.7
Luke Boddy - 8.7
Conor Scott - 8.7
Ryan Ashley - 8.7
Tom Hill - 8.6
Luke McClymont - 8.6
Leighton Nicholson - 8.7
Rhys Stanley - 9.1
Chris Self - 8.6
Adam Boddy - 8.6

Substitutes:
Rhuel Samuels - 9.2
Jordan Boas - 8.6
Joe Powell - 9

Man of the Match: Rhuel Samuels

Goals: Adam Boddy, Rhys Stanley, Rhuel Samuels

Assists: Leighton Nicholson, Rhuel Samuels, Joe Powell