Ramsbottom United are holding an open trial game on Sunday 24th April at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium for anyone who will be eligible for our Under 18 and Under 21 side for next season (2016/17).
In a final attempt at putting a winning side together as the Rams stare relegation in the face, manager Garry Vaughan has added his two final pieces in the jigsaw with the addition of two players from neighbours Radcliffe Borough.
This was a very disappointing defeat for the Rams who in the opening 15 minutes and the last 30 minutes when they nominally had a man advantage, spurned a number of clear edged chances to win a game against opponents also at the wrong end of the table and struggling for points.
It took 66 days, many hours of hard graft and two further postponements as the Gods mocked the Rams with more heavy rain but the club finally returned home on Tuesday evening when, at 7.45pm, the first ball was kicked on the ground since 19th December last year.
Ramsbottom United's talented striker Aaron Smith scored both goals for England Schools Under 18s as they maintained their unbeaten run with victory over their Scotland counterparts at Fleetwood Town on Friday evening.
The eagerly awaited reunion of former Ramsbottom United players and management ultimately resulted in a disappointing defeat for the home supporters looking for some semblance of revenge.
Watching the Rams at present is an invitation to have a schizophrenic episode. Was this a good result or a disappointing one? Is there any promise of improving performance or is that an illusion?
This result and more so the performance on the night is final proof, if any were needed, that there is no light at the end of the tunnel not even of a train coming the other way. There is no way out of avoiding relegation for the Rams.
Full match report to come.
It is all about performance now with points largely irrelevant so while the wind assisted last kick of the match thunderbolt from Jean Michel Gueyes that deprived the Rams and their travelling faithful a well deserved win was a deflating moment, it does not detract from a improving display.
The best that could be said is that this was not a bad performance from the Rams. The casual uninformed spectator would have found it hard to recognise that this was a contest between a rock-bottom team now 14 points away from salvation and one still harbouring realistic chances of making the play-offs but all of that would be to damn the home team with faint praise.
Wiill it be third time lucky for the long awaited Ramsbottom United home coming as, on Tuesday evening, Skelmersdale United are due to come to the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium to finally give the Rams a home match after over nine weeks of waiting.
17-year-od midfielder Zack Hargreaves has been selected to represent the Lancashire FA Under 18s.
There will be disappointment that the Rams were not able to end their long stretch without a win despite being the better team throughout the whole 97 minutes of this match - where the referee found the extra minutes from at the end of each half was as big a mystery as a Paul Daniels magic trick - but there will be much satisfaction to be had in a home performance that was as compelling as any since the draw against Blyth Spartans.
There is the occasional football match which lasts long in the memory and brings warm smiles when remembered. Most often they are the massive giant killing acts or a game of goals and such artistry that demand to put in annals of greatness. And there are then games such as this which are much harder to define, lacking in quality and beauty but played with such raw passion and endeavour as to leave the spectator breathless at an outcome that was so clearly on the cards but also unlikely until the closing breathless seconds.
If you were to take away the first 15 minutes and the last ten of this game, it would not be unreasonable to see a Rams performance in which they comfortably matched table-topping Blyth Spartans.
Friday 28th July 2017 KO 19:45
Saturday 22nd April 2017
