League

Thornbury Stadium
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Tom Sugden kicked off to start the match. Franz Gamble received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 4th minute. Eric Deighton tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 5th minute, Tom Sugden ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Eric Deighton was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-1. If Rich Dwyer had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 12th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Lenny Downes showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Marsden, who was totally free with the ball in the 15th minute. When Joel Marsden came up free with the goalie in the 24th minute, the manchester united fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Joel Marsden couldn't finish the play. When Marcus Leyburn fell near the penalty area in the 28th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Ripon FC's protests and gave Marcus Leyburn a yellow card for diving instead. Lenny Downes showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Joel Marsden, who was totally free with the ball in the 31st minute. Kasey Bridge charged in rather forcefully in the 33rd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Kasey Bridge the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After a rather tough play, Ripon FC's Kasey Bridge got a free kick in the 33rd minute. Joel Marsden struck a weak shot in the 34th minute. Lenny Downes didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for manchester united. manchester united's Eric Deighton played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tom Sugden in the 36th minute of play. Franz Gamble might have been able to make a better finish in the 43rd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Eric Deighton. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Franz Gamble ran back to his position shaking his head. The audience was convinced that Franz Gamble's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Eric Deighton was relentless in the 46th minute of the game. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 0-1 lead.

After 50 minutes, Archie Barratt mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Ripon FC and the manchester united players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 51st match minute, Ripon FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Archie Barratt to maneuver through the defense. Rich Dwyer might have been able to make a better finish in the 57th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Lenny Downes. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Rich Dwyer ran back to his position shaking his head. Lenny Downes took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Marsden, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Franz Gamble received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 68th minute. Eric Deighton tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Franz Gamble could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 70th minute of the match, but Eric Deighton made a huge save. A hard shot 72 in the game by Franz Gamble from a close distance when the talented Eric Deighton managed to make a qualified save. manchester united's players were relieved. manchester united's Joel Marsden got a good chance for a goal in the 75th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. After 77 played minutes manchester united got a freekick which was hit by Derek Lowndes. When Rich Dwyer came up free with the goalie in the 80th minute, the manchester united fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Rich Dwyer couldn't finish the play. Lenny Downes stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Rich Dwyer's shot from short distance in the 83rd minute. Eric Deighton made an important save on a dangerous shot by Franz Gamble in the 85th minute. manchester united's Eric Deighton played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tom Sugden in the 87th minute of play. Franz Gamble sent away a hard shot on goal in the 90th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Eric Deighton was out of position in the 93 minute of play, and Tom Sugden capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Tom Sugden really showed his touch with that goal: 0-2. Theo Bedford's late challenge caught a manchester united's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Theo Bedford helped the player get up and apologised. Joel Marsden sent away a hard shot on goal in the 97th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The Ripon FC supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Ripon FC would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.