Rufforth United Reserves vs Huby United Reserves- Match Report

A great Rufforth United Reserves attacking display saw them make amends for their opening game loss, defeating Huby United Reserves by a scoreline of 4-2.

Rufforth started excellently, a long clearance found Chris Murcutt, who was able to control the ball and streak towards the Huby goal, before calmly slotting the ball home into the bottom left corner of the goal to put Rufforth in front within 5 minutes.

This great start from the home side was almost added to a few minutes later, when Tom Bateson found himself within sight of goal but the Huby 'keeper reacted well to save his low shot.

Left back Tom Bays then had a goal ruled out for handball, as instead of using his head to direct a James Everard cross into goal, he used his hands.

Bateson redeemed himself for his earlier miss minutes later, reaching the end of a lovely lobbed through ball from midfield before slowing the pass down and firing into the top left corner of the goal, to double Rufforth's advantage.

Rufforth continued to pile on the pressure, with Steve Ridley connecting with a couple of corners, but unfortunately he was unable to direct his headers towards goal.

Another goal should have been credited to Rufforth when a Huby defender sliced a clearance towards his own goal, which struck the underside of the crossbar, before bouncing over the line and coming back out again. Unluckily for Rufforth however, the referee couldn't see if it went over and so gave Huby the benefit of the doubt and let play carry on.

The home side's lead was again extended when a great ball from winger Nick Hewson allowed Bateson to chip the Huby goalkeeper for his second goal of the game, and Rufforth's third.

And so Rufforth went into the half time break three goals to the good, but of course wary of a potential come back. The chances of this happening were lowered, however, when shortly after the break they scored again.

A beautiful lobbed from Mercutt found Bateson in acres of space on the left hand side of the box, and all he had to do was kick the ball in, as Mercutt's pass had drawn the goalkeeper completely out of position, allowing for an incredibly easy finish to complete his hat-trick.

This wasn't the game though, as Rufforth began to back off, relaxing, and allowed Huby more time and space on the ball. This new found space paid dividends for Huby, as they scored two goals in quick succession to halve Rufforth's lead.

It was only good defending from Ridley, Bays, Liam Morrison, and Simon Teale, as well as substitutes Chris Lodge and Lee Jefferson that prevented Huby from edging even closer to Rufforth's lead. Rufforth still created chances though, substitute Gaz Stephenson almost reached a great cross from Jefferson that ended up being deflected behind for a corner.

As time went on it only became clearer that Rufforth would hold on for the win, Huby's attacks were being repelled with relative ease by goalkeeper Jeff Osbourne and his defence, and midfield play was comfortable enough to ensure no surprise counter-attacks were launched against Rufforth.

And with the win Rufforth earned their first win and points of the season, as well as scoring their first league goals of the season. Man Of The Match went to Bateson, for his hat-trick.

York Acorn FC vs Rufforth United

Rufforth United's first team were comprehensively beaten 7-0 away at newly-promoted Division 4 Champions York Acorn.

Man Of The Match goes to winger Joe Bootland.

Match Report- Rufforth United Res vs Huntington Rovers Res

A disappointing, but encouraging, performance from Rufforth United Reserves saw them fall in the Cup to Huntington Rovers, by a scoreline of 7-1.

Rufforth started fairly brightly, good wing play led to a corner which Pat Wahl got his head to, but his downward header was easily saved by the Rovers' keeper.

However shortly after this things started to go badly for Rufforth, and they found themselves 3-0 down within 20 minutes.

Rufforth did start to get a small foothold in the game though, with Chris Murcutt drawing a freekick 25 yards from the Huntington goal. Up stepped fullback Tom Bays, who absolutely crushed the ball across the goalkeeper and right in to the top left corner of the goal to get Rufforth on the board.

Unfortunately United couldn't capitalise further on their momentum, and going into half time Huntington had scored 3 more, bringing the scoreline to 6-1. During the half Garry Chadwick was cautioned for a two-footed challenge on a Rover's player, and a Huntington man was booked for not retreating 10 yards from a dead ball.

The second half was much more even than the first half, with neither team being able to score for most of the half. Huntington did eventually score again after around 75 minutes though.

Rufforth did create chances to score themselves though. Chadwick hit a powerful shot off a Tom Bateson lay-off which the Rovers' keeper did well to save. United then earned a penalty, after Murcutt again drew a foul, this time however in the Huntington penalty area. Bays stepped up to take the kick, and instead of scoring, had his shot saved, and then, when the rebound fell to him, could only shoot wide.

The match drew to a close without further incident, which means Rufforth United Reserves are out of both Cup competitions. Man Of The Match went to Garry Chadwick, not only for his overall performance, but for his two-footed challenge, as according to manager Andy Bateson, "it shows commitment, and it was funny".

Rufforth United vs Stamford Bridge- Match Report

Rufforth United kicked-off their 2013/14 season in the York Minster Engineering Football League Division 3 with an excellent win, as they beat Stamford Bridge 4-2 at home.

Stamford Bridge had won their opening game against Huby United 8-0, so they were in great form, whilst Rufforth were coming off the back of a nervy 5-4 cup victory against St. Clements Reserves.

It was the form team that started on the front foot though, scoring first. Rufforth replied though through Alex Nockels, who cleverly nutmegged the Bridge 'keeper to score. Nockels then scored again, holding off a defender before slotting home after a beautiful Rob Murphy pass found him, to make the score 2-1.

So Rufforth went into the break in front, but coming out for the second half they were perhaps a little bit relaxed, which allowed Bridge to score an equalizer, after Rufforth didn't clear the ball in a dangerous position.

This was for sure the real wake-up call for Rufforth, showing that this was going to be a difficult game and they needed to change up a gear. And that they did, with plenty more chances being created. This additional pressure paid dividends when Rob Murphy collected the ball all of 30 yards out, and smashed a shot past the helpless goalkeeper to send Rufforth in front with a wonderful goal. 

Rufforth didn't stop there, though, as before the game ended Graham Wray bundled home one of Rufforth's many corners to properly put the game to bed. 

Rufforth's Man Of The Match was Rob Murphy, who's excellent goal and overall performance massive helped Rufforth to claim another opening day victory (They won 5-0 against Selby Olympia last year). 

Well done fellas!

Wilberfoss Res vs Rufforth United Res- Match Report

Rufforth United Reserves began their 2013/14 campaign in the York Minster Engineering Football League Reserve D poorly, with a disappointing 6-0 away loss at the hands of newly-relegated Wilberfoss Res.

A slightly mix-and-match Rufforth side conceded four goals in the first half, and two in the second and as a result slipped to bottom of the table after one game played.

There was very little good play from the Rufforth side, however some individual performances were noteworthy, especially Man Of The Match Kieran Hepworth, for his play on the wing, and goalkeeper Jeff Osbourne, who did well in spite of conceding six goals, making some very smart saves to prevent the game from slipping further out of reach.

New Website/Blog

This blog will hopefully become Rufforth United FC's official website, once it is fully operational and has content on it.

The website that the club is currently using can be found here.