Boroughbridge to shake things up
BOROUGHBRIDGE manager Daz Ekin is promising a shake-up of his squad after several first-teamers dropped out of the final game of the season, which the club lost 4-2.
Ekin handed a debut to 16-year-old Stephen Coles, while the 50-year-old boss himself took to the field as a sub, after a depleted ‘Bridge side struggled to deal with Otley Town’s attacking threat.
Otley led 3-0 at half-time and extended the lead in the second period, before Paul Eagling pulled back two goals to end the season on 25.
Ekin said: “It was a disappointing result for us and even more so because we had so many players giving backwords.
“If these people do keep letting us down, we will have to find new players next season.
“These lads were available on Thursday for the final, but on Saturday they weren’t.
“That’s disappointing and it’s not what we are looking to do here.”
‘Bridge are currently second in the West Yorkshire League Premier Division, having played all their fixtures, and are assured of a top six finish, no matter how their rivals perform in their remaining games.
Ekin, who has insisted all season that a top five finish would be a major achievement for the club, said: “We spent nearly all last season fighting relegation, which wasn’t much fun, and though we’ve let ourselves down in the cups this time around, we’ve had a very good season in the league.
“There’s been a massive improvement and hopefully the players can try to push on again next season.”
Ekin said hotshot Eagling had been “terrific” this campaign, exceeding his target of 20 goals, and he also praised teenager Coles, saying “he did very, very well, so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing on Saturday after all”.
“Most of the lads have been great, but we’ve been let down by a few,” he added.
“We will have to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
RIPON CITY have had a mixed week, with their tired squad beating Altofts on Saturday, before slipping to a 3-2 defeat two days later.
Manager Charlie Brown said: “Players have been in and out of the side, with the games coming pretty thick and fast.
“We are carrying far too many injuries and against a good team like Leeds City, you need to be putting out your best side to be getting anything from the game.”
Brown said the home game against Altofts “looked like it had 0-0 written all over it”, until a tactical masterstroke won it for Ripon.
The manager threw on Paul Abbott up front and moved right-back Alex Croft onto the wing.
Within two minutes, Abbott’s knockdown found Croft and he thumped the ball past the Altofts keeper.
“I wouldn’t have expected him to score the winning goal, but it was a great strike and a welcome three points,” Brown said.
He said Monday had been “a bit of a nightmare” as he tried to find enough players to field another team, with “backwords” from four players who would have started.
Ripon went behind twice, levelling each time from a George Medd penalty, but after Mark Tyson’s dismissal for an off-the-ball incident, Leeds took control of the game.
“I have got to give a lot of credit to the players who turned out,” Brown said.
“They worked their socks off.”
City travel to Field Sports & Social tomorrow (2.30pm), then visit County Cup winners Knaresborough Town on Monday (6.30pm), who beat them in the final of the Whitworth Cup last month.
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Weather for Ripon
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
