Manchester Premier Cup exit

On the face of it, Glossop were well beaten by four goals to one by Hyde United in this Manchester Premier Cup tie. In fact, there was a great deal to be proud of in the Glossop performance.

GNE began confidently and the game was very even but on 22 minutes the ball was lost on the edge of the Glossop area and Lane made space to hit low into the bottom corner. Ahmadi almost scored with a free kick that the keeper had to push away from the top corner. Once again, the ball was lost in midfield. A quick break, a good finish from Tongue and GNE were two down. At once, Mason hit an excellent shot from 25 yards - turned round the post.

Glossop started to play very well as the second half developed. A good cross produced a header – just wide. A five-man passing move allowed Mason to shoot and the Hyde keeper saved at full stretch. Finally, Glossop got some reward as Ahmadi met another excellent cross with a header into the top corner. Unfortunately, within three minutes, Hyde restored their two-goal lead as Tongue hit a loose ball through a crowd of players. Glossop continued to press and forced several corners. The Hyde goalkeeper was again in action as he tipped a shot onto the bar and over.

A run by Coulibaly ended with a good cross which evaded everyone, and another excellent effort went just wide. Samassa was then shown a red card for a challenge and Glossop were down to ten men. To add to the pain, Hyde added a fourth in injury time.

The result can be put down to four individual errors – probably the only things GNE did wrong all night. On the true astroturf surface, Glossop played some excellent football and took the game to Hyde for much of the ninety minutes.

Matchday Report by Jim Joyce
Photograph by Steve Dyson
Highlights by GNEtv - Bandit Productions