After a dominant display against the Saturday side on Wednesday night, the Green and Whites returned to face the Sunday side who are newly promoted to the premier division.

An almost unchanged side from the 4-1 win in midweek, RHP were looking to make it 2 wins out of 2 and stay top of the Premier Division.

With Chris Self missing through injury, Ben Hage took the armband for the match and that Self injury also saw Daryl Price return to the side after not taking part in the friendly midweek.

The game started with plenty of possession for RHP who looked to control the game early on. Plenty of passes from defence to midfield and plenty of early dominance for the greens.

A couple of mistakes however led to a couple of early chances for Collingham, who were a relatively young side. The chances weren’t good enough to beat Kieran Conway in goal however and sailed over the bar.

Daryl Price made RHP’s first attack on goal count however, a brilliant ball over the top from George Ryan fell into the path of a pacy Price who danced past the centre half and struck a powerful effort off the goalkeepers chest. The rebound was fortunate for RHP and Daryl Price latched onto it and slotted home into an empty net to make it 1-0.

In the very next attack however, Collingham surprised the greens and pulled it level through a cross into the box which beat everyone and curled into the far corner. The defence didn’t pick up the run of the winger and allowed to much space for the ball to be whipped in from the cross. A shock goal for the hosts in what would prove to be an eventful game.

The shock for RHP didn’t last long and Collingham had no time at all to enjoy the equaliser as the ball was lumped forward by Nick Walker in which Daryl Price pounced upon the loose ball and dribbled past 4 players before slotting past the goalkeeper to score a brilliant solo goal to put the visitors back in front. A Lionel Messi-esque goal from the frontman. 2-1.

The game started to slow down a little as RHP began to control possession once again and pass the ball around the back.
The ball was then worked from midfield to attack which bought some chances for RHP. Efforts coming from Rhys Stanley after he cut inside and fired a ferocious shot at goal but was turned over by the goalkeeper brilliantly.

From the resulting corner, Daryl Price whipped in a teasing ball towards the back-post which was met by the head of Adam Boddy to deservedly make it 3-1.

This in turn bought along the fifth goal of the game in quick succession, as a long ball from Ben Hage was bought down brilliantly by Adam Boddy who found Daryl Price who completed his hat-trick with a crazy pinball like deflection off the goalkeeper and onto the strikers leg to then bobble into the back of the net.
Fast paced football once again though from RHP to slice open the defence of Collingham.

The half time whistle blew on an eventful half already and some free flowing football which saw some quality finishing on display. But also saw a stroke of luck for both sides with two goals of pure flukiness.

The second half started very much like the first but this time for Collingham as they came out firing trying to decrease the deficit. They patterned some early chances to try and get back into the game but those chances were saved well by Kieran and managed well by the RHP defence.

Daryl Price, already on a hat-trick, showed his quality once again however. Another powerful run from the halfway line into the penalty area orchestrated a one-two with George Ryan before smashing the ball into the bottom corner to make it 5-1. Four goals for the frontman. He was looking unstoppable.

This didn’t deter Collingham from the task ahead, as RHP took the foot off the pedal and became complacent at the back to leave space in the middle of the penalty area for their midfielder to pounce on a loose ball and finish to make it 5-2.

The lead was again shortened and Collingham broke once again down the left hand side and managed to create a chance in the penalty area as the left winger cut inside and flashed a strike into the top corner off the inside of the crossbar. 5-3. A crazy 5 minute spell for Collingham saw two goals in quick succession give them a lifeline in this game.

Nerves started to set in as Collingham carried on attacking the RHP penalty box, however, Ben Hage and Nick Walker stayed strong and prevented anything else materialising further.

RHP’s nerves were settled thanks to some fine play down the left hand side after Leighton Nicholson used his pace to fly past the full back before pulling the ball back to Daryl Price who hit a low effort at the goalkeeper. The ball bobbled over the goalkeepers hands and bounced off the keepers head and rolled into the back of the net. An embarrassing moment for the Collingham keeper who won’t want to be asked about that error anytime soon.

The pressure continued to come and Price pounced again, this time, combining with Adam Boddy on the edge of the penalty area before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper and into the far corner once again.

In an already crazy game, the ball was lumped forward from a broken down counter attack, and the Collingham winger beat the RHP defence to the ball and space appeared out of nowhere for the winger to run into and slot past Kieran again. The score now 7-4. Both defences will be going back to the drawing board to tighten things up for their next games after this one.

The final blow was landed by Daryl Price once again. A long ball from Ben Hage was pounced upon by Price who ran 30 yards towards goals and smashed another unstoppable effort past the Collingham keeper and into the far corner. The forward completing his devastating rout of 7 goals.

More chances came for RHP in the latter stages. A brilliant solo run from Conor Scott who danced past 5 players but could only toe poke his effort straight into the keepers hands. Rhys Stanley also came close to getting on the scoresheet with a wonderful solo effort but his effort went inches wide of the post.

The dying moments of drama of an eventful game came just before the full time whistle. A late challenge by Collingham captain Gary Clark saw him receive a yellow card.
Disagreeing with the decision, the captain had a few choice words to say and was given his marching orders by the referee which saw his yellow card turned into a red card for dissent. A disappointing end of the game for the Collingham skipper who had scored two of his sides goals.

The full time whistle bought a close to a crazy jam packed morning in Collingham. 12 goals, a red card and plenty of talking points. Some suspect defending by both sides who will look to rectify that in their next games, but some brilliant finishing on display with some fantastic goals scored.

Some real standout performances from RHP, with Joe Powell impressing managers again in the heart of midfield with a strong performance.
George Ryan was praised by Neil Reilly for his work rate today and his two assists and plaudits also went out to Adam Boddy who held the ball up very well for the Green and Whites and brought others into the game.

The headlines will be stolen however by the in form man Daryl Price. 7 goals and an assist. He sits out in front comfortably on the top scorers list with 9 for the season.

Neil Reilly said after the game “It was a tough game in stages but we were ruthless in attack. We need to tighten up at the back as we were sloppy just after half time and I’m not happy conceding 4 goals but we got the points, and we make it 2 out of 2. Bring on the rest of the season with these brilliant players”.

Next up for RHP is another away game to another newly promoted side in the Prem. An away day at Witham Wanderers awaits. Another 3 points on offer and a chance to really build on a strong start to the season.

Neil’s Match Ratings:
Kieran Conway - 8.1
Joe Stanley - 8.1
Ben Hage - 8.3
Nick Walker - 8.3
Luke McClymont - 8.2
Rhys Stanley - 8.3
George Ryan - 8.4
Craig Self - 8.3
Joe Powell - 8.5
Adam Boddy - 8.4
Daryl Price - 9

Subs:
Conor Scott - 7.9
Luke Harvey - 7.9
Leighton Nicholson - 8

Man of the Match:
Daryl Price

Goals:
Daryl Price x7, Adam Boddy

Assists:
George Ryan x2, Adam Boddy x2, Leighton Nicholson, Ben Hage, Daryl Price