RAYNERS LANE 8 ARDLEY UNITED 0 Connell Bubb 3 Buchannan 2 Jalloh Cathline
Rayners Lane certainly made amends for the defeat suffered back in September to their most recent visitors to Tithe Farm, Ardley United. It was a complete all round performance from the home side and apart from a competitive opening fifteen minutes the visitors were soundly beaten. There were many good performances on the day but it will be Rio Connell who will inevitably take the plaudits after an eye catching display which left the Ardley defence bewildered and in particular their right back Ben Declan who will probably be glad to never see him again. After a quarter of an hour The Lane made the breakthrough with Connell surging down the middle of the pitch, sliding the ball into the path of Elliott Buchanan, bearing down on goal. The big striker, sensing that he was too close to the keeper to score, unselfishly nudged it towards Bradley Bubb and he duly finished from an ever tightening angle. Within fifteen minutes Bubb would complete his hat-trick and effectively end the game as a contest. His second goal was solely down to him as he muscled his way past three defenders and smashed an unstoppable left foot shot into the roof of the net. He completed his treble a few minutes later when Callum Webb, cleverly moving into midfield, put a perfect ball into his path and he did the rest, placing a shot into the bottom left hand corner. Just after that goal Ardley replaced their injured keeper Alfie Talbot but it wasn’t until just before the break that Rayners extended their lead and it was Connell who notched, with what is now becoming a trademark goal. The livewire wide man took the ball on the outside and drove into the box before executing a perfect finish past the hapless stand-in keeper. There was no let up for Ardley in the second half with Rayners inspirational skipper Aaron Minhas and his midfield partner Troy Perz-Duah pulling the strings and driving their teammates on. The fifth goal came when Elliott Buchanan glanced Frank Keita’s curling free-kick into the net with the keeper in no-man’s land and he was quick to add his second when he latched onto Hassan Jalloh’s teasing pass and rounded the keeper before firing home. It was Jalloh’s turn to get on the score-sheet next when the keeper was unable to keep out his 20 yard shot to become the fourteenth different scorer for The Lane this season. Substitute Alex Cathline completed the scoring, netting the home side’s eight with Connell the architect again. Come On The Lane! Rayners Lane – 1. Jack Smith 2. Marco Correia 3. Callum Webb 4. Keano Robinson (Sub: 12 Ivan Atkins, 64) 5. Oliver Sprague 6. Troy Perez-Duah (Sub: 14 Hamilton Antonio, 67) 7. Rio Connell 8. Aaron Minhas © 9. Bradley Bubb (Sub: 16 Hassan Jallon, 55) 10. Elliott Buchanan Sub: 17 Alex Cathline, 72) 11. Kyel Reid (Sub: 15 Frank Keita, 58) Att: 50 Ref: Paul Sangster Asst: Harry Cowell / Mikaeel Wozniak