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Harrogate Town 2 -1 Hyde Utd

3/ 9/2008

A NARROW defeat on paper against one of the league’s best sides may not seem too bad, but in all honesty, the scoreline flattered the Tigers.

A reasonably competent first-half performance, where Hyde were marginally the best of the two teams, was followed by a second-half collapse culminating with two goals in a minute.

After that, there was no realistic way back but Hyde battled to the end and James Dean broke clear with a minute left and scored a fine goal to give the home side a tricky couple of minutes, but it was too little too late.

Hyde worked hard in the first period and clearly frustrated the home team and fans alike as half-time approached.

The second half was a different story as Harrogate stepped up the pace and were thwarted by Craig Dootson’s brilliance and Wayne Maden’s heroics.

Hyde’s luck ran out on 69 minutes when substitute Jamie Smith headed home a Danny Holland cross before Richard Marshall drove the ball home after a deflection a minute later.

The home side were now well on top and two more saves from Dootson prevented a rout before Dean’s consolation.

Attendance: 362

Tony Beard