Sheffield Bankers 4 Ben Rhydding 1

Crippled by injury, illness and unavailability, Rhydding’s unified and gutsy fight was not enough against a slick and dynamic Bankers side.

Playing on the reserve pitch at Sheffield which was sandy and bobbly did not help matters as Rhydding were exposed to a frantic first ten minutes.

Sheffield shot out of the blocks and put Rhydding on the back foot from the first whistle. It was only minutes before Rhydding conceded a corner and Carter in goal made the first of many astonishing saves.

Bankers continued to turn the screw and sluggish responses to their break meant they got free men in the circle effectively and turned possession into points with ruthless exploitation of an overload.

Towards the end of the first half, Ben Rhydding began to creep back into contention and looked more composed as they began to work the ball around from stick to stick.

The ceaseless work rate of Josh Sykes and Ian Thomas began to open up passing lanes and Connor Dowley slotted a bullet of a ball through to Struan Connor in the circle who put the ball in the back of the net with an impressive reverse shot.

Unfortunately, a cruel twist at the end of the first half saw Connor mis-hit a ball which fell into the path of a Sheffield forward who gratefully accepted the gift to make it 3-1.

Strong possession in the second half went unrewarded and corners won by the wily David Cutter went unconverted.

It was not long before Bankers once again began to dominate the midfield and take control. Their connections in the build up phase before entering the circle found Rhydding struggling to find an answer and another well worked goal pushed the contest out of reach.

Bankers began to crank things up again as Rhydding began to tire and Steve Mitchell after making many brave, last ditch tackles had to leave the field after a nasty blow to the hand.

Dave Exley rallied his troops for a final effort but they were well beaten. They will be looking to bounce back against old rivals Wakefield on Saturday.