Reckitts3

Pocklington Town 1st0

Having had to wait six weeks since their last game of football, Marshal Tyres sponsored Pocklington looked to kick start their season with a tough away trip against top-of-the-table Reckitts.

With Goodwin and Rudd still unavailable, manager Rich Bower was able to call on Alex Fletcher and brought Tom Hughes into the squad for his first taste of Humber football.

As befits a team going for another league title, Reckitts made a very positive start and put Pock under pressure straight from their kick off. A cross from the Town left in the 3rd minute caused confusion and despite the normally reliable Rob Kunkels efforts to claim the ball, he only succeeded in knocking it down in the six yard box to leave a Reckitts forward with an easy tap in.

Despite this start, Pock got into their passing game and with Neil Durkin and Rob Gibson passing well on a heavy surface, Town enjoyed better possession without troubling the debutant Reckitts keeper. A good one-two between Charlie Bond and Fletcher on 7 minutes created an opening that was wasted by a shot lacking in power and more good passing around the Reckitts area put in Nathan Hind behind the left back for a difficult shot from a tight angle that flew wide.

Despite enjoying plenty of possession, Town were again guilty of misplacing easy passes or picking the wrong options, allowing the home sides pacy midfielders to attack on the counter. A Reckitts free kick on 23 minutes came from a spell of pressure by the home side but having weathered that, Pock nearly equalised on 26 minutes. A smooth flowing passing move from left to right set up Gibson for a well struck piledriver from 25 yards but unfortunately the Reckitts keeper was equal to the task and just managed to punch the shot away.

A 40 yard speculative effort from centre back Billy Hardy made the keeper work but Pock were undone on 40 minutes when they got caught out by Reckitts passing and movement. This set up former Town player Tony Randle for a volley in off the far post with a shot across the keeper to leave the home side 2-0 ahead at the break despite a good showing from the visitors after their bad start.

Knowing that the next goal would be vital, Pock made a busy start to the second half and with the game well balanced, suffered two pieces of misfortune on the hour to put the game beyond reach.

The referee awarded a foul against Chris Lochman despite him heading the ball and from that, a run into the area by the Reckitts No. 11 saw him tumble to the ground under the faintest of challenges.