Hanley kick start life in the Northern Premier League with comfortable win over Ramsbottom.

Northern Premier League new boys Hanley Town made a statement of intent as they cruised to a 3-1 win away at Ramsbottom United in the boiling heat.

A goal from James Lawrie after just four minutes of play and a brace from Chris Dagnall secured the win for Hanley despite the late onslaught from Rammy, which included a goal from Temi Ajibola with just under 10 minutes left of play.

That strike from Lawrie was the first goal scored across the whole of the Northern Premier League West this season and it was the least Hanley deserved as they had started like an express train that you would find on the heritage railway that ran behind the John Fox stand at the ground. Some smart thinking by new signing Rhys Thompson saw him take a quick throw in to Lawrie, who turned before hitting an unstoppable shot past Harry Turner at his near post.

It was the sort of start Carl Dickinson, Hanley player-manager, would have wanted in their Northern Premier League debut.

Hanley had chances to double their lead throughout the first half. They came close through Ryan Shotton, who headed just wide from a Lawrie free-kick, while Lawrie himself could have had a second on 18 minutes when he saw his shot blocked at the very last second by Ramsbottom defender Sam Holt.

Meanwhile, Danny Glover went close on two occasions to scoring his first Hanley Town goal inside the opening half an hour of the match. The first saw him head a long cross field ball over the bar before he put a volley, like Lawrie’s goal, just over the target.

Ramsbottom, on the other hand, just did not get started in the sweltering heat as Hanley nullified their threat, mainly through Jake Twyford, who did a superb job anchoring the Hanley Town midfield it also allowed Louis Dodds and Dagnall, who has converted into a midfielder, to get forward and cause the Rammy defence numerous problems.

Those problems came to ahead on 34 minutes when Kain Dean was the first man to go into the referee’s notebook when he stupidly tugged back on Thompson’s shirt to stop the full-back from getting forward. Dean was probably no doubt frustrated with the performance thus far and, the hot weather probably didn’t help either.

Hanley were always in need of a second goal, just to put a bit of daylight between them and their hosts, and they should have got it seven minutes before the break when a mix-up in the Ramsbottom defence allowed Dodds to get in behind them. However, he saw his shot turned away by Turner’s outstretched legs.

However, Turner could do nothing just two minutes later when a delightful ball over the top ball from Dodds saw Dagnall scampering into the penalty area. The former Crewe Alexandra and Yeovil Town man has made a career out of scoring goals, and he didn’t disappoint as he rolled the ball into the far corner of the goal to get Hanley that second goal they needed.

Ramsbottom were probably relieved to hear the half-time whistle to get some much-needed rest bite from the heat and Hanley’s intensity in their play. However, after the break, there was no change in the way Hanley played.

Just five minutes into the second half the visitors were awarded a penalty when Reece Jones managed to race away from the Ramsbottom defence before being taken down by the sprawling arms of Turner, which left the referee no option to point to the spot. Up stepped Dagnall as he sent Turner the wrong way for his second goal of the afternoon.

From there on the job was done as Hanley were concerned, and they took their foot off the gas slightly which almost caught them out as Ramsbottom United decided that with nearly an hour on the clock that it was time to start playing football.

The introductions of Billy Hasler-Cregg and Ajibola for the hosts made a world of difference as they started posing questions for the Hanley defence. However, they came up with answers every time thanks to the excellent work from Kieran Harrison to marshal his backline.

Ajibola did make things interesting with just eight minutes to go when he fired a shot past Harrison, who was left rooted to the spot. Some people inside the ground thought that it could be the start of a Ramsbottom comeback, but this was never the case as Harrison was in fine form to have two good save to protect Hanley’s two-goal lead.

In the end, Hanley started life at step 4 with a comfortable win and in truth they will face bigger tests in the league this season, but they needed to get three points and a win on the board as soon as they could.

After the game, I caught up with Hanley’s player-manager to get his thoughts on the game.

I also spoke with two goal hero Chris Dagnall to get his thoughts on how he’s started the season.

Ramsbottom United: Turner, Barlow (Hasler-Cregg, 56) Dean (Collinge, 56), Fitzgerald, Hall, Holt, Rouse, Rother, Creech (Ajibola, 65), Donaldson and Radcliffe.
Unused subs: Grimshaw and Osi-Efa

Hanley Town: Harrison, Thompson, Walford, Twyford (Sanders, 85), Dickinson, Shotton (Stubbs, 67), Jones, Dagnall, Dodds (Blake, 70) and Lawrie.
Unused subs: Chapman and Avery.
Attendance: 204

Richard Scott
Richard Scott
Sports Reporter

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