The first half started fairly even but as the half went on Ramsbottom got stronger.
They opened the scoring with Dominic Smalley rifling a shot in from the edge of the area on 15 minutes. Rail pushed forward but were restricted to a few long range shots that were off target.
Colin Hunter had the best chance for Rail but his chipped shot was easily saved. A minute later the visitors doubled their lead when Jon Robinson latched onto a through ball and slotted past the keeper on 40 mins. On the stroke of half-time Ramsbottom were 3 up when Philip Dean thumped a penalty kick past Eric Grimes.
Rail started well in the 2nd half and it took a double save from Ramsbottom’s keeper Grant Shenton to keep them out. Midway through the half Rail were caught on the break and a mishit cross/shot from Dean deceived Grimes to make it four nil. To make matters worse in the dying minutes Rail’s Joel Dixon was shown a straight red for a bad challenge just inside the Rail half.
Match Rating: 3
Star Player: Philip Dean (Ramsbottom Utd)
Attendance: 124
