DEWSBURY RANGERS raced into the third round of the Huddersfield RCD League’s Under 13 Cup with a 6-1 win over Westend.
Both clubs were determined not to allow another week of rain to ruin their football and by moving their game to the all-weather pitch at St John Fisher School in Dewsbury got their tie under way.
Westend’s Division II promotion hopefuls arrived determined to prove themselves against first division opposition but they received a sharp lesson in what’s required to succeed in the top flight by last season’s cup winners.
Unbeaten in the league so far this season, Dewsbury are well positioned for a tilt at the league title and cup double this time around and they were in no mood to allow the visitors to upset their plans as their well drilled slick passing left Westend chasing shadows.
Despite Dewsbury’s dominance, Westend proved a hard nut to crack as Owen Haseldine, Callum Hamilton, Jermaine Hanson and the outstanding Tom Eso put up such a solid defence that the home side were reduced to just a couple of long range shots after 25 minutes.
At the other end, Westend’s James Clark and Alex Armstrong set up several dangerous raids but, defenders Jacob Lindley, Cory Joseph, Callum Kemp, Matthew Higgins and Lewis Broadfoot were even less forgiving than their counterparts, leaving keeper Joe Haley without a save to make in the first half.
With half-time approaching, Westend’s resistance was finally broken when the hard working Alex Newsome, Joseph Hirst, Sean Smith and Declan Sales opened up the chance for Aaron Wroe whose right wing pass found Jamil Sair and he hit a volley into the roof of the net.
The home side almost doubled their tally moments later but, with only keeper Lee Facett to beat, Tyron Sagar shot wide.
Sagar made up for his miss within minutes when a Declan O’Regan shot was blocked but the ball rebounded to Sagar who fired into the top corner to give Dewsbury a comfortable half time cushion.
Any hopes of a Westend comeback were quickly dispelled when, from the kick off, Jamil Sair powered into the penalty area to fire Dewsbury’s third of the game.
Westend continued to press and were almost rewarded when James Clark found space 12 yards from goal but his shot, under pressure, missed the mark.
Keeper Haley’s throw out found Sagar who ran half the length of the pitch and crossed for Cory Joseph to score Dewsbury’s fourth.
Another Westend chance came and went when James Clark found space through the middle to go around keeper Haley, but again Clark was frustrated when Callum Kemp cleared off the line.
And Dewsbury were quick to rub salt in the wound when a counter attack produced a corner from which Declan O’Regan headed home at the near post.
Joe Sutton, Robbie Turner, James Garner, Nathan Gallagher and Zak Arif did their best to rally the visitors with some slick passing and their efforts paid off when first, Owen Haseldine forced keeper Haley into an excellent save before Alex Armstrong grabbed a consolation goal for Westend from an indirect free kick.
But, it was the home side who had the last word when Sagar fired home to give Dewsbury a comfortable passage into the third round.
Westend will have learned a lot from this encounter, not least, how far they need to improve to be able to compete on level terms with a very strong Dewsbury side.
