Market Rasen Town U16s stay three points clear

A late pitch inspection was needed before the home match with Hykeham Tigers Bees in a game the paper the hosts were expected to win.

Hykeham came tackling hard, playing with a real intent and won the battle in the early exchanges.

Rasen soon understood they were in a game and midway through the first half, and with the scores still level, the home side went back to basics and finally started creating chances.

After missing several clear-cut opportunities, Rasen took a 2-0 lead into the break with two goals from Jack Richards.

Both teams looked to have been fired up by their managers at half-time with Hykeham once again looking the hungrier early on.

But after five minutes Adam Richards extended the lead which seemed to knock the confidence out of the visitors.

Rasen exploited this with two more goals, both from Joe Robinson before Ryan Kenyon added a sixth.

The hosts conceded with a couple of minutes to go, to give Hykeham a deserved consolation goal which was taken well after some chaotic defending by the Rasen back three.

Man-of-the-match Dominic Brown stood out for Rasen with his desire to win this game from the kick-off.

Rasen battled well and deserved the win, but with three games left in the season, this wasn’t the performance manager Brian Inman was expecting from the league leaders and knows they cannot afford any slip-ups.

“We’re happy with a good win, but I was disappointed in the manner we played,” he said.

“We weren’t as committed as we normally are and didn’t execute our game plan. We need to make sure we step up a level for the next game.”

Their next game is at Rase Park on Sunday against East Coast (kick-off 2.15pm), beginning their final run-in against three teams who are all also competing for promotion.