Second half goals from Jamie Rother and Max McCarthy were enough to earn the Ro a second cup success in five days against higher league opposition in the Manchester Premier Cup first round.
Manager Alex Frost made six changes from the side which had triumphed in the FA Trophy against Warrington Rylands the previous Friday evening. Prince Haywood, Sam Rathbone and Geffry Ebhote all started in defence, whilst Rother and Muis Bibire Bello came into the midfield, and Liam Ellis bolstered the forward line.
The visitors edged the first half, with Sam Rathbone making an excellent block early on to deny Jimiel Chikukwa, and Grant Shenton making a fine save at his near post to deny Antoine Mikoli.
At the other end Joe Rathbone, Ebhote and McCarthy all went close, but it was Chikukwa who came within millimetres of breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half time, when his powerful header from a Ditchfield cross crashed off the underside of the bar and to safety.
After the break it took just two minutes for the home side to edge in front. Ellis crossed from the right at full stretch, and after the Hyde defence failed to clear their lines, Rother latched onto the loose ball and drilled it past visiting keeper Sam Waller from just outside the area.
Chikukwa was inches away from an equaliser at the end of a flowing move, and then Haywood made a goal line clearance to preserve a lead which was doubled just four minutes later. Substitute Kane Wallwork’s excellent through ball tempted Waller out of his area to try and clear the danger, but the ball ricocheted kindly off McCarthy, and the big striker slotted it into the unguarded goal to make it 2-0.
Hyde’s last chance to gain a foothold in the tie disappeared when Bunn’s free kick flew narrowly over Shenton’s crossbar, and Joe Rathbone even had a chance to make the margin of victory more comfortable in the closing minutes, but shot straight at Waller. The Ro thus move on to a quarter final against an as yet undecided opponent.
