Old Headingley 2
Robin Hood 3

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After good victories in their previous two outings, Old Headingley's first match of the season at their Woodhall Lane home pitch ended in disappointment as for the second season in a row they went down 3-2 to visitors Robin Hood.

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The match started evenly, with the away side perhaps shading things as they got in behind the Old Headingley defence on more than one occasion but found a combination of poor finishing and last ditch defending conspiring to keep them at bay. Slightly against the run of play Old Headingley took the lead when a long ball was not dealt with by the Robin Hood centre halves and the alert Liam Taylor muscled aside a flailing defender and hooked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

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This joy was shortlived however as the visitors responded quickly with an equaliser. After a long ball was flicked on a last ditch tackle from skipper Andy Williams denied the first goalscoring opportunity only for the ball to fall to a marauding midfield runner whose chipped effort found its way into the Headingley net. Taking advantage of this shift in momentum, Robin Hood went into the interval with a 2-1 lead after another break from midfield led to a penalty which was clinically dispatched, giving debutant goalkeeper Will Chan no chance.

A rasping effort from distance from Steve Beck set the tone for the second half, as Richard Hamilton's men began to play with a bit more confidence and purpose. Good interplay between Callum Butcher, Andy Hallam and target man Oli Seed caused consternation on more than one occasion, and Andy Williams and Liam Taylor were nearly beneficiaries as they had half chances to level the scores.

A set piece brought the sides level, Hallam firing home through a crowd of players after the dead ball was touched off by Pete Gillick, and with twenty minutes to go and the home side in the ascendancy a winning goal appeared inevitable. However, whereas Seed was denied by a point blank save from Robin Hood's keeper at one end, at the other end hesitancy in the Old Headingley ranks allowed a ball to bounce once too often and an opportunistic volley flew into the net to restore Robin Hood's advantage.

Huffing and puffing in the closing stages, the home side threw the kitchen sink at the visitors' goal but could not fashion any clear cut chances. Another year, another 3-2 reversal at home to Robin Hood for manager Richard Hamilton.