Warrington Rylands manager on win over Hyde United

Just two minutes after coming off the bench, Joe Piggott scored his side’s winning goal against Hyde United after the linesman ruled his effort had crossed the line having bounced down off the crossbar.

The 1-0 victory at Gorsey Lane means Blues are still unbeaten in the Northern Premier League Premier Division since their 4-0 opening-day defeat to league leaders Radcliffe, which was also the last time they conceded a goal at home.

Joe Piggott scores the winner against Hyde United (Image: Mark Percy)

And in what was a tight affair against a Hyde side who had won their past four league games before heading to Warrington, Clegg was delighted to see his side emerge victorious.

“I didn’t think the game was the best,” he said.

“It was two evenly-matched teams and we got on the other side of it.

“We got into some good areas and we’re probably disappointed we didn’t get another goal but on the whole, the last goal we conceded here in the league was Radcliffe’s fourth goal, which seems so long ago.

“We’re rock-solid at home and we were rock-solid out of possession again today – anything that came in, we batted away so I’m just delighted."

Piggott's goal was the sixth scored by a player coming off the Rylands bench in league fixtures this season, which is just under a third of their total haul of 19 strikes.

Without those goals, Blues would be nine points worse off.

“Chiek (Thiam) was brilliant when he came on and then Piggs got his goal two minutes after coming on," Clegg said in hailing the impact of his substitutes.

“That’s what we are – we’re together. We’re not spectacular all the time but we don’t know when we’re beaten.”

Piggott is congratulated by his teammates (Image: Mark Percy)

Rylands went into the game with three first-choice midfielders unavailable – veteran Dean Furman was injured while James Neild and Ben Hough were suspended.

As such, Altrincham youngster Owen German was drafted straight into the starting line-up having joined on loan on Friday while Paul Kyffin was handed his first league start having joined the club in the summer upon his release from Rochdale.

Kyffin, who is also a talented young boxer, was named as the club’s man of the match and Clegg was pleased to see him grasp his opportunity.

“We had the option to bring in some loan lads from bigger clubs this week, but we wanted to give Paul a chance,” he said.

“We also knew Owen was available who is young and came highly recommended from Altrincham.

“They were fantastic and represent everything we’re about. There was no way they were going to have more enthusiasm than those two lads.

“For us to roll the dice and put pure trust in those two young lads, we deserve three points just for that.

“Paul takes everything in and he learns.

“I think he’s on the verge of maybe going pro in boxing, so he trains during the day in that and then does his football with us.

“He’s from a lovely family and he’s a top kid – he’s been so patient waiting for his chance and there was no way I was going to deny him that.”

Young midfielder Paul Kyffin excelled having started for the first time in a league fixture (Image: Mark Percy)

The result means Clegg's men remain second in the table, six points behind runaway leaders Radcliffe but with an eight-point cushion inside the play-off spots.

Blues are back in action on Tuesday evening with a trip to Bamber Bridge.