MALVERN Rangers entertained Hereford-based Hinton in their last fixture of 2005 and it turned out to be a disappointing result, performance and game.

MALVERN RANGERS 0, HINTON 1

Players from both sides appeared to have not recovered from the festive period and this West Midlands division one game never rose to any great heights.

Rangers were able to call upon Mark Tipton, to replace the suspended Danny White, as the only change to the starting line-up that had the excellent result against league leaders Brereton Social two weeks ago.

Both defences were generally on top throughout the 90 minutes and goal-mouth action was fairly sporadic.

Rangers had what looked a perfectly good goal ruled out after 16 minutes when a long ball played forward was contested by Dave Perera and keeper Kyle Waring and when the ball broke loose to Simon Rea he scored into the far corner.

However, the referee ruled a foul on the keeper although even the Hinton officials confirmed afterwards that they thought the decision harsh.

Hinton scored what proved to be the only goal of the game 27 minutes into the second-half when attacking down their left Jody Dale got the better of both Craig Penney and Mark Tipton to score into the corner.

Shortly afterwards Mark Tipton made his only real mistake in his first game of the season being caught in possession on the half-way line but despite a clear run in on goal the Hinton attacker struck the post when faced by keeper Ross Sanders.

Rangers were able to introduce Anthony Smith, Martin Philpotts and Andy Fletcher during the second-half but to no avail and so finished the year on a losing note.

Man-of-the-match was Ollie Endacott.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Rangers sponsored by the Cross Keys Inn, are at home to entertain Riverway in a West Midlands division one fixture, kick-off 1.45pm, players to meet at the ground 12.30pm.

Similar to last week they will be looking to avenge a 3-0 defeat inflicted on them on October 25.

The following Wednesday evening (January 11), Rangers are scheduled to travel to Alvechurch to play Midland Combination premier division high-flyers Barnt Green Spartak in the Smedley Crooke Charity Cup, kick-off 7.45pm.