Five Things We Learned - Gameweek 27
Wed 1st February 2023 | Five Things | By Jay Cooper
1. Games galore!
I've spent too much time in these lists discussing postponed or rearranged games due to frozen or waterlogged pitched, but with January now in the rear view mirror and winter almost over, we've got a good scratch of NWCFL back! Over the last 7 days, there have been a staggering 51 games in all competitions featuring NWCFL teams.
17 of these have been from the Premier Division, 12 from the First Division North, 14 from the First Division South, and 8 have come from either the Macron Cup or regional cup competitions. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thrilled with this development.
2. Goals galore!
In most cases, with lots of games come lots of goals, and this last week is a staple of that if nothing. In total, from games featuring at least 1 NWCFL team, there has been a goal tally of a mind-blowing 181 goals - that is bananas.
And there were some incredible score lines as well to help get to that number. Charnock Richard and Litherland REMYCA played out a 4-5 cracker; Longridge and Wythenshawe Town shared the points in a 4-4 draw; and Holker Old Boys and Sandbach United put 6 and 7 past Garstang and Stafford Town, respectively, without reply.
3. Vauxhall have one hand on the trophy
Last week, a very handsome man released an article on this website regarding the title race in the Premier Division, which has mainly been contested between Vauxhall Motors and Wythenshawe Town. In the time since, the Motormen have made the gap between the two sides significantly wider.
When the two sides went toe to toe earlier in January, Vauxhall ran out 3-0 winners at Wythy's Ericstan Park. Since then, wins over FC Isle of Man and Ashton Athletic have seen them stretch the points difference between themselves and 2nd place to 7 points. As for Town, they've stumbled to a draw with lowly Longridge Town and a defeat to West Didsbury and Chorlton in recent games. There's time yet, but they can't afford to lose anymore ground.
4. There's life in Ashton yet
Last week in this list, I spoke about how Ashton Athletic, who were over 10 points from safety at the time of writing, had caused an upset in the Lancashire County Cup by defeating NPL side Radcliffe on penalties. Well, they appear to have made good on the momentum that they picked up from that win.
In their first league game since was the tough test of playing host to the current league leaders, but they really took the fight to Vauxhall Motors and only just slipped to a last minute 3-2 defeat. They kept their heads up, and, in the midweek, pulled of a seriously important win at home against Winsford United, with a clean sheet to boot. We've still got a good two months of consistent fixtures to go, remember - it's not over yet.
5. Darwen and South Liverpool on the rise
In the early weeks of the season, South Liverpool found themselves below the dreaded dotted line after a poor start, despite having a positive goal difference at the time. However, they decided not to stick around and fought their way up the table to currently be sitting in 9th, with the goals of Mason Nevitt, who has the joint-most in the league, being pivotal.
That goes double for Darwen FC, who spent longer circling the drain than South Liverpool did in the early months of the season. However, they now find themselves in 8th place, one better than their compatriots, after a winning streak of 5 games that stretches back to Boxing Day, and includes a 7-0 win over Ashton Town. Good going.
Five Things We Learned - Gameweek 27
Wed 1st February 2023 | Five Things
By Jay Cooper
1. Games galore!
I've spent too much time in these lists discussing postponed or rearranged games due to frozen or waterlogged pitched, but with January now in the rear view mirror and winter almost over, we've got a good scratch of NWCFL back! Over the last 7 days, there have been a staggering 51 games in all competitions featuring NWCFL teams.
17 of these have been from the Premier Division, 12 from the First Division North, 14 from the First Division South, and 8 have come from either the Macron Cup or regional cup competitions. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thrilled with this development.
2. Goals galore!
In most cases, with lots of games come lots of goals, and this last week is a staple of that if nothing. In total, from games featuring at least 1 NWCFL team, there has been a goal tally of a mind-blowing 181 goals - that is bananas.
And there were some incredible score lines as well to help get to that number. Charnock Richard and Litherland REMYCA played out a 4-5 cracker; Longridge and Wythenshawe Town shared the points in a 4-4 draw; and Holker Old Boys and Sandbach United put 6 and 7 past Garstang and Stafford Town, respectively, without reply.
3. Vauxhall have one hand on the trophy
Last week, a very handsome man released an article on this website regarding the title race in the Premier Division, which has mainly been contested between Vauxhall Motors and Wythenshawe Town. In the time since, the Motormen have made the gap between the two sides significantly wider.
When the two sides went toe to toe earlier in January, Vauxhall ran out 3-0 winners at Wythy's Ericstan Park. Since then, wins over FC Isle of Man and Ashton Athletic have seen them stretch the points difference between themselves and 2nd place to 7 points. As for Town, they've stumbled to a draw with lowly Longridge Town and a defeat to West Didsbury and Chorlton in recent games. There's time yet, but they can't afford to lose anymore ground.
4. There's life in Ashton yet
Last week in this list, I spoke about how Ashton Athletic, who were over 10 points from safety at the time of writing, had caused an upset in the Lancashire County Cup by defeating NPL side Radcliffe on penalties. Well, they appear to have made good on the momentum that they picked up from that win.
In their first league game since was the tough test of playing host to the current league leaders, but they really took the fight to Vauxhall Motors and only just slipped to a last minute 3-2 defeat. They kept their heads up, and, in the midweek, pulled of a seriously important win at home against Winsford United, with a clean sheet to boot. We've still got a good two months of consistent fixtures to go, remember - it's not over yet.
5. Darwen and South Liverpool on the rise
In the early weeks of the season, South Liverpool found themselves below the dreaded dotted line after a poor start, despite having a positive goal difference at the time. However, they decided not to stick around and fought their way up the table to currently be sitting in 9th, with the goals of Mason Nevitt, who has the joint-most in the league, being pivotal.
That goes double for Darwen FC, who spent longer circling the drain than South Liverpool did in the early months of the season. However, they now find themselves in 8th place, one better than their compatriots, after a winning streak of 5 games that stretches back to Boxing Day, and includes a 7-0 win over Ashton Town. Good going.