Champions Cup 2024 Preview – Barnoldswick Town v Wythenshawe
Fri 19th July 2024 | Match Previews | By Jay Cooper
The new NWCFL season is getting closer and closer, with an officially sanctioned NWCFL match coming to you this very weekend. Tomorrow, NWCFL Premier Division Champions Wythenshawe FC will face off against Macron Cup Winners Barnoldswick Town in this year’s iteration of our Champions Cup.
Acting as the NWCFL equivalent of the Community Shield, record of this match taking place pre-season is instantly available on this very website going back to 2016, when league winners Colne put cup winners Atherton Collieries to the sword on home soil. It will be Wythenshawe who hope to do the same this time, although there is one major change to the regular format of this match.
Traditionally, the host team is the side who won the NWCFL top division, but ahead of this years’ match, the Ammies’ Hollyhedge Park is unavailable on the scheduled date. As a result, this game will kick off from Barnoldswick Town’s Silentnight Stadium, which gives the still-remaining NWCFL team in this game a bit of an initially unexpected advantage.
The main purpose of this brief article is just to refresh your memory as to how both teams got to this game ahead of kick off. And we’ll start with Wythenshawe.
After fighting tooth and nail with Stockport Town and just about clearing their rivals to snatch the First Division South title in 2022/23, few would’ve predicted that Shane Goldrick and his team were going to do it twice on the spin. But the Ammies took to the Premier Division like a duck to water, and before long, they were one of only three serious contenders for the Premier Division trophy. They were joined in that race by fellow Manchester sides Bury FC and cross-town rivals Wythenshawe Town.
Wythenshawe and Bury had faced off very early in the season. In that match at Hollyhedge Park, Wythenshawe needed a late, late Sam Dickov penalty to save a point from the jaws of defeat.
The first Wythenshawe derby of the season took place on Boxing Day last year, with the Ammies as hosts, and it would be arguably the worst follow up to Christmas that the club and players could’ve wanted. Town battered them 4-1 in their own back yard, and the Ammies wouldn’t have a chance for revenge until April Fools’ Day.
Right before that however, a mere 2 days prior, Wythenshawe squared off against Bury again in the league. After trailing to a second half goal for the Shakers, a chaotic conclusion to the 8 added minutes at the end of the match saw a penalty once again be awarded to the Ammies in the dying embers. Bryan Ly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, and Wythenshawe avoided defeat to Bury yet again.
The same could not be said for their return against Wythenshawe Town, though. In a fairly even game, it took 86 minutes for Town, who had trailed earlier in the contest, to find a second goal to overturn a 1-0 deficit and secure all three points on the day. Just as they had in the previous campaign, it would be up to Wythenshawe to fight right up to the final day if they wanted a shot at the title.
Results in the crucial run-in matches fell in Wythenshawe’s favour, and it was them who led the league table going into the final day, knowing that failure to win could open the doors wide to one of their title rivals. In the end, what Wythy and Bury did on the day didn’t make a difference, as Wythenshawe went away to Squires Gate and came back with a clean sheet, 3 goals, 3 points, and a second successive league title and promotion.
Barnoldswick Town are not a part of this match because of their 2023/24 league campaign. Instead, they’re here because they smashed their way to the Macron Cup last season, and here’s how they did it.
Their first opponents in the competition last season were fellow Premier Division side Colne, who were still considered a newly relegated team at the time of this match. After overcoming their opponents in a 4-3 goal-fest, Barlick went on to face two more new NWCFL teams for 2023/24, in Shelley and Route One Rovers for Rounds Two and Three.
They took both of their next two opponents to the cleaners, winning 4-0 in successive rounds, before squaring off with Charnock Richard. They beat Charnock by 2 goals to 1 in a tense quarter final and faced underdogs-on-paper Alsager Town in the semi-final. After going 2-0 down in the first half, Barlick roared back in the second 45 minutes to win 4-2 and set up a meeting in the final with Chadderton, who’d been given a reinstation after a semi-final defeat to Droylsden because of an ineligible player being fielded for their opponents.
A final at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium beckoned on May 11th. In the match itself, Barnoldswick Town took a 2-goal first half lead thanks to goals from Andrew Hill and Luke Stowe, a minute apart. In the second half, Barlick staved off any fightback by their opponents with a 3rd goal from Oliver Roberts and lifted the Macron Cup trophy above their heads at full time.
The stage is set on Saturday for the first silverware of the new season to be awarded to worthy winners. It comes down to who plays better on the day at the Silentnight Stadium. If you’re nearby, don’t be shy and come on down! Kick off is at 2pm.
Champions Cup 2024 Preview – Barnoldswick Town v Wythenshawe
Fri 19th July 2024 | Match Previews
By Jay Cooper
The new NWCFL season is getting closer and closer, with an officially sanctioned NWCFL match coming to you this very weekend. Tomorrow, NWCFL Premier Division Champions Wythenshawe FC will face off against Macron Cup Winners Barnoldswick Town in this year’s iteration of our Champions Cup.
Acting as the NWCFL equivalent of the Community Shield, record of this match taking place pre-season is instantly available on this very website going back to 2016, when league winners Colne put cup winners Atherton Collieries to the sword on home soil. It will be Wythenshawe who hope to do the same this time, although there is one major change to the regular format of this match.
Traditionally, the host team is the side who won the NWCFL top division, but ahead of this years’ match, the Ammies’ Hollyhedge Park is unavailable on the scheduled date. As a result, this game will kick off from Barnoldswick Town’s Silentnight Stadium, which gives the still-remaining NWCFL team in this game a bit of an initially unexpected advantage.
The main purpose of this brief article is just to refresh your memory as to how both teams got to this game ahead of kick off. And we’ll start with Wythenshawe.
After fighting tooth and nail with Stockport Town and just about clearing their rivals to snatch the First Division South title in 2022/23, few would’ve predicted that Shane Goldrick and his team were going to do it twice on the spin. But the Ammies took to the Premier Division like a duck to water, and before long, they were one of only three serious contenders for the Premier Division trophy. They were joined in that race by fellow Manchester sides Bury FC and cross-town rivals Wythenshawe Town.
Wythenshawe and Bury had faced off very early in the season. In that match at Hollyhedge Park, Wythenshawe needed a late, late Sam Dickov penalty to save a point from the jaws of defeat.
The first Wythenshawe derby of the season took place on Boxing Day last year, with the Ammies as hosts, and it would be arguably the worst follow up to Christmas that the club and players could’ve wanted. Town battered them 4-1 in their own back yard, and the Ammies wouldn’t have a chance for revenge until April Fools’ Day.
Right before that however, a mere 2 days prior, Wythenshawe squared off against Bury again in the league. After trailing to a second half goal for the Shakers, a chaotic conclusion to the 8 added minutes at the end of the match saw a penalty once again be awarded to the Ammies in the dying embers. Bryan Ly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, and Wythenshawe avoided defeat to Bury yet again.
The same could not be said for their return against Wythenshawe Town, though. In a fairly even game, it took 86 minutes for Town, who had trailed earlier in the contest, to find a second goal to overturn a 1-0 deficit and secure all three points on the day. Just as they had in the previous campaign, it would be up to Wythenshawe to fight right up to the final day if they wanted a shot at the title.
Results in the crucial run-in matches fell in Wythenshawe’s favour, and it was them who led the league table going into the final day, knowing that failure to win could open the doors wide to one of their title rivals. In the end, what Wythy and Bury did on the day didn’t make a difference, as Wythenshawe went away to Squires Gate and came back with a clean sheet, 3 goals, 3 points, and a second successive league title and promotion.
Barnoldswick Town are not a part of this match because of their 2023/24 league campaign. Instead, they’re here because they smashed their way to the Macron Cup last season, and here’s how they did it.
Their first opponents in the competition last season were fellow Premier Division side Colne, who were still considered a newly relegated team at the time of this match. After overcoming their opponents in a 4-3 goal-fest, Barlick went on to face two more new NWCFL teams for 2023/24, in Shelley and Route One Rovers for Rounds Two and Three.
They took both of their next two opponents to the cleaners, winning 4-0 in successive rounds, before squaring off with Charnock Richard. They beat Charnock by 2 goals to 1 in a tense quarter final and faced underdogs-on-paper Alsager Town in the semi-final. After going 2-0 down in the first half, Barlick roared back in the second 45 minutes to win 4-2 and set up a meeting in the final with Chadderton, who’d been given a reinstation after a semi-final defeat to Droylsden because of an ineligible player being fielded for their opponents.
A final at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium beckoned on May 11th. In the match itself, Barnoldswick Town took a 2-goal first half lead thanks to goals from Andrew Hill and Luke Stowe, a minute apart. In the second half, Barlick staved off any fightback by their opponents with a 3rd goal from Oliver Roberts and lifted the Macron Cup trophy above their heads at full time.
The stage is set on Saturday for the first silverware of the new season to be awarded to worthy winners. It comes down to who plays better on the day at the Silentnight Stadium. If you’re nearby, don’t be shy and come on down! Kick off is at 2pm.
