Matchday 12: Review

Mon 14th October 2024 | Match Reviews | By Jay Cooper

Another weekend, another round of games coming from all 3 divisions of the NWCFL, as well as the FA Cup AND the Macron Cup. Let's run through the best and worst of what the last couple of days have had to offer.

Emirates FA Cup:

• Bury came SO close. At the final hurdle between the Shakers and the First Round Proper of this year’s FA Cup, they faced Harborough Town away from home, who were also looking for their first ever First Round appearance, A Ben Stephens penalty for Harborough in the 77^th minute was the only goal of the match, and the hosts won 1-0. However, Bury can absolutely hold their heads high after this run.

Macron Cup:

• This game is about a week and a half late. The initial Macron Cup First Round match between Ashton Town and Atherton LR was set for October 1^st, but here we are looking at a 2-1 win for Ashton on the 12^th, with Connor Brown and Kyle Preece getting the goals for the hosts.

Premier Division:

Friday:

• Chadderton are keen on a push for top spot at the moment, and they showed it in their front-loaded beating of Squires Gate. Lewis-Simon Byrne was on target twice as they took a 3-0 lead into the break, and they eventually held off any fightback by Gate to win 3-1.

Saturday:

• All in all, it was a quiet weekend of Premier Division action this weekend, with the exception of Colne and Pilkington. In a clash between two sides closer to the base of the table than they’d like to be, Colne, the hosts, were put to the sword by Pilks, particularly Gabriel Ellis, who scored two for his side in a 4-2 away win.
• Glossop North End have had a fairly forgettable opening few months to this campaign, but Elijah Fisher’s goal from their Saturday matchup with Longridge Town will live for a while in the memory. Fisher scored in the 93^rd minute of play to secure a 2-2 draw for his side.
• In a match that has now become Russell Saunders’ and Matty Russell’s last in charge of struggling Prestwich Heys, they played host to arguably this season's Prem surprise package, FC St Helens. The away side on good form let no cracks show in a 3-0 shutout, featuring a brace from Joseph Barker.
• Ramsbottom United’s grip on top spot in the table was not weakened at the weekend, the tall order of slaying the giants falling to lowly Cheadle Town on Saturday. Rammy got two early goals, but Cheadle fought to the whistle, halving the deficit in the 95^th minute. It wasn’t enough though, and Rammy won 2-1.

Other scores:

• Burscough 1-2 Abbey Hey
• FC Isle of Man 2-1 Padiham
• Litherland REMYCA 1-0 South Liverpool
• Lower Breck 2-1 AFC Liverpool
• Stockport Town 0-1 Barnoldswick Town
• West Didsbury and Chorlton 2-1 Charnock Richard

First Division North:

• By contrast to the Premier Division, the First Divisions North and South had some goal-fests in them. We’re starting tame, with AFC Blackpool’s 3-2 defeat of Darwen FC. Darwen’s 2^nd goal came very late on through Chris Bailey, but they didn’t quite give themselves enough time to find an equaliser.
• Droylsden took no such liberties as conceding twice in their demolition of Thornton Cleveleys on Saturday. Sheriff Njie and Benjamin Lowe were both on target twice as Dave Pace’s team blew their visitors away to win 7-0.
• A similarly ruthless shutout took place at Garstang’s The Riverside. Bacup Borough were the visitors on this occasion, and they made themselves at home, especially in the second half. Four different players were on the scoresheet for Brent Peters’ side in a 4-0 away victory.
• With both of the top two not in league action on Saturday, Nelson took the opportunity to turn up the heat from 3^rd place with both hands. Charlie Frost had Route One Rovers beat by himself in the first half, scoring a hat-trick, but Max Cane and Jack Doherty also contributed to an eventual 5-1 win.
• Another hat-trick hero came to us this past Saturday from Maghull, who travelled away to Steeton. Darren Brannigan was the man of the hour for Joe Burns’ side, scoring half of their goals in the 6-1 demolition of their hosts.

Other scores:

• Ashton Town 2-0 Skelmersdale United
• Maine Road 2-0 Euxton Villa

First Division South:

• From their last five matches in all competitions, Stockport Georgians have been the team to watch for goals – they’ve scored 23 and conceded 5 in that time, and they’ve won all five of those matches. Saturday was one of those wins, but it wasn’t quite as incredible as some of their other recent results, as they beat Eccleshall 2-0 away.
• Runcorn Town and Sandbach United faced off competitively for the first time ever on Saturday, and the game was one to remember, with a back-and-forth encounter resulting in Runcorn being 3-2 up in the 87^th minute. But both Ben Greenop and Kieran Alley were on hand for Sandbach to complete an incredible turnaround and win 4-3.
• I seem to repeat myself week after week when it comes to Stafford Town. Adam Wall and his team are on a seemingly unstoppable charge for the title in the South, and poor Allscott Heath were in their way this weekend. Matthew Hearsey was the weekend’s biggest goalscorer across the entire NWCFL, bagging four as his team sailed to an astounding 9-0 win.
• We’re coming back down to earth in terms of scorelines for this last one, but the close-fought draw between Wolves Sporting and managerless Cammell Laird 1907 still had plenty to sink one’s teeth into. Wolves Sporting caught Cammell Laird napping by scoring to establish a 2-1 lead immediately after conceding an equaliser, but they fell on their own sword three minutes from time, with an own goal seeing the game end 2-2.

Other scores:

• Abbey Hulton United 0-1 Winsford Town
• Alsager Town 1-0 Foley Meir
• Barnton 1-1 Shawbury United
• Cheadle Heath Nomads 1-1 Market Drayton Town
• Eccleshall 0-2 Stockport Georgians
• New Mills 1-2 Ashville