Gameweek 26 (and a half): Review

Thu 23rd January 2025 | Match Reviews | By Jay Cooper

Another week (and a half), another round of games from all 3 divisions of the NWCFL, as well as the Isuzu FA Vase, AND local Cup Competitions. Let's run through the best and worst of what the last week has had to offer.

The Weekend

Friday

Premier Division:

• In a running theme from the weekend, Chadderton left it late to turn on the style in their hosting of FC St Helens last Friday Night. Harry Lynn got the ball rolling with nine minutes to go, and there were two further goals in stoppage time to help Chaddy to an eventual 3-0 win.

Saturday

Isuzu FA Vase:

• As the last remaining First Division South side left in the FA Vase, Abbey Hulton United were tasked hosting United Counties League side Heanor Town. Unfortunately, AHU were outdone on home soil in a 2-0 defeat thanks to goals by Heanor’s Jack Tyson and Salha Markelic either side of half time.
• The First Division North’s last representatives, Atherton LR, fared slightly better than their southern counterparts, although they didn’t half make it difficult for themselves. They led 2-0 at half time against NCEL side Hallam, but needed a 93^rd minute Ryan Talbot penalty to eventually snatch a 3-2 win and advance to Round Five.
• Finally, West Didsbury and Chorlton were the only NWCFL left in the Vase to have an away fixture last weekend, and travelled to Northern League Div One side North Shields. Paul Marshall’s side took a 1-0 lead, but were ultimately beaten 2-1 by their hosts to see them exit the competition.

Premier Division:

• Colne must have thought they were on the verge of taking a great step towards safety on Saturday when they hosted Glossop North End. They found themselves 2-0 up with 10 minutes remaining, but a late Lewis Riley brace saved a point for GNE in a 2-2 draw.
• Another team surely convinced of maximum points in the later stages of their home game this past weekend must have been AFC Liverpool. With 5 minutes of normal time remaining, they were 3-1 up against Charnock Richard, but Luke Power and Marcus Haydock both scored before the end to salvage a 3-3 draw for Charnock.
• For Barnoldswick Town to match any heroics like those above, they would have had to bag three more goals than they did in added time. Visiting Bury were four goals to the good by the time the electronic board went up, and despite a late William Proctor goal for Barlick, the three points went the Shakers’ way in a 4-1 win.
• Late goals in the Prem were the theme of the weekend, as Squires Gate also got themselves a goal after the 90-minute mark on their trip to Longridge Town. Unfortunately for Gate, it was too little, too late on this occasion, as Longridge held on for an eventual 3-2 victory.
• Bury’s win over Barlick was likely made all the sweeter for the Shakers’ by the fact that then-league leaders Ramsbottom United somewhat collapsed on the road against play-off hunting Lower Breck. Tom Croughan, Jesse Dowling and Sam Burns all scored in a shutout for Breck, who won 3-0.
• Harrison Lomakin-Rogers cemented himself as a new goal hero for Stockport Town over the weekend, as they took a trip to Pilkington. Lomakin-Rogers bagged two of his sides three goals in their clean sheet 3-0 victory over Pilks.
• Bottom side Prestwich Heys may not be bottom much longer if they can manage more results like the one they did against South Liverpool this weekend. Four different men were on the scoresheet between the 40^th and 65^th minutes as Ryan Hutchinson’s side notched a 4-1 win over South.

Other scores:

• Cheadle Town 0-0 Irlam
• Abbey Hey 2-1 Burscough
• Padiham 2-1 FC Isle of Man

First Division North:

• Bacup Borough were notoriously hard to score against at the start of the season, but AFC Blackpool didn’t seem to think so this past Saturday. Both Jacob Gregory and Luke Hepple were on hand to score a brace in an eventual 6-2 thrashing by the Mechanics Ground side on home soil.
• Thornton Cleveleys started the second half of their visit to Daisy Hill’s Plumb Factory Stadium like a house on fire, blitzing three goals past their hosts in the first 15 minutes and completely overturning their 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead, which they would go on to hold on to.
• Darwen FC’s lead was thin for the majority of their victory over Route One Rovers. They took the lead through an early Rio Wilson-Heyes penalty, but the goals didn’t start flowing until the final 12 minutes. They managed three after that time before the whistle was blown, eventually running out 4-0 winners.
• Similarly, Ashton Town took a slender one-goal lead into half time away at Euxton Villa, but would peel away from their opponents over the course of the second half. Three goals over a 17-minute stretch ensured that Town took all three points home in a 4-0 win.
• Maghull were the only NWCFL side to win a game of football last weekend, being one of only two NWCFL sides that played a game of football last weekend. They followed up beating Darwen FC away by beating Garstang away this past Saturday, with a 90^th minute goal from Jacob Till securing a 2-1 victory.
• Like Darwen, Ashton Athletic scored a goal very early AND very late in their match away from home at Holker Old Boys. However, unlike Darwen, Holker Old Boys scored three of their own between those two Ashton strikes to secure the 3-2 home victory.
• Elsewhere, almost identically to Darwen, Nelson scored their first goal of their match in the 7^th minute, and their second of four in the 78^th. They weren’t able to keep a clean sheet in their hosting of Maine Road, but they were still able to come away with maximum points, winning 4-2.

First Division South:

• Winsford United kept up their press for the First Division South title this past Saturday on the road against Allscott Heath. Matthew Birchall scored twice, with a Reece Davies goal sandwiched in between, to see Dean Jones and Dom Johnson’s side to a 3-2 victory.
• Unfortunately, for Winsford, their title rivals Stafford Town looked ever more convincing in their own Saturday victory over Barnton. On the road against the managerless CW8 side, Stafford battered their hosts 5-0 to secure the points, with James May scoring twice after the 90-minute mark to put the gloss on this scoreline.
• Cammell Laird 1907 decided to leave it until the second half of their home game against struggling Shawbury United to turn the screw. Once the floodgates opened however, they didn’t close, as all of Jamie Leyland, Conor Doyle, Rory Alldis and Jack Kelly bagged after the break to secure a 4-0 victory.
• Conversely, almost everything of note that happened in the game between Market Drayton Town and Cheadle Heath Nomads happened in the first half. MDT had a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, but that was wiped out within the final 15 of the first half by CHN, with the score staying a 2-2 throughout the rest of proceedings.

Other scores:

• Eccleshall 0-1 Sandbach United
• Foley Meir 2-0 New Mills
• Wolves Sporting 0-0 Ashville

Midweek

Monday

First Division South:

• Barnton’s hunt for a manager continued into Monday as they suffered their second loss on the bounce since Danny Moss’ departure. Abbey Hulton United, beaten on Saturday in the Vase, licked their wounds enough to squeeze out a 3-2 home victory over Barnton, in part due to a Kieran Brown brace.

Tuesday

Premier Division:

• Ramsbottom United recovered from their crushing defeat on Saturday by collecting all three points on Tuesday against Charnock Richard. Rammy had a 3-1 lead going into stoppage time but conceded a late penalty to set up a nervy finish. Nevertheless, Steve Wilkes’ side notched a 3-2 victory.
• Also recovering from their weekend defeat were West Didsbury and Chorlton, who made comfortable work of Squires Gate on Tuesday. Victor Abadaki helped West pull away from their visitors late on, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to help seal a 4-1 win at Brookburn Road.

Other scores:

• Burscough 1-2 Cheadle Town
• Glossop North End 2-1 Litherland REMYCA
• Padiham 2-0 Chadderton

Local Cup Competitions:

• Sandbach United were certainly the underdogs in their Cheshire Senior Cup quarter-final clash away at NPL side Hyde United. The class divide between the two sides would show throughout the game itself, as Sandbach were subject to a 7-0 loss, but kept their heads high from a good cup run.
• Oppositition from a higher division was no such factor in the two Lancashire Challenge Trophy quarter-finals featuring NWCFL sides. Firstly, there were Longridge Town, who held Lancaster City to a 1-1 draw away from home before ousting their hosts 4-3 in a penalty shootout.
• Secondly, there were Bacup Borough, who arguably went one better than Longridge and outdid their higher-level opponents in 90 minutes. Facing National League North side Radcliffe, Brent Peters’ men scored either side of half time to win 2-0 and advance to the semi-finals.
• Barnoldswick Town squared off against former NWCFL side Golcar United on Tuesday for the opportunity to make the semi-finals of the West Riding County Cup. Golcar rushed into a 3-0 lead before the break, and Barlick almost pulled off a comeback to remember with two goals less than 15 minutes from the end, but couldn’t quite do enough to save themselves, losing 3-2.