Quotes from the Weekend: Matchweek 27
Tue 28th January 2025 | Manager Reactions | By Jay Cooper
With a good amount of NWCFL teams in action across this past weekend, there was plenty of scope to speak to club managers for their opinions on what their teams produced in their 90 minutes.
Premier Division:
Andy Harrison, of Colne (Colne 2-1 FC St Helens)
“It wasn't the prettiest of games, given the conditions, but we dug in, showed quality at the right times and in the right areas, and we were defensively solid for the majority of the match.
“When you play against a side like FC St Helens who possess so much quality, you’re always going to concede chances, and thankfully, our goalkeeper was superb, and we had a bit of luck on our side. I felt we were good value and deserved the win.”
Paul Jones, of FC Isle of Man (FC Isle of Man 2-1 AFC Liverpool)
“We are happy with another very positive performance which, on this occasion, resulted in a deserved 3 points. We know AFC have good players and knew that we would have to be right at it to be in with a shout, so we are all happy with the quality, character and resilience shown by all the players.
“We have conceded too many late goals this season leading to dropped points and one of those games was away at AFC Liverpool. It was great for the players and the supporters to once again experience that elation of a last-minute winner.
“It was particularly sweet due to having played the last 35 mins with 10 men, and having conceded a goal that most would have thought that the points would have been shared, less than 90 seconds earlier! A really calm finish from Ste Whitely led to absolute scenes!
“Hopefully we can all take both the performance levels from Saturday, and the energy from such a win, and we can bring that into the games we have ahead of us.”
Ryan Hutchinson, of Prestwich Heys (Prestwich Heys 1-0 Litherland REMYCA)
"After a slow start where Litherland had possibly there only chance in the game, we settled down and started to create chances of our own.
"In the second half, this was a different story. It was pretty much one-way traffic, and we created enough chances to score four or five goals. But Alfie Beltcher did what Alfie Beltcher does, and popped up with the all important winner.
"The boys have got some momentum now. We've had four home win on the bounce and three wins from our last four games in total.
"We aren’t getting carried away, though. We’ll continue to work hard as a group, and let’s see where we are come the end of the season."
First Division North:
Paul Gregory, of Thornton Cleveleys (Ashton Athletic 2-4 Thornton Cleveleys)
“We were very pleased with the result. It's been like putting square pegs in round holes for a while – we’ve been playing OK, but not getting results.
“It's a funny game, football - how you can tweak a small bit of the dynamics and then something just clicks! We are hopeful that we can kick on with a few more wins before the end of the season.”
First Division South:
Darren Moore, of Runcorn Town (Runcorn Town 5-1 Barnton)
“Liam Page and I are made up with the lads’ performance from Saturday in challenging conditions. We were on it from the first whistle and scoring so early gave us a good platform and the confidence to have a really good go at Barnton in a match that was a must win for us.
“We made a few changes before the game. We had a few players unavailable, a few new signings, and a couple playing with knocks, so to win the game as convincingly as we did was really pleasing for us, and it shows how far this group of players have come.
“The lads did exactly what we asked of them and got exactly what they deserved, so they deserve a massive congratulations for that.
“Good luck to Barnton for the rest of the season. For us, it's a big week of preparation for another big game next week against Winsford United.”
Quotes from the Weekend: Matchweek 27
Tue 28th January 2025 | Manager Reactions
By Jay Cooper
With a good amount of NWCFL teams in action across this past weekend, there was plenty of scope to speak to club managers for their opinions on what their teams produced in their 90 minutes.
Premier Division:
Andy Harrison, of Colne (Colne 2-1 FC St Helens)
“It wasn't the prettiest of games, given the conditions, but we dug in, showed quality at the right times and in the right areas, and we were defensively solid for the majority of the match.
“When you play against a side like FC St Helens who possess so much quality, you’re always going to concede chances, and thankfully, our goalkeeper was superb, and we had a bit of luck on our side. I felt we were good value and deserved the win.”
Paul Jones, of FC Isle of Man (FC Isle of Man 2-1 AFC Liverpool)
“We are happy with another very positive performance which, on this occasion, resulted in a deserved 3 points. We know AFC have good players and knew that we would have to be right at it to be in with a shout, so we are all happy with the quality, character and resilience shown by all the players.
“We have conceded too many late goals this season leading to dropped points and one of those games was away at AFC Liverpool. It was great for the players and the supporters to once again experience that elation of a last-minute winner.
“It was particularly sweet due to having played the last 35 mins with 10 men, and having conceded a goal that most would have thought that the points would have been shared, less than 90 seconds earlier! A really calm finish from Ste Whitely led to absolute scenes!
“Hopefully we can all take both the performance levels from Saturday, and the energy from such a win, and we can bring that into the games we have ahead of us.”
Ryan Hutchinson, of Prestwich Heys (Prestwich Heys 1-0 Litherland REMYCA)
"After a slow start where Litherland had possibly there only chance in the game, we settled down and started to create chances of our own.
"In the second half, this was a different story. It was pretty much one-way traffic, and we created enough chances to score four or five goals. But Alfie Beltcher did what Alfie Beltcher does, and popped up with the all important winner.
"The boys have got some momentum now. We've had four home win on the bounce and three wins from our last four games in total.
"We aren’t getting carried away, though. We’ll continue to work hard as a group, and let’s see where we are come the end of the season."
First Division North:
Paul Gregory, of Thornton Cleveleys (Ashton Athletic 2-4 Thornton Cleveleys)
“We were very pleased with the result. It's been like putting square pegs in round holes for a while – we’ve been playing OK, but not getting results.
“It's a funny game, football - how you can tweak a small bit of the dynamics and then something just clicks! We are hopeful that we can kick on with a few more wins before the end of the season.”
First Division South:
Darren Moore, of Runcorn Town (Runcorn Town 5-1 Barnton)
“Liam Page and I are made up with the lads’ performance from Saturday in challenging conditions. We were on it from the first whistle and scoring so early gave us a good platform and the confidence to have a really good go at Barnton in a match that was a must win for us.
“We made a few changes before the game. We had a few players unavailable, a few new signings, and a couple playing with knocks, so to win the game as convincingly as we did was really pleasing for us, and it shows how far this group of players have come.
“The lads did exactly what we asked of them and got exactly what they deserved, so they deserve a massive congratulations for that.
“Good luck to Barnton for the rest of the season. For us, it's a big week of preparation for another big game next week against Winsford United.”
