Quotes from the Weekend: Matchweek 30
Tue 18th February 2025 | Manager Reactions | By Jay Cooper
With a good amount of NWCFL teams in League 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.
Stay tuned for the Macron Cup reflections!
Premier Division:
Paul Phillips, assistant manager at Abbey Hey (South Liverpool 1-6 Abbey Hey)
We were short on squad numbers this weekend, and I was a bit worried about this away fixture. We had to play some lads out of position, but they stuck together and put a right shift in.
“It’s always good to get a few goals early on and that settled us. Being fair, I think we could have scored double what we did, but it was a great result nonetheless, which I hope will spur the lads on now to try for our target of a top ten finish.
“It was also great that we had three lads from our under-21 team in the squad, getting some valuable game time.”
Dave McNabb, of Bury (Bury 2-1 West Didsbury and Chorlton)
“Saturday saw a really professional performance in what was a really high-quality game overall.
“We dominated for large spells and showed great character to come back and win the game after going one down to a well-oiled West Didsbury and Chorlton side.”
Lee Ashcroft, of Longridge Town (Padiham 0-1 Longridge Town)
“What a great performance for the lads on Saturday! It made me a proud manager.
“We lost a player in the warmup to the game, which is especially bad when we already have so many injuries at the minute. It was important that we stuck together and kept up with how well we’ve been doing since the turn of the year.
“Padiham is always a tough game - I really rate their club highly, and Michael Morrison is doing a great job.”
First Division North:
Matty Atherton, of Euxton Villa (Atherton LR 1-2 Euxton Villa)
“It was a great win for us on Saturday. Not many teams this season will go to Atherton LR and come away with points. For us, that’s testament to the hard work the lads put in for the full 90 minutes.
“We have gone through somewhat of a tricky patch in recent weeks and I’ve put the gauntlet down to the players to up their levels and they responded in the best way possible. I actually think we have more gears to go through.
“In the second half you wouldn’t have been able to tell that we had an extra man on the pitch as they put us under extreme pressure. But the fact that we were able to come through it is testament to the newfound belief in the group that we can make the playoffs for a third successive season. And, hopefully, we can go one better than we have in the previous two attempts.
“Hopefully we can build on this great result and show the same level of hunger and desire in upcoming fixtures.”
Tommy Lawson, of Skelmersdale United (Skelmersdale United 2-1 Garstang)
“Saturday was a very promising performance from our young squad. Some lads in this group are seriously benefiting from the minutes they are getting.
“It’s a promise that we will kick and scratch until the very end, and maybe we’ll surprise a few along the way.”
First Division South:
Steven Scott, of Ashville (Ashville 4-2 Allscott Heath):
“We felt it was a strong performance from the boys after a period where we’ve only had three games in a six-week period. We started brightly but lacked the final pass. Once that arrived and we took the lead, we felt in control.
“Allscott, to their huge credit, caught us early in second half with some great movement from their forward player, but the lads responded to the equaliser well. They picked up their levels and we got ourselves back in front with two well worked goals.
“Indecision when defending led to Allscott’s quality forward line pouncing again, which could have made it a nervy finish, but the lads again demonstrated the good level of composure and control that they have, creating a few opportunities and taking one of them to make it 4-2 by the end.
“I saw some great evidence that we can be clinical in front of goal, which was the only thing that’s missing for the past few weeks.”
Declan Swan, of Sandbach United (Sandbach United 2-0 Foley Meir)
“It was absolutely a solid win and performance for us on Saturday against Foley Meir.
“It was great to get the win on the weekend against a team that battled for everything, and it was even better to do so in front of the superb home fans. The support for the lads was great, again!”
Quotes from the Weekend: Matchweek 30
Tue 18th February 2025 | Manager Reactions
By Jay Cooper
With a good amount of NWCFL teams in League 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.
Stay tuned for the Macron Cup reflections!
Premier Division:
Paul Phillips, assistant manager at Abbey Hey (South Liverpool 1-6 Abbey Hey)
We were short on squad numbers this weekend, and I was a bit worried about this away fixture. We had to play some lads out of position, but they stuck together and put a right shift in.
“It’s always good to get a few goals early on and that settled us. Being fair, I think we could have scored double what we did, but it was a great result nonetheless, which I hope will spur the lads on now to try for our target of a top ten finish.
“It was also great that we had three lads from our under-21 team in the squad, getting some valuable game time.”
Dave McNabb, of Bury (Bury 2-1 West Didsbury and Chorlton)
“Saturday saw a really professional performance in what was a really high-quality game overall.
“We dominated for large spells and showed great character to come back and win the game after going one down to a well-oiled West Didsbury and Chorlton side.”
Lee Ashcroft, of Longridge Town (Padiham 0-1 Longridge Town)
“What a great performance for the lads on Saturday! It made me a proud manager.
“We lost a player in the warmup to the game, which is especially bad when we already have so many injuries at the minute. It was important that we stuck together and kept up with how well we’ve been doing since the turn of the year.
“Padiham is always a tough game - I really rate their club highly, and Michael Morrison is doing a great job.”
First Division North:
Matty Atherton, of Euxton Villa (Atherton LR 1-2 Euxton Villa)
“It was a great win for us on Saturday. Not many teams this season will go to Atherton LR and come away with points. For us, that’s testament to the hard work the lads put in for the full 90 minutes.
“We have gone through somewhat of a tricky patch in recent weeks and I’ve put the gauntlet down to the players to up their levels and they responded in the best way possible. I actually think we have more gears to go through.
“In the second half you wouldn’t have been able to tell that we had an extra man on the pitch as they put us under extreme pressure. But the fact that we were able to come through it is testament to the newfound belief in the group that we can make the playoffs for a third successive season. And, hopefully, we can go one better than we have in the previous two attempts.
“Hopefully we can build on this great result and show the same level of hunger and desire in upcoming fixtures.”
Tommy Lawson, of Skelmersdale United (Skelmersdale United 2-1 Garstang)
“Saturday was a very promising performance from our young squad. Some lads in this group are seriously benefiting from the minutes they are getting.
“It’s a promise that we will kick and scratch until the very end, and maybe we’ll surprise a few along the way.”
First Division South:
Steven Scott, of Ashville (Ashville 4-2 Allscott Heath):
“We felt it was a strong performance from the boys after a period where we’ve only had three games in a six-week period. We started brightly but lacked the final pass. Once that arrived and we took the lead, we felt in control.
“Allscott, to their huge credit, caught us early in second half with some great movement from their forward player, but the lads responded to the equaliser well. They picked up their levels and we got ourselves back in front with two well worked goals.
“Indecision when defending led to Allscott’s quality forward line pouncing again, which could have made it a nervy finish, but the lads again demonstrated the good level of composure and control that they have, creating a few opportunities and taking one of them to make it 4-2 by the end.
“I saw some great evidence that we can be clinical in front of goal, which was the only thing that’s missing for the past few weeks.”
Declan Swan, of Sandbach United (Sandbach United 2-0 Foley Meir)
“It was absolutely a solid win and performance for us on Saturday against Foley Meir.
“It was great to get the win on the weekend against a team that battled for everything, and it was even better to do so in front of the superb home fans. The support for the lads was great, again!”
