Division One Preview - Saturday 2nd April 2016
Fri 1st April 2016 | General | By Andrew Crompton
As the battle for automatic promotion of Division One heats up, so too does the fight for the playoff places, and with 3rd and 4th spot taking home advantage into the playoff, it’s still all to play for with less than 10 games to go.
This weekend’s fixtures once again sees promotion rivals face off as Holker Old Boys host league leaders Hanley Town, and Irlam welcome a St Helens side just three points off the final playoff place.
Midweek action saw Hanley Town and Irlam continue their fight for an automatic promotion place, with Hanley seeing off Eccleshall at the Abzorbed Arena. Meanwhile Irlam secured a late comeback at play-off chasing Cheadle Town, winning 2-1 at Park Road having been behind in the 77th minute.
The stand out fixture of the week of course comes from Rakesmoor where 6th-placed Holker Old Boys welcome top of the table Hanley Town, with Holker’s vision firmly on a high position in the play-offs with them currently 10 points off Irlam in 2nd place.
Dean Owen’s men did enough to bounce back from a late away defeat at Stockport Town last Saturday, with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to a struggling Eccleshall. Owen’s side now hold a five point gap at the top having played the same number of games as Irlam below them.
On the other hand, Scott Redhead’s Holker will be looking to end a run of consecutive defeats in the league after falling 3-1 at home to Cheadle Town and 4-3 away at Rochdale Town respectively. A win for Old Boys could see them leapfrog up to 4th, with Stockport and Cheadle having played more matches.
Play-off hunting St Helens Town travel to Silver Street where they face an Irlam side with automatic promotion still within reach. A win for either side would see them dramatically enhance their chances of promotion, as a Town win could see them into the playoffs, whereas a home victory can see Irlam increase the gap on Barnton in 3rd.
Christian Lawlor bagged his second goal in as many games for Irlam on Wednesday night and Steve Nixon’s side have goals all over the pitch with four players on 9+ goals in all competitions this season. Andrew Gillespie will be firing on all fronts for Town, he sits 2nd in the goalscoring charts this season, and is only one of two players to score over 20 goals in the league.
Third-placed Barnton play Daisy Hill this weekend as the hosts look to inflict another astonishing defeat at Townfield following their 11-1 win over Whitchurch Alport on Monday. Following a break throughout the week after a postponement away to 1874 Northwich on Wednesday, Barnton will be looking to draw level on points with Irlam.
Daisy Hill meanwhile have been on an impressive run in the last six weeks, picking up four wins in their last six league matches. The club find themselves in 13th position going into Saturday’s clash, but an away win for Hill could see them leapfrog Northwich Manchester Villa above them.
Kevin Towey will look to continue his deadly form in front of goal, especially after firing five past Whitchurch at the start of this week, including a hat-trick after the 90 minute mark. The striker has found the back of the net 25 times in the league this season, reaching 30 in all competitions.
Cheadle Town make the short trip to Northwich Manchester Villa on Saturday with both sides failing to pick up any points in midweek, but both with different reasons. Cheadle fell at home to Irlam on Wednesday night in front of an impressive crowd of 128 at Park Road and will be looking to get back to winning ways.
The Manchester Regional Arena will be hoping to avoid a repeat of NMV’s midweek fixture with Stockport Town as the match was abandoned in the 59th minute with the match at 0-0 due to a player injury.
A home win for Villa could see them jump above Bacup Borough and Rochdale Town if other results go their way, however an away scalp for Cheadle can see them dig their heels into the play-off places, possibly creating a gap between themselves in 4th and the teams below them.
Elsewhere in the league, Chadderton play Ashton Town as both sides meet for the second time in the space of a week. John Brownrigg’s side look to keep their play-off dream alive with a win at Andrew Street on Saturday, which could see them cut the gap to Holker in 6th down to just four points having played a game less.
Chadderton will go into this fixture full of confidence after a thumping 6-0 home win over Atherton LR on Monday, although Ashton will be looking to repeat last week's home performance against their hosts where they ran out 4-0 winners.
Top-scorers for the season Daniel Griffiths and Neil Weaver will be on the lookout for more goals this weekend for Ashton, with only one goal to show for between the both of them in the last 10 matches.
Stockport Town will hope to finally make the trip to Mayfield Sports Centre this Saturday afternoon when they take on Rochdale Town. The Lions had been previously due to face Rochdale away in the Reusch First Division Cup on two occasions but both were postponed and the fixture was reversed to Stockport Sports Village.
That result saw Stockport run out 4-1 winners and manager Calum Sykes will not be looking for any bumps in the road as this season’s brand new club look to secure a play-off berth in their inaugural league campaign.
Rochdale go into this game on a run of four consecutive home league wins in a row, and this, their 6th home fixture of eight in a row, could see Jonathan Thompson continue his goalscoring exploits as Rochdale rise up the league, with the faintest of chances at a play-off push.
I’d like to take this time to wish Stockport midfielder, Sam Scott, a speedy recovery following his serious leg injury on Wednesday at Northwich Manchester Villa which saw the match abandoned and Scott taken to hospital in an ambulance.
A big game at the bottom of the league table sees Widnes host second from bottom Atherton LR as the home side look to extend the gap between themselves and Eccleshall below them to seven points.
LR travel to the Select Security Stadium having not won a league match since late October last year, however Widnes have only won three of their 14 matches at home this season, so LR management duo Adam and Craig Jones will have high hopes that they can come away with at least a point.
The penultimate game of the weekend sees Eccleshall make the long 71 mile journey to Litherland Sports Park as Litherland REMYCA aim to maintain their grasp on the play-off places despite having played a number of games more than teams around them.
Just one point currently separates Remy in 7th from Cheadle Town in 4th, while Eccleshall are still looking to drag themselves away from the bottom end of the table and a win at the weekend could see them go just one point behind Widnes in 15th.
Capping off the weekend’s fixtures in Division One sees Whitchurch Alport, looking to quickly forget their 11-1 defeat at Barnton in a hurry, host Brent Peters’ Bacup Borough, who will still feel a play-off place in achievable this season.
Bacup currently sit in 10th position but will feel positive when they see that they are just nine points off Cheadle in 4th place, having played five games less than Terry Hincks’ side.
Matthew Barlow will be looking to add to his league tally this season having scored six in his last three matches, including a goal in Bacup’s 6-0 mauling at home last weekend against Widnes.
Rock-bottom Whitchurch are still on the look out for just their second win of the season and this campaign has been a difficult one for the NWCFL newbies who fell at the Semi-Final stage of the Shropshire Cup on Wednesday night in a 3-1 home defeat to AFC Bridgnorth.
As the good weather looks to be returning, here’s to hoping there are no postponements this Saturday as we enter the final run-in to this league season, as it remains all to play for at the top of the Division One table.
Division One Preview - Saturday 2nd April 2016
Fri 1st April 2016 | General
By Andrew Crompton
As the battle for automatic promotion of Division One heats up, so too does the fight for the playoff places, and with 3rd and 4th spot taking home advantage into the playoff, it’s still all to play for with less than 10 games to go.
This weekend’s fixtures once again sees promotion rivals face off as Holker Old Boys host league leaders Hanley Town, and Irlam welcome a St Helens side just three points off the final playoff place.
Midweek action saw Hanley Town and Irlam continue their fight for an automatic promotion place, with Hanley seeing off Eccleshall at the Abzorbed Arena. Meanwhile Irlam secured a late comeback at play-off chasing Cheadle Town, winning 2-1 at Park Road having been behind in the 77th minute.
The stand out fixture of the week of course comes from Rakesmoor where 6th-placed Holker Old Boys welcome top of the table Hanley Town, with Holker’s vision firmly on a high position in the play-offs with them currently 10 points off Irlam in 2nd place.
Dean Owen’s men did enough to bounce back from a late away defeat at Stockport Town last Saturday, with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to a struggling Eccleshall. Owen’s side now hold a five point gap at the top having played the same number of games as Irlam below them.
On the other hand, Scott Redhead’s Holker will be looking to end a run of consecutive defeats in the league after falling 3-1 at home to Cheadle Town and 4-3 away at Rochdale Town respectively. A win for Old Boys could see them leapfrog up to 4th, with Stockport and Cheadle having played more matches.
Play-off hunting St Helens Town travel to Silver Street where they face an Irlam side with automatic promotion still within reach. A win for either side would see them dramatically enhance their chances of promotion, as a Town win could see them into the playoffs, whereas a home victory can see Irlam increase the gap on Barnton in 3rd.
Christian Lawlor bagged his second goal in as many games for Irlam on Wednesday night and Steve Nixon’s side have goals all over the pitch with four players on 9+ goals in all competitions this season. Andrew Gillespie will be firing on all fronts for Town, he sits 2nd in the goalscoring charts this season, and is only one of two players to score over 20 goals in the league.
Third-placed Barnton play Daisy Hill this weekend as the hosts look to inflict another astonishing defeat at Townfield following their 11-1 win over Whitchurch Alport on Monday. Following a break throughout the week after a postponement away to 1874 Northwich on Wednesday, Barnton will be looking to draw level on points with Irlam.
Daisy Hill meanwhile have been on an impressive run in the last six weeks, picking up four wins in their last six league matches. The club find themselves in 13th position going into Saturday’s clash, but an away win for Hill could see them leapfrog Northwich Manchester Villa above them.
Kevin Towey will look to continue his deadly form in front of goal, especially after firing five past Whitchurch at the start of this week, including a hat-trick after the 90 minute mark. The striker has found the back of the net 25 times in the league this season, reaching 30 in all competitions.
Cheadle Town make the short trip to Northwich Manchester Villa on Saturday with both sides failing to pick up any points in midweek, but both with different reasons. Cheadle fell at home to Irlam on Wednesday night in front of an impressive crowd of 128 at Park Road and will be looking to get back to winning ways.
The Manchester Regional Arena will be hoping to avoid a repeat of NMV’s midweek fixture with Stockport Town as the match was abandoned in the 59th minute with the match at 0-0 due to a player injury.
A home win for Villa could see them jump above Bacup Borough and Rochdale Town if other results go their way, however an away scalp for Cheadle can see them dig their heels into the play-off places, possibly creating a gap between themselves in 4th and the teams below them.
Elsewhere in the league, Chadderton play Ashton Town as both sides meet for the second time in the space of a week. John Brownrigg’s side look to keep their play-off dream alive with a win at Andrew Street on Saturday, which could see them cut the gap to Holker in 6th down to just four points having played a game less.
Chadderton will go into this fixture full of confidence after a thumping 6-0 home win over Atherton LR on Monday, although Ashton will be looking to repeat last week's home performance against their hosts where they ran out 4-0 winners.
Top-scorers for the season Daniel Griffiths and Neil Weaver will be on the lookout for more goals this weekend for Ashton, with only one goal to show for between the both of them in the last 10 matches.
Stockport Town will hope to finally make the trip to Mayfield Sports Centre this Saturday afternoon when they take on Rochdale Town. The Lions had been previously due to face Rochdale away in the Reusch First Division Cup on two occasions but both were postponed and the fixture was reversed to Stockport Sports Village.
That result saw Stockport run out 4-1 winners and manager Calum Sykes will not be looking for any bumps in the road as this season’s brand new club look to secure a play-off berth in their inaugural league campaign.
Rochdale go into this game on a run of four consecutive home league wins in a row, and this, their 6th home fixture of eight in a row, could see Jonathan Thompson continue his goalscoring exploits as Rochdale rise up the league, with the faintest of chances at a play-off push.
I’d like to take this time to wish Stockport midfielder, Sam Scott, a speedy recovery following his serious leg injury on Wednesday at Northwich Manchester Villa which saw the match abandoned and Scott taken to hospital in an ambulance.
A big game at the bottom of the league table sees Widnes host second from bottom Atherton LR as the home side look to extend the gap between themselves and Eccleshall below them to seven points.
LR travel to the Select Security Stadium having not won a league match since late October last year, however Widnes have only won three of their 14 matches at home this season, so LR management duo Adam and Craig Jones will have high hopes that they can come away with at least a point.
The penultimate game of the weekend sees Eccleshall make the long 71 mile journey to Litherland Sports Park as Litherland REMYCA aim to maintain their grasp on the play-off places despite having played a number of games more than teams around them.
Just one point currently separates Remy in 7th from Cheadle Town in 4th, while Eccleshall are still looking to drag themselves away from the bottom end of the table and a win at the weekend could see them go just one point behind Widnes in 15th.
Capping off the weekend’s fixtures in Division One sees Whitchurch Alport, looking to quickly forget their 11-1 defeat at Barnton in a hurry, host Brent Peters’ Bacup Borough, who will still feel a play-off place in achievable this season.
Bacup currently sit in 10th position but will feel positive when they see that they are just nine points off Cheadle in 4th place, having played five games less than Terry Hincks’ side.
Matthew Barlow will be looking to add to his league tally this season having scored six in his last three matches, including a goal in Bacup’s 6-0 mauling at home last weekend against Widnes.
Rock-bottom Whitchurch are still on the look out for just their second win of the season and this campaign has been a difficult one for the NWCFL newbies who fell at the Semi-Final stage of the Shropshire Cup on Wednesday night in a 3-1 home defeat to AFC Bridgnorth.
As the good weather looks to be returning, here’s to hoping there are no postponements this Saturday as we enter the final run-in to this league season, as it remains all to play for at the top of the Division One table.
