Division One Preview - Saturday 1st April 2017
Fri 31st March 2017 | General | By John McKiernan
As the First Division league campaign heads into its final month, it will take a brave man or woman to offer any predictions on those clubs who will finish in the top six and have the assurance of at least a play-off place.
Realistically, it looks like any six from the current top eight teams in the division, while the battle for the two automatic promotion places doesn’t appear to have any fewer contenders.
With current leaders Litherland REMYCA having just six games remaining and their rivals as many as ten, the frequency of games as well as the opposition may have a big say in the final automatic promotion and play-off line ups.
While there are at least a dozen fixtures involving head-to-heads across the top eight clubs in the last month there are teams fighting at both ends of the table which will ensure lots of nervous tension on Saturday afternoon.
Widnes, chasing an automatic promotion spot, travel to the Mechanics Ground to take on AFC Blackpool for the first of nine league fixtures during April. Joey Dunn’s men will be looking to record a fourth successive victory and will be aiming for a repeat of their 7-0 home victory over Blackpool which took place at the end of January and which saw six different goal scorers.
The Seasiders have suffered recent defeats away at Chadderton (7-0) and at home to FC Oswestry Town (0-3) and will be hoping they can upset the odd as they bid to stay away from the relegation fight.
Woodland Court is the venue for a top six head-to-head as sixth placed Alsager Town host third placed Charnock Richard in a game neither side will want to lose. Charnock arrive with just one defeat in their last seven outings and with twelve goals scored in their last two games with 0-7 and 5-2 victories against Daisy Hill and Prestwich Heys respectively.
The two teams met during the opening month of the season when the ‘Bullets’ ran out 1-4 winners and Wayne Brotherton will be hoping his charges will bounce back from their mid-week 0-3 home loss against Chadderton.
A midweek home win for basement club Ashton Town against Holker Old Boys (2-0) will have buoyed John Brownrigg’s team and the three points have closed the gap on Eccleshall to two points with a game in hand.
The victory for Town ended a run of four successive losses. The Edge Green Street outfit will host seventh placed Sandbach United who know a win will maintain their push for promotion and help end a period of inconsistency which has seen two wins, two draws and two defeats in their last six games.
Back in mid-September Sandbach won the reverse fixture 5-1 and they will be looking to build upon an impressive 2-0 home win over an in-form Chadderton side last Saturday.
With four wins and a draw from their last six games Stockport Town travel to Bacup Borough looking to continue their impressive 2017 form.
Dave Wild’s men sit in tenth place but the form table sees them in fourth spot. Brent Peters’ Bacup, with only one win in their last thirteen outings, will be aiming to make their final ten league games count as a disappointing campaign sees them in eighteenth place. The reverse league fixture took place back in mid-January when Alex Nwachuku equalised for Borough after Ben Halfacre had given the Lions a first half lead.
Fourth place Whitchurch Alport make the long trip north as they take on Carlisle City and the Reds will be on a high following their remarkable mid-week comeback away at Daisy Hill. Alport found themselves 3-0 down inside 15 minutes at New Sirs before hitting seven without reply to secure the spoils.
Whitchurch will be looking maintain the pressure on those around them and managers Luke Goddard and Carl Everall will be hoping for a repeat of the 3-1 home win in the reverse league fixture back in September. For Carlisle, back-to-back wins against Eccleshall (2-1 and 2-4) will ensure they go into the game full of confidence.
The First Division form side City of Liverpool welcome Cheadle Town to the Delta Taxis Stadium looking to make it ten wins from their last eleven outings. The Purps 4-0 mid-week home victory against Eccleshall saw them break the 100 goals scored mark.
Cheadle boss Terry Hincks will be looking to end a run of three defeats and make a return to form which saw them lose only once in their previous nine games, recording 7 wins. The two sides have met twice to date this season with City of Liverpool winning 1-5 at Park Road in the reverse league fixture and they also made progress in the Reusch First Division Cup with a 2-1 win at Bootle in early November.
Pershall Park will see Eccleshall host Daisy Hill as the home side look to end a run of seven successive defeats which includes a 2-1 loss against their visitors back in February.
Ashton Town’s win in midweek will have added pressure on Eccleshall as they sit in the second of two relegation positions eight points adrift of Atherton LR. Daisy Hill sit comfortably in mid-table but they will need to recover from two recent maulings which have seen them ship seven goals against both Charnock and Whitchurch.
FC Oswestry Town make the long journey north to face Holker Old Boys at Rakesmoor Lane. It is three wins and three losses from the last six games for the Shropshire outfit who won 0-3 away at AFC Blackpool last time out.
Holker’s recent poor form continued in midweek as they went down 2-0 at Ashton Town and they will know an improvement is required if they are to avenge the 4-2 defeat suffered at The Venue back in mid-February.
League leaders Litherland REMYCA entertain Silsden in what promises to be an entertaining encounter at the Litherland Sports Park. While Remy were coming from behind to win 1-2 at Atherton LR last Saturday the Cobbydalers were inflicting a narrow 0-1 defeat on Whitchurch at Yockings Park.
The two sides met just two weeks ago at Keighley Road when a Lennon Whewell goal for Litherland was all that separated the sides in a tight encounter.
It’s a derby at Adie Moran Park as Prestwich Heys take on visitors Chadderton in a fixture that sees eighth place host ninth. After a run of seven successive wins Heys have tasted defeat against Widnes (1-0) and Charnock Richard (5-2) in their last two outings to push them to the edges of the play-off battle.
While it looks like the play-offs may be a little too much to ask for Mark Howard’s Chadderton, they sit in second place in the form table with five wins and a loss from their last six games and last time out they secured three points with an impressive 0-3 win at Alsager Town. The two teams met back in the opening month of the campaign when the points were shared courtesy of a 3-3 at the ARK Fleetech Stadium.
Atherton LR make the short trip to Volair Park where hosts St Helens Town will be looking to get back to winning ways after a 1-3 defeat at home to Chadderton last time out. It was defeat for LR last Saturday against league leaders Litherland in what was a hard fought encounter.
Town lost 4-2 at Crilly Park earlier in the season but their visitors have only recorded a solitary win in their last ten outings. Despite their recent poor record LR have been tough to crack with eight of their nine most recent defeats being by a single goal margin.
Division One Preview - Saturday 1st April 2017
Fri 31st March 2017 | General
By John McKiernan
As the First Division league campaign heads into its final month, it will take a brave man or woman to offer any predictions on those clubs who will finish in the top six and have the assurance of at least a play-off place.
Realistically, it looks like any six from the current top eight teams in the division, while the battle for the two automatic promotion places doesn’t appear to have any fewer contenders.
With current leaders Litherland REMYCA having just six games remaining and their rivals as many as ten, the frequency of games as well as the opposition may have a big say in the final automatic promotion and play-off line ups.
While there are at least a dozen fixtures involving head-to-heads across the top eight clubs in the last month there are teams fighting at both ends of the table which will ensure lots of nervous tension on Saturday afternoon.
Widnes, chasing an automatic promotion spot, travel to the Mechanics Ground to take on AFC Blackpool for the first of nine league fixtures during April. Joey Dunn’s men will be looking to record a fourth successive victory and will be aiming for a repeat of their 7-0 home victory over Blackpool which took place at the end of January and which saw six different goal scorers.
The Seasiders have suffered recent defeats away at Chadderton (7-0) and at home to FC Oswestry Town (0-3) and will be hoping they can upset the odd as they bid to stay away from the relegation fight.
Woodland Court is the venue for a top six head-to-head as sixth placed Alsager Town host third placed Charnock Richard in a game neither side will want to lose. Charnock arrive with just one defeat in their last seven outings and with twelve goals scored in their last two games with 0-7 and 5-2 victories against Daisy Hill and Prestwich Heys respectively.
The two teams met during the opening month of the season when the ‘Bullets’ ran out 1-4 winners and Wayne Brotherton will be hoping his charges will bounce back from their mid-week 0-3 home loss against Chadderton.
A midweek home win for basement club Ashton Town against Holker Old Boys (2-0) will have buoyed John Brownrigg’s team and the three points have closed the gap on Eccleshall to two points with a game in hand.
The victory for Town ended a run of four successive losses. The Edge Green Street outfit will host seventh placed Sandbach United who know a win will maintain their push for promotion and help end a period of inconsistency which has seen two wins, two draws and two defeats in their last six games.
Back in mid-September Sandbach won the reverse fixture 5-1 and they will be looking to build upon an impressive 2-0 home win over an in-form Chadderton side last Saturday.
With four wins and a draw from their last six games Stockport Town travel to Bacup Borough looking to continue their impressive 2017 form.
Dave Wild’s men sit in tenth place but the form table sees them in fourth spot. Brent Peters’ Bacup, with only one win in their last thirteen outings, will be aiming to make their final ten league games count as a disappointing campaign sees them in eighteenth place. The reverse league fixture took place back in mid-January when Alex Nwachuku equalised for Borough after Ben Halfacre had given the Lions a first half lead.
Fourth place Whitchurch Alport make the long trip north as they take on Carlisle City and the Reds will be on a high following their remarkable mid-week comeback away at Daisy Hill. Alport found themselves 3-0 down inside 15 minutes at New Sirs before hitting seven without reply to secure the spoils.
Whitchurch will be looking maintain the pressure on those around them and managers Luke Goddard and Carl Everall will be hoping for a repeat of the 3-1 home win in the reverse league fixture back in September. For Carlisle, back-to-back wins against Eccleshall (2-1 and 2-4) will ensure they go into the game full of confidence.
The First Division form side City of Liverpool welcome Cheadle Town to the Delta Taxis Stadium looking to make it ten wins from their last eleven outings. The Purps 4-0 mid-week home victory against Eccleshall saw them break the 100 goals scored mark.
Cheadle boss Terry Hincks will be looking to end a run of three defeats and make a return to form which saw them lose only once in their previous nine games, recording 7 wins. The two sides have met twice to date this season with City of Liverpool winning 1-5 at Park Road in the reverse league fixture and they also made progress in the Reusch First Division Cup with a 2-1 win at Bootle in early November.
Pershall Park will see Eccleshall host Daisy Hill as the home side look to end a run of seven successive defeats which includes a 2-1 loss against their visitors back in February.
Ashton Town’s win in midweek will have added pressure on Eccleshall as they sit in the second of two relegation positions eight points adrift of Atherton LR. Daisy Hill sit comfortably in mid-table but they will need to recover from two recent maulings which have seen them ship seven goals against both Charnock and Whitchurch.
FC Oswestry Town make the long journey north to face Holker Old Boys at Rakesmoor Lane. It is three wins and three losses from the last six games for the Shropshire outfit who won 0-3 away at AFC Blackpool last time out.
Holker’s recent poor form continued in midweek as they went down 2-0 at Ashton Town and they will know an improvement is required if they are to avenge the 4-2 defeat suffered at The Venue back in mid-February.
League leaders Litherland REMYCA entertain Silsden in what promises to be an entertaining encounter at the Litherland Sports Park. While Remy were coming from behind to win 1-2 at Atherton LR last Saturday the Cobbydalers were inflicting a narrow 0-1 defeat on Whitchurch at Yockings Park.
The two sides met just two weeks ago at Keighley Road when a Lennon Whewell goal for Litherland was all that separated the sides in a tight encounter.
It’s a derby at Adie Moran Park as Prestwich Heys take on visitors Chadderton in a fixture that sees eighth place host ninth. After a run of seven successive wins Heys have tasted defeat against Widnes (1-0) and Charnock Richard (5-2) in their last two outings to push them to the edges of the play-off battle.
While it looks like the play-offs may be a little too much to ask for Mark Howard’s Chadderton, they sit in second place in the form table with five wins and a loss from their last six games and last time out they secured three points with an impressive 0-3 win at Alsager Town. The two teams met back in the opening month of the campaign when the points were shared courtesy of a 3-3 at the ARK Fleetech Stadium.
Atherton LR make the short trip to Volair Park where hosts St Helens Town will be looking to get back to winning ways after a 1-3 defeat at home to Chadderton last time out. It was defeat for LR last Saturday against league leaders Litherland in what was a hard fought encounter.
Town lost 4-2 at Crilly Park earlier in the season but their visitors have only recorded a solitary win in their last ten outings. Despite their recent poor record LR have been tough to crack with eight of their nine most recent defeats being by a single goal margin.
