Premier Division Preview - Saturday 26th August 2017
Fri 25th August 2017 | General | By Connor O`Neill
After a round of FA Cup fixtures last weekend, a number of Premier Division sides return to their bread and butter of the league this weekend.
The Hallmark Security League season may only be less than three weeks old, but there are already a number of clubs showing they mean business, while others know, even at this early stage, that they must improve if they are to challenge for honours this season.
So, to kick off this week’s preview Runcorn Linnets welcome Winsford United to the Millbank Linnets Stadium on Friday night.
Michael Ellison’s side will be looking to get back to winning ways after a draw against Irlam in their last league outing and an Emirates FA Cup defeat to Ashton Athletic last Saturday.
Linnets will, however, be without Freddie Potter, the forward confirmed on Twitter that he will miss around 4-6 weeks of action with a broken collarbone sustained in last Saturday's defeat.
Winsford, meanwhile, come into this game full of confidence after a superb 4-0 win over Northwich Victoria last Saturday. Lee Duckworth’s side currently sit in third in the league table and will be looking to continue their unbeaten league start on Friday night.
One place above Winsford United is Bootle, who welcome Hanley Town to the TDP Solicitors Stadium on Saturday. The Bucks come into the game on the back of a 5-0 win over Barnton with hot-shot forward Ryan Cox scoring four times to kick start his goal tally for the season.
Hanley, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after being beaten by Alvechurch in the FA Cup last week. Michael Edwards’ side have collected four points from their opening two games and will be looking to forward Dan Cope continue his impressive goal scoring run, the forward has scored four goals in as many games.
Fresh from their emphatic 8-2 win over Evo-Stik north side Prescot Cables on Tuesday night, City of Liverpool travel to Manchester to take on Maine Road at Brantingham Road. Simon Burton’s side produced an incredible performance to dump their Merseyside rivals out of the FA Cup and set up a home tie with Nantwich Town in the next round.
Road, on the other hand, saw their mid-week replay with Abbey Hey abandoned after an injury to an Abbey Hey player. Chris Hirst’s side have so far had a mix-bag of results, picking up two wins, a draw, and a defeat and currently, sit 12th in the league table.
Another side who picked up a victory in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday was 1874 Northwich who welcome Padiham to the St Luke’s Barton Stadium. 74 beat fellow Premier Division side West Didsbury & Chorlton 3-1 on Tuesday and will be looking to Scott McGowan to continue his impressive goal scoring run. The former Congleton Town man has already netted five times this season.
Padiham come into this game looking to collect their first points of the season. Steve Wilkes’ side currently find themselves third bottom after defeats to Charnock Richard and Northwich Victoria in their opening two games.
Barnoldswick Town welcome Runcorn Town to the Silentnight Stadium, as the visitors look to maintain their winning league start to the new season. Despite bowing out of the FA Cup to Frickley last weekend, Chris Herbert’s side have won both of their opening league games against Maine Road and AFC Liverpool respectively, with attacking duo Mark Reed and Craig Cairns netting in both.
Despite flying under the radar somewhat, Danny Craig’s side have started well this season picking up three wins from their opening four games, with their latest being a hard-fought 2-1 win over Dunston in the FA Cup, thanks to goals from Aaron Hollindrake and Danny Boyle.
Elsewhere in East Lancashire, AFC Darwen welcome Burscough to the WEC Group Anchor Ground. The hosts will be full of confidence after collecting their first win of the season against
AFC Liverpool last weekend. Second half goals from Matthew Allen and Nicholas Hepple were enough to hand Mark Paterson’s side all three points.
Burscough, meanwhile, bowed out of the FA Cup on Tuesday after a 3-0 home defeat to Radcliffe, and come into this game looking to collect their first league points of the season after defeats to Northwich Victoria and Barnoldswick in their two opening league games.
Speaking of Northwich Victoria, they welcome Abbey Hey to Townfield. Paul Moore’s side will be looking to get back to winning ways after defeat to Winsford in their last outing. Vics will no doubt be looking to Brian Matthews to continue his impressive goal scoring form; the forward has netted six times in five games.
Hey meanwhile, come into the game looking to collect their first points of the season. The Manchester based-outfit suffered defeats to Runcorn Linnets and Widnes in their first two league games.
Elsewhere in Cheshire, Congleton welcome West Didsbury & Chorlton to Richborough Estates Stadium. Ian Street’s side come into the game on the back of a 4-2 defeat to Hyde in the FA Cup and will be looking to return winnings ways in the league too, after suffering a 2-1 defeat against Maine Road in their last league outing.
Steve Settle’s side also come into the game on the back of an FA Cup defeat at the hands of 1874 Northwich. West have though, picked up four points from their first two league fixtures with Tom Bailey netting five times in as many games.
A side who did progress into next round of the Emirates FA Cup was Ashton Athletic who travel to the Select Security Stadium to take on Widnes. Ashton produced a fine performance to overcome Runcorn Linnets 4-2 with Dale Korie-Butler bagging a brace, a win that win was Ashton’s second in a row after they had overcome Darwen four days earlier.
Widnes will be looking to back-to-back league wins after they overcame Abbey Hey in their last outing. Billy Webb, Chris Lomax, and Thomas Mitchell were on target in a 3-0 win for Joey Dunn’s side.
Elsewhere, Irlam welcome Squires Gate to The Ambitek Stadium. Michael Dodd’s side recovered well from being well-beaten by City of Liverpool in their opening league game, after Jordan Icely’s 24th-minute goal was enough to earn them an impressive point at Runcorn Linnets in their last outing.
Gate, on the other hand, have found life tough going so far, this season. Danny Penswick’s side arrive at the Ambitek looking for their first points of the season after three consecutive defeats. Penswick’s side will also no doubt be looking to tighten up at the back after shipping 13 goals in those three defeats.
Finally, to conclude this week’s preview, AFC Liverpool welcome Barnton to the Marine Travel Arena. The Reds, under new boss Chris Stammers, remain pointless after defeats to Runcorn Town and Darwen in their first two league games of the season. But with practically a new playing squad it may take time for the Reds to begin to click.
Meanwhile, Steve Lloyd’s side will be hoping for a better result when they return to Merseyside on Saturday. The Villages’ were well-beaten away at Bootle in their last outing but will take heart from a well-earned point picked against 1874 Northwich in the game before that, and with Chris Smith having already bagged four goals this season the Reds backline will have to be aware of the Barnton captain.
So, with plenty of action to choose from there is sure to be plenty of twists, turns and talking points come 5pm Saturday evening.
Premier Division Preview - Saturday 26th August 2017
Fri 25th August 2017 | General
By Connor O`Neill
After a round of FA Cup fixtures last weekend, a number of Premier Division sides return to their bread and butter of the league this weekend.
The Hallmark Security League season may only be less than three weeks old, but there are already a number of clubs showing they mean business, while others know, even at this early stage, that they must improve if they are to challenge for honours this season.
So, to kick off this week’s preview Runcorn Linnets welcome Winsford United to the Millbank Linnets Stadium on Friday night.
Michael Ellison’s side will be looking to get back to winning ways after a draw against Irlam in their last league outing and an Emirates FA Cup defeat to Ashton Athletic last Saturday.
Linnets will, however, be without Freddie Potter, the forward confirmed on Twitter that he will miss around 4-6 weeks of action with a broken collarbone sustained in last Saturday's defeat.
Winsford, meanwhile, come into this game full of confidence after a superb 4-0 win over Northwich Victoria last Saturday. Lee Duckworth’s side currently sit in third in the league table and will be looking to continue their unbeaten league start on Friday night.
One place above Winsford United is Bootle, who welcome Hanley Town to the TDP Solicitors Stadium on Saturday. The Bucks come into the game on the back of a 5-0 win over Barnton with hot-shot forward Ryan Cox scoring four times to kick start his goal tally for the season.
Hanley, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after being beaten by Alvechurch in the FA Cup last week. Michael Edwards’ side have collected four points from their opening two games and will be looking to forward Dan Cope continue his impressive goal scoring run, the forward has scored four goals in as many games.
Fresh from their emphatic 8-2 win over Evo-Stik north side Prescot Cables on Tuesday night, City of Liverpool travel to Manchester to take on Maine Road at Brantingham Road. Simon Burton’s side produced an incredible performance to dump their Merseyside rivals out of the FA Cup and set up a home tie with Nantwich Town in the next round.
Road, on the other hand, saw their mid-week replay with Abbey Hey abandoned after an injury to an Abbey Hey player. Chris Hirst’s side have so far had a mix-bag of results, picking up two wins, a draw, and a defeat and currently, sit 12th in the league table.
Another side who picked up a victory in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday was 1874 Northwich who welcome Padiham to the St Luke’s Barton Stadium. 74 beat fellow Premier Division side West Didsbury & Chorlton 3-1 on Tuesday and will be looking to Scott McGowan to continue his impressive goal scoring run. The former Congleton Town man has already netted five times this season.
Padiham come into this game looking to collect their first points of the season. Steve Wilkes’ side currently find themselves third bottom after defeats to Charnock Richard and Northwich Victoria in their opening two games.
Barnoldswick Town welcome Runcorn Town to the Silentnight Stadium, as the visitors look to maintain their winning league start to the new season. Despite bowing out of the FA Cup to Frickley last weekend, Chris Herbert’s side have won both of their opening league games against Maine Road and AFC Liverpool respectively, with attacking duo Mark Reed and Craig Cairns netting in both.
Despite flying under the radar somewhat, Danny Craig’s side have started well this season picking up three wins from their opening four games, with their latest being a hard-fought 2-1 win over Dunston in the FA Cup, thanks to goals from Aaron Hollindrake and Danny Boyle.
Elsewhere in East Lancashire, AFC Darwen welcome Burscough to the WEC Group Anchor Ground. The hosts will be full of confidence after collecting their first win of the season against
AFC Liverpool last weekend. Second half goals from Matthew Allen and Nicholas Hepple were enough to hand Mark Paterson’s side all three points.
Burscough, meanwhile, bowed out of the FA Cup on Tuesday after a 3-0 home defeat to Radcliffe, and come into this game looking to collect their first league points of the season after defeats to Northwich Victoria and Barnoldswick in their two opening league games.
Speaking of Northwich Victoria, they welcome Abbey Hey to Townfield. Paul Moore’s side will be looking to get back to winning ways after defeat to Winsford in their last outing. Vics will no doubt be looking to Brian Matthews to continue his impressive goal scoring form; the forward has netted six times in five games.
Hey meanwhile, come into the game looking to collect their first points of the season. The Manchester based-outfit suffered defeats to Runcorn Linnets and Widnes in their first two league games.
Elsewhere in Cheshire, Congleton welcome West Didsbury & Chorlton to Richborough Estates Stadium. Ian Street’s side come into the game on the back of a 4-2 defeat to Hyde in the FA Cup and will be looking to return winnings ways in the league too, after suffering a 2-1 defeat against Maine Road in their last league outing.
Steve Settle’s side also come into the game on the back of an FA Cup defeat at the hands of 1874 Northwich. West have though, picked up four points from their first two league fixtures with Tom Bailey netting five times in as many games.
A side who did progress into next round of the Emirates FA Cup was Ashton Athletic who travel to the Select Security Stadium to take on Widnes. Ashton produced a fine performance to overcome Runcorn Linnets 4-2 with Dale Korie-Butler bagging a brace, a win that win was Ashton’s second in a row after they had overcome Darwen four days earlier.
Widnes will be looking to back-to-back league wins after they overcame Abbey Hey in their last outing. Billy Webb, Chris Lomax, and Thomas Mitchell were on target in a 3-0 win for Joey Dunn’s side.
Elsewhere, Irlam welcome Squires Gate to The Ambitek Stadium. Michael Dodd’s side recovered well from being well-beaten by City of Liverpool in their opening league game, after Jordan Icely’s 24th-minute goal was enough to earn them an impressive point at Runcorn Linnets in their last outing.
Gate, on the other hand, have found life tough going so far, this season. Danny Penswick’s side arrive at the Ambitek looking for their first points of the season after three consecutive defeats. Penswick’s side will also no doubt be looking to tighten up at the back after shipping 13 goals in those three defeats.
Finally, to conclude this week’s preview, AFC Liverpool welcome Barnton to the Marine Travel Arena. The Reds, under new boss Chris Stammers, remain pointless after defeats to Runcorn Town and Darwen in their first two league games of the season. But with practically a new playing squad it may take time for the Reds to begin to click.
Meanwhile, Steve Lloyd’s side will be hoping for a better result when they return to Merseyside on Saturday. The Villages’ were well-beaten away at Bootle in their last outing but will take heart from a well-earned point picked against 1874 Northwich in the game before that, and with Chris Smith having already bagged four goals this season the Reds backline will have to be aware of the Barnton captain.
So, with plenty of action to choose from there is sure to be plenty of twists, turns and talking points come 5pm Saturday evening.
