Division One Preview - Saturday 23rd December 2017
Fri 22nd December 2017 | General | By Patrick Burke
By virtue of the way the calendar has fell this year, the very meaning of a pre-Christmas cracker in the First Division takes on extra significance with a full round of fixtures!
The headline act is on Merseyside, where the top two go head-to-head as Litherland REMYCA meet Silsden AFC.
December hasn’t been the best of months as of yet for REMY, losing at Holker Old Boys and being held at home by bottom club Nelson last weekend, but the division’s joint-top scorers have been beaten just once at Litherland Sports Park this season and are four points clear ahead of Prestwich Heys in the race for automatic promotion.
Silsden have led the table for some time now, sitting 12 points clear of their opponents having won 18 of their first 19 matches. They haven’t played for almost a month, when they edged past Nelson 1-0, but suffered their first set back on their last away trip at Holker.
This could prove a vital fixture in the wider context of the season: an away win would open up a 15 point gap at the summit, but a home victory would reduce it to nine points and (perhaps) open up an intriguing title race.
Whilst REMY may well be seeking to hunt down the frontrunners, they will be all too aware that there are several sides breathing down their necks looking for one of the top two spots.
Prestwich are their closest challengers at the moment, but they face a tricky-looking journey north to face Carlisle City. The hosts lie 10th in the table and three straight league victories has taken them to within three points of the play-off places.
Having recently beaten Litherland on their own turf, they will be looking to throw the cat amongst the pigeons once again in the race for the Premier Division. Heys had lost back-to-back league games and also been knocked out of the Macron Cup by Nelson before picking up a very useful point at Holker last weekend. They will be hoping to go one better on another visit to Cumbria.
There is a clash with a similar feel to it at the North West Construction Stadium as 8th placed Cammell Laird 1907 host 4th placed Alsager Town.
Whilst their away form requires improvement, Lairds’ strong home record has them just a point outside the top six – they have already beaten Chadderton and Premier Division outfit Northwich Victoria in December, and took Irlam to penalties on Tuesday in the Macron Cup.
Wayne Brotherton’s Bullets will be hoping to avoid the fate of Prestwich when they went to the Wirral at the end of November and lost 3-0, and will want a repeat of their 3-2 triumph in the reverse fixture.
They suffered a heavy 5-1 reverse at AFC Blackpool in their last outing three weeks ago, but that was one of just two defeats away from home this season, and they are only five points off second place.
Four wins from their last five has also brought Dave Worthington’s AFC Blackpool into contention, as they currently sit 5th, seven points outside the automatic spots. The Tangerines will be looking to keep the pressure on the teams above them when they travel to 17th placed Chadderton.
David Fish’s men have won their last two at home whilst losing their last two away, so the ARK Fleetech Stadium is proving a tough place to visit. Three points would be useful for the home side as they are only a win or two away from mid-table.
6th placed Whitchurch Alport are ten points off the top two, but having won four of their previous five matches and with at least three games in hand on all of the teams above them, they will be looking at Saturday’s visit of Eccleshall to kick-start an assault on the promotion places.
Four consecutive losses in all competitions has killed the momentum that the Eagles had gathered after Dave Dale took charge, leaving them 19th in the standings, but having taken seven points off AFC Blackpool, Sandbach United and Carlisle City this season, they are capable of competing with the best.
Sandbach are only outside the top six on goal difference as they go north to St Helens Town this weekend.
It’s been a frustrating few weeks for Saints, nine losses out of ten leaving them third from bottom, although seven of those have been by the odd goal, including last Saturday’s heart-breaking 3-2 reverse against Carlisle, when their opponents scored twice in injury time.
As for United, they have had three postponements in December, but the month prior saw them pick up some decent results, including wins against Holker and Whitchurch and most recently a 2-2 draw against Alsager. They will no doubt be delighted to return to action on the artificial pitch at Ruskin Drive.
Holker have been one of the stories of the First Division. The Stags endured a testing first few weeks to the campaign, but have lost just three times since mid-September, and twelve points out of a possible fifteen has lifted them to 9th and put them in the play-off picture.
The top four have all visited Rakesmoor in recent weeks, yielding two wins and two draws for the hosts, and they also won at AFC Blackpool in their last away outing. Guy Heffernan’s team host Cheadle Town on Saturday.
The visitors are 15th but have had a decent run themselves of late, their only defeat in their last four coming against Whitchurch last time out. They picked up a great point at Stockport Town in their last fixture on the road, so will be looking for something similar here.
Stockport are unbeaten in eight on their own patch, and the Lions will be looking forward to their first game since beating Abbey Hulton United 3-1 at the start of the month, especially as they are just three points adrift of the play-off places.
They welcome Atherton LR in what promises to be an interesting encounter, with the hosts sitting 11th and their visitors just behind in 13th. LR parted company with manager Shaun Lynch last weekend after back-to-back defeats to FC Oswestry Town and Carlisle at Crilly Park, but they had been on a good run before that and drew 3-3 at Litherland REMYCA in their last away trip, so will still be looking up the table.
There are also only two places separating the sides in Staffordshire as Abbey Hulton in 14th host FC Oswestry Town in 12th.
After a great start to life in the Hallmark Security League, the hosts have lost seven of their last eight, so will be looking to rediscover their early season form. That won’t be easy against play-off chasing Oswestry, who have had a remarkable campaign.
They lost twelve of their first thirteen in all competitions, but November’s First Division Club of the Month have won eight times in the league since then and six of their last seven in all competitions, including a 4-0 thrashing of Eccleshall in their last match. They sit seven points outside the top six at the halfway stage.
Little Wembley is the venue for a meeting between two clubs relegated from the Premier Division last season as Nelson entertain New Mills.
The Admirals have had another campaign to forget so far, cut off by seven points at the foot of the table. However, they have started to show real signs of recovery under Steve Cunningham, drawing at REMYCA last weekend and knocking Prestwich out of the Macron Cup.
Prior to that, they had lost four games by the odd goal, so are clearly an improving outfit. The Millers have been a tad inconsistent back in the First Division, lying 16th after three wins and three defeats from their last six.
That has also been highlighted as they lost 5-1 at home to Daisy Hill in their last league match, but won 3-2 at Alsager prior to that. New managers Gareth Cross and Nick Dowse will be hoping for more results like the latter to climb the table.
And last but not least, Daisy Hill will want to continue their recent resurgence as they welcome Bacup Borough to New Sirs.
It hasn’t been easy for the hosts this season, but back-to-back away wins at St Helens Town and New Mills, scoring eight goals in the process, mean that the side in 21st are looking to catch those just above them. They have drawn their last two home league fixtures 1-1, whilst 18th placed Bacup won at St Helens in their last outing to end a run of seven successive away defeats.
However, that game was now over a month ago and they have played just 14 times in the league, so Brent Peters’ men will be hoping more than most that the weather is favourable.
A very exciting weekend of First Division football, so stay away from the shops and give your support to one of our clubs!
Division One Preview - Saturday 23rd December 2017
Fri 22nd December 2017 | General
By Patrick Burke
By virtue of the way the calendar has fell this year, the very meaning of a pre-Christmas cracker in the First Division takes on extra significance with a full round of fixtures!
The headline act is on Merseyside, where the top two go head-to-head as Litherland REMYCA meet Silsden AFC.
December hasn’t been the best of months as of yet for REMY, losing at Holker Old Boys and being held at home by bottom club Nelson last weekend, but the division’s joint-top scorers have been beaten just once at Litherland Sports Park this season and are four points clear ahead of Prestwich Heys in the race for automatic promotion.
Silsden have led the table for some time now, sitting 12 points clear of their opponents having won 18 of their first 19 matches. They haven’t played for almost a month, when they edged past Nelson 1-0, but suffered their first set back on their last away trip at Holker.
This could prove a vital fixture in the wider context of the season: an away win would open up a 15 point gap at the summit, but a home victory would reduce it to nine points and (perhaps) open up an intriguing title race.
Whilst REMY may well be seeking to hunt down the frontrunners, they will be all too aware that there are several sides breathing down their necks looking for one of the top two spots.
Prestwich are their closest challengers at the moment, but they face a tricky-looking journey north to face Carlisle City. The hosts lie 10th in the table and three straight league victories has taken them to within three points of the play-off places.
Having recently beaten Litherland on their own turf, they will be looking to throw the cat amongst the pigeons once again in the race for the Premier Division. Heys had lost back-to-back league games and also been knocked out of the Macron Cup by Nelson before picking up a very useful point at Holker last weekend. They will be hoping to go one better on another visit to Cumbria.
There is a clash with a similar feel to it at the North West Construction Stadium as 8th placed Cammell Laird 1907 host 4th placed Alsager Town.
Whilst their away form requires improvement, Lairds’ strong home record has them just a point outside the top six – they have already beaten Chadderton and Premier Division outfit Northwich Victoria in December, and took Irlam to penalties on Tuesday in the Macron Cup.
Wayne Brotherton’s Bullets will be hoping to avoid the fate of Prestwich when they went to the Wirral at the end of November and lost 3-0, and will want a repeat of their 3-2 triumph in the reverse fixture.
They suffered a heavy 5-1 reverse at AFC Blackpool in their last outing three weeks ago, but that was one of just two defeats away from home this season, and they are only five points off second place.
Four wins from their last five has also brought Dave Worthington’s AFC Blackpool into contention, as they currently sit 5th, seven points outside the automatic spots. The Tangerines will be looking to keep the pressure on the teams above them when they travel to 17th placed Chadderton.
David Fish’s men have won their last two at home whilst losing their last two away, so the ARK Fleetech Stadium is proving a tough place to visit. Three points would be useful for the home side as they are only a win or two away from mid-table.
6th placed Whitchurch Alport are ten points off the top two, but having won four of their previous five matches and with at least three games in hand on all of the teams above them, they will be looking at Saturday’s visit of Eccleshall to kick-start an assault on the promotion places.
Four consecutive losses in all competitions has killed the momentum that the Eagles had gathered after Dave Dale took charge, leaving them 19th in the standings, but having taken seven points off AFC Blackpool, Sandbach United and Carlisle City this season, they are capable of competing with the best.
Sandbach are only outside the top six on goal difference as they go north to St Helens Town this weekend.
It’s been a frustrating few weeks for Saints, nine losses out of ten leaving them third from bottom, although seven of those have been by the odd goal, including last Saturday’s heart-breaking 3-2 reverse against Carlisle, when their opponents scored twice in injury time.
As for United, they have had three postponements in December, but the month prior saw them pick up some decent results, including wins against Holker and Whitchurch and most recently a 2-2 draw against Alsager. They will no doubt be delighted to return to action on the artificial pitch at Ruskin Drive.
Holker have been one of the stories of the First Division. The Stags endured a testing first few weeks to the campaign, but have lost just three times since mid-September, and twelve points out of a possible fifteen has lifted them to 9th and put them in the play-off picture.
The top four have all visited Rakesmoor in recent weeks, yielding two wins and two draws for the hosts, and they also won at AFC Blackpool in their last away outing. Guy Heffernan’s team host Cheadle Town on Saturday.
The visitors are 15th but have had a decent run themselves of late, their only defeat in their last four coming against Whitchurch last time out. They picked up a great point at Stockport Town in their last fixture on the road, so will be looking for something similar here.
Stockport are unbeaten in eight on their own patch, and the Lions will be looking forward to their first game since beating Abbey Hulton United 3-1 at the start of the month, especially as they are just three points adrift of the play-off places.
They welcome Atherton LR in what promises to be an interesting encounter, with the hosts sitting 11th and their visitors just behind in 13th. LR parted company with manager Shaun Lynch last weekend after back-to-back defeats to FC Oswestry Town and Carlisle at Crilly Park, but they had been on a good run before that and drew 3-3 at Litherland REMYCA in their last away trip, so will still be looking up the table.
There are also only two places separating the sides in Staffordshire as Abbey Hulton in 14th host FC Oswestry Town in 12th.
After a great start to life in the Hallmark Security League, the hosts have lost seven of their last eight, so will be looking to rediscover their early season form. That won’t be easy against play-off chasing Oswestry, who have had a remarkable campaign.
They lost twelve of their first thirteen in all competitions, but November’s First Division Club of the Month have won eight times in the league since then and six of their last seven in all competitions, including a 4-0 thrashing of Eccleshall in their last match. They sit seven points outside the top six at the halfway stage.
Little Wembley is the venue for a meeting between two clubs relegated from the Premier Division last season as Nelson entertain New Mills.
The Admirals have had another campaign to forget so far, cut off by seven points at the foot of the table. However, they have started to show real signs of recovery under Steve Cunningham, drawing at REMYCA last weekend and knocking Prestwich out of the Macron Cup.
Prior to that, they had lost four games by the odd goal, so are clearly an improving outfit. The Millers have been a tad inconsistent back in the First Division, lying 16th after three wins and three defeats from their last six.
That has also been highlighted as they lost 5-1 at home to Daisy Hill in their last league match, but won 3-2 at Alsager prior to that. New managers Gareth Cross and Nick Dowse will be hoping for more results like the latter to climb the table.
And last but not least, Daisy Hill will want to continue their recent resurgence as they welcome Bacup Borough to New Sirs.
It hasn’t been easy for the hosts this season, but back-to-back away wins at St Helens Town and New Mills, scoring eight goals in the process, mean that the side in 21st are looking to catch those just above them. They have drawn their last two home league fixtures 1-1, whilst 18th placed Bacup won at St Helens in their last outing to end a run of seven successive away defeats.
However, that game was now over a month ago and they have played just 14 times in the league, so Brent Peters’ men will be hoping more than most that the weather is favourable.
A very exciting weekend of First Division football, so stay away from the shops and give your support to one of our clubs!
