Premier Division Preview - 3rd March 2018
Fri 2nd March 2018 | General | By Gary Langley
Premier Division Preview 3rd March
Given the winter we have had and the weather forecast for the weekend being less than ideal it would be easy to give up and plan to go shopping, visit museums (I can reccommend the Football Museum) or plan to take the kids to an overcrowded trampoline park. However, we are football fans, hardy folk who know few boundaries so whilst we maybe a touch wary of what may happen this weekend, most of us will have a plan A-F for a game this weekend.
Looking ahead to the scheduled games, albeit in brief (just in case) there is a good weekend of games scheduled.
Starting at The Millbank Linnets Stadium where leaders Runcorn Linnets are scheduled to host Squires Gate. Linnnets are currently ten points clear at the top and are in good form, however Squires Gate go into this off the back of two straight wins against Congleton and City of Liverpool and do tend to travel well.
Nearest challengers, Widnes, they travel to Maine Road looking to keep the pressure both on Linnets above and on Charnock Richard and Runcorn Town who are both nine points behind the Halton side but of course with games in hand. Widnes are unbeaten in their last 15 league games and that includes wins over Linnets and more recently a 4-1 away win at City of Liverpool. They look particularly strong at the moment and will represent a tough challenge to Maine Road who go into this of five straight defeats and a tough looking set of March Fixtures.
Charnock Richard will be looking to keep their challenge going as they travel to the Ambitek Stadium to take on Irlam. Charnock are nine points adrift of Widnes and have a busy month ahead which includes a League and Cup double header away against Bootle in a fortnight. Irlam are still too close to the bottom six for comfort but have improved in recent games and look likely to make a beeline for mid-table as the games eventually start taking place.
Runcorn Town travel to Townfield to face Northwich Victoria hoping to continue turning their corner as they have clocked up successive wins in the league for the first time since the first week in November courtesy of strong home performances against West Didsbury & Chorlton and Barnton, scoring eight goals over those two games. For Vics’ they will be looking for progress themselves as with only one win in their last seven in all games will be disappointing for Steve Wilkes who given earlier season form may have fancied their chances for the play-offs at one point.
City of Liverpool announced plans for a preferred site for a new ground in midweek and will be looking to re-ignite their promotion campaign this weekend. They host Padiham this weekend at the TDP Solicitors stadium who sit a place and a point above them in the table. The Purps’ are without a win in their last three league games which has caused them to lose some ground on the chasing pack and their games in hand are slowly ticking down so for them this is a real six pointer. Padiham are traditionally party poopers, they have ended many clubs runs this season, when they hit a purple patch (pun intended), they are very difficult to break down, their recent 2-1 win over Charnock Richard and a few weeks earlier against Runcorn Town stand as testament to that.
Hanley Town take on AFC Darwen at Potteries Park looking to consolidate their place in the top six and with only one defeat in their last six they look to have recovered from what was a difficult November and December for them. AFC Darwen surprised a few observers a fortnight ago when they travelled to Irlam and came away with an impressive looking 5-3 win on the road, that will have been a good morale boost for them, however they still only have fourteen points on the board which is the same amount of points they are away from safety.
Barnoldswick Town host FA Vase heroes 1874 Northwich at The Silentnight this weekend, Barlick’ comfortably in mid-table in tenth spot whilst 1874 are still many peoples dark horse candidates for automatic promotion. The 1874 guys will be hoping just to get a game played as they have only clocked up 19 league games so far as we arrive into March. It’s going to be a very busy month for them but they seem to rise to the challenge so you wouldn’t rule out anything with them at the moment.
Two sides who could really do with some points are West Didsbury and Chorlton and AFC Liverpool. West Didsbury and Chorlton currently sit seventeenth, four points clear of the bottom four and will have been buoyed by good performances in their recent 2-2 home draw against Abbey Hey and a narrow 2-3 defeat away at promotion chasing Runcorn Town. AFC Liverpool currently find themselves in the bottom four but AFC Liverpool tend to do well against the Manchester hipsters losing only twice in eleven matches against them.
Congleton Town and Ashton Athletic go head to head with Congleton comfortably in mid-table but technically six points clear of the drop zone so they will be keen just to push on and give themselves a bit of breathing space. Ashton Athletic are currently seventh and will be eyeing up the top six with games in hand and are technically not out of the promotion race yet. In a similar positon to Congleton are Winsford and Abbey Hey who face each other at The Barton Stadium, both of these clubs have stuttering form at present and will be looking over their shoulder, not least Abbey Hey who currently sit fifth from bottom on the same amount of points as Maine Road just a place below them.
If Storm Emma, The Beast from the east or Biblical Rain Fred does hit the parish this weekend, why not have a look at the National Football Museum in Manchester? We had a nosey around there in midweek, it is a decent day out with the nations football heritage and of course our wonderful trophy set on display on the first floor, just around the corner from the Michael Jackson Statue!
Premier Division Preview - 3rd March 2018
Fri 2nd March 2018 | General
By Gary Langley
Premier Division Preview 3rd March
Given the winter we have had and the weather forecast for the weekend being less than ideal it would be easy to give up and plan to go shopping, visit museums (I can reccommend the Football Museum) or plan to take the kids to an overcrowded trampoline park. However, we are football fans, hardy folk who know few boundaries so whilst we maybe a touch wary of what may happen this weekend, most of us will have a plan A-F for a game this weekend.
Looking ahead to the scheduled games, albeit in brief (just in case) there is a good weekend of games scheduled.
Starting at The Millbank Linnets Stadium where leaders Runcorn Linnets are scheduled to host Squires Gate. Linnnets are currently ten points clear at the top and are in good form, however Squires Gate go into this off the back of two straight wins against Congleton and City of Liverpool and do tend to travel well.
Nearest challengers, Widnes, they travel to Maine Road looking to keep the pressure both on Linnets above and on Charnock Richard and Runcorn Town who are both nine points behind the Halton side but of course with games in hand. Widnes are unbeaten in their last 15 league games and that includes wins over Linnets and more recently a 4-1 away win at City of Liverpool. They look particularly strong at the moment and will represent a tough challenge to Maine Road who go into this of five straight defeats and a tough looking set of March Fixtures.
Charnock Richard will be looking to keep their challenge going as they travel to the Ambitek Stadium to take on Irlam. Charnock are nine points adrift of Widnes and have a busy month ahead which includes a League and Cup double header away against Bootle in a fortnight. Irlam are still too close to the bottom six for comfort but have improved in recent games and look likely to make a beeline for mid-table as the games eventually start taking place.
Runcorn Town travel to Townfield to face Northwich Victoria hoping to continue turning their corner as they have clocked up successive wins in the league for the first time since the first week in November courtesy of strong home performances against West Didsbury & Chorlton and Barnton, scoring eight goals over those two games. For Vics’ they will be looking for progress themselves as with only one win in their last seven in all games will be disappointing for Steve Wilkes who given earlier season form may have fancied their chances for the play-offs at one point.
City of Liverpool announced plans for a preferred site for a new ground in midweek and will be looking to re-ignite their promotion campaign this weekend. They host Padiham this weekend at the TDP Solicitors stadium who sit a place and a point above them in the table. The Purps’ are without a win in their last three league games which has caused them to lose some ground on the chasing pack and their games in hand are slowly ticking down so for them this is a real six pointer. Padiham are traditionally party poopers, they have ended many clubs runs this season, when they hit a purple patch (pun intended), they are very difficult to break down, their recent 2-1 win over Charnock Richard and a few weeks earlier against Runcorn Town stand as testament to that.
Hanley Town take on AFC Darwen at Potteries Park looking to consolidate their place in the top six and with only one defeat in their last six they look to have recovered from what was a difficult November and December for them. AFC Darwen surprised a few observers a fortnight ago when they travelled to Irlam and came away with an impressive looking 5-3 win on the road, that will have been a good morale boost for them, however they still only have fourteen points on the board which is the same amount of points they are away from safety.
Barnoldswick Town host FA Vase heroes 1874 Northwich at The Silentnight this weekend, Barlick’ comfortably in mid-table in tenth spot whilst 1874 are still many peoples dark horse candidates for automatic promotion. The 1874 guys will be hoping just to get a game played as they have only clocked up 19 league games so far as we arrive into March. It’s going to be a very busy month for them but they seem to rise to the challenge so you wouldn’t rule out anything with them at the moment.
Two sides who could really do with some points are West Didsbury and Chorlton and AFC Liverpool. West Didsbury and Chorlton currently sit seventeenth, four points clear of the bottom four and will have been buoyed by good performances in their recent 2-2 home draw against Abbey Hey and a narrow 2-3 defeat away at promotion chasing Runcorn Town. AFC Liverpool currently find themselves in the bottom four but AFC Liverpool tend to do well against the Manchester hipsters losing only twice in eleven matches against them.
Congleton Town and Ashton Athletic go head to head with Congleton comfortably in mid-table but technically six points clear of the drop zone so they will be keen just to push on and give themselves a bit of breathing space. Ashton Athletic are currently seventh and will be eyeing up the top six with games in hand and are technically not out of the promotion race yet. In a similar positon to Congleton are Winsford and Abbey Hey who face each other at The Barton Stadium, both of these clubs have stuttering form at present and will be looking over their shoulder, not least Abbey Hey who currently sit fifth from bottom on the same amount of points as Maine Road just a place below them.
If Storm Emma, The Beast from the east or Biblical Rain Fred does hit the parish this weekend, why not have a look at the National Football Museum in Manchester? We had a nosey around there in midweek, it is a decent day out with the nations football heritage and of course our wonderful trophy set on display on the first floor, just around the corner from the Michael Jackson Statue!
