Five Things We Learned - Gameweek 24
Wed 11th January 2023 | Five Things | By Jay Cooper
1. No such thing as dry January
It seems we are passed the days of postponements due to frozen pitches for this season - hallelujah. However, this has simply been replaced by postponements due to too much rain and waterlogged pitches instead. This is why I prefer hot weather to cold, personally.
Over the last 7 days, there have been as many as 27 matches involving NWCFL teams that were postponed due to waterlogged pitches, whether those games were in the league itself or in local Cup Competitions. Full credit must be given to the groundspeople who do their best to provide us with the sport we love every weekend.
2. Goals > Games
Not that we were spoiled for choice over the weekend and the subsequent days for games with plenty of goals in them. Despite all the postponements, from 16 league games that did go ahead, there were 68 goals for us to sink our teeth into.
Some of the more notable score lines included AFC Liverpool and West Didsbury and Chorlton playing out a 5-3 thriller that ended in favour of the former; Pilkington taking AFC Blackpool to the cleaners with a 5-1 home win; and Stockport Town smashing Stafford Town 7-0, featuring a Tobias Green hat-trick.
3. Avro are in the running
It seems that, whenever it's been speculated as to who will be challenging to be champions of the Premier Division, Vauxhall Motors and Wythenshawe Town are the first names mentioned, but maybe that is doing a disservice to Alex Frost's Avro side.
Currently sitting comfortably in 3rd, they are level on both points and games played with Wythy, and they are only 2 points behind leaders, Vauxhall. They have also previously beaten the Motormen in their own back yard this season in the league - certainly not a team to be slept on.
4. Runcorn leaving it late
In one of the quieter affairs of the weekend, in the First Division North, Runcorn Town managed their first win under their relatively new gaffer, Karl Brown, when they stole a win from the jaws of defeat away at Daisy Hill. This marks the clubs' first win in all competitions since they beat Widnes on penalties in the Liverpool Senior Cup, all the way back in October.
Jack Coop, who turned out once or twice for Runcorn earlier this season, got Daisy Hill off the mark on the hour, but as the game crept into stoppage time, both Liam Kennington and James Salkeld found goals that took all three points back to WA7.
5. Regan's on fire
Brocton haven't always looked the likeliest to go up from the First Division South throughout the entire season, but a recent surge into the top has been well merited and certainly spearheaded by one Regan Smith.
The Badgers' frontman has been leaving defenders in the dust this season, and currently finds himself as the most prolific player from the First Division South in all competitions this season, with a healthy 2-goal cushion on his competitors. Add to that his 6 Man of the Match awards, the joint-3rd most in the division, and suddenly, Brocton are fighting for promotion as we move into 2023.
Five Things We Learned - Gameweek 24
Wed 11th January 2023 | Five Things
By Jay Cooper
1. No such thing as dry January
It seems we are passed the days of postponements due to frozen pitches for this season - hallelujah. However, this has simply been replaced by postponements due to too much rain and waterlogged pitches instead. This is why I prefer hot weather to cold, personally.
Over the last 7 days, there have been as many as 27 matches involving NWCFL teams that were postponed due to waterlogged pitches, whether those games were in the league itself or in local Cup Competitions. Full credit must be given to the groundspeople who do their best to provide us with the sport we love every weekend.
2. Goals > Games
Not that we were spoiled for choice over the weekend and the subsequent days for games with plenty of goals in them. Despite all the postponements, from 16 league games that did go ahead, there were 68 goals for us to sink our teeth into.
Some of the more notable score lines included AFC Liverpool and West Didsbury and Chorlton playing out a 5-3 thriller that ended in favour of the former; Pilkington taking AFC Blackpool to the cleaners with a 5-1 home win; and Stockport Town smashing Stafford Town 7-0, featuring a Tobias Green hat-trick.
3. Avro are in the running
It seems that, whenever it's been speculated as to who will be challenging to be champions of the Premier Division, Vauxhall Motors and Wythenshawe Town are the first names mentioned, but maybe that is doing a disservice to Alex Frost's Avro side.
Currently sitting comfortably in 3rd, they are level on both points and games played with Wythy, and they are only 2 points behind leaders, Vauxhall. They have also previously beaten the Motormen in their own back yard this season in the league - certainly not a team to be slept on.
4. Runcorn leaving it late
In one of the quieter affairs of the weekend, in the First Division North, Runcorn Town managed their first win under their relatively new gaffer, Karl Brown, when they stole a win from the jaws of defeat away at Daisy Hill. This marks the clubs' first win in all competitions since they beat Widnes on penalties in the Liverpool Senior Cup, all the way back in October.
Jack Coop, who turned out once or twice for Runcorn earlier this season, got Daisy Hill off the mark on the hour, but as the game crept into stoppage time, both Liam Kennington and James Salkeld found goals that took all three points back to WA7.
5. Regan's on fire
Brocton haven't always looked the likeliest to go up from the First Division South throughout the entire season, but a recent surge into the top has been well merited and certainly spearheaded by one Regan Smith.
The Badgers' frontman has been leaving defenders in the dust this season, and currently finds himself as the most prolific player from the First Division South in all competitions this season, with a healthy 2-goal cushion on his competitors. Add to that his 6 Man of the Match awards, the joint-3rd most in the division, and suddenly, Brocton are fighting for promotion as we move into 2023.
