Five Things We Learned 2023/24 - Gameweek 11
Wed 11th October 2023 | Five Things | By Jay Cooper
1. The Edward Case Cup is here!
I've been over the ECC Preliminary Rounds as they've been taking place of the last couple of weeks, but we saw the First Round proper get underway on Tuesday - here's your talking points.
For teams from the First Division North, Euxton Villa picked up the biggest win of any team in the round with a 9-2 drubbing of AFC Blackpool; other winners include Holker OB, South Liverpool, Ashton Town, Bacup Borough and Nelson. As for those in the South, slow starters New Mills and Winsford united both picked up victories; as did Droylsden, Market Drayton Town, Sandbach United, Eccleshall and Stockport Georgians.
2. We must stop meeting like this
I spoke about the Premier Division clash between Bury FC and Glossop North End from the opening day in the first "Five Things" list of the season, mainly because it finished 5-1 to the hosts and broke the NWCFL attendance record - that's the kind of thing that's worth mentioning.
And we all knew that, barring anything unforeseen, they’d play each other again in the reverse fixture for the season. They did just that on the final day of September, and Glossop got their win back in a 2-1 result, but they were then brought back together for the opening round of the Manchester Premier Cup in midweek. It was another game that took place at Glossop's Asgard Engineering Stadium, and it was another game that they would win 2-1.
3. Fog off!
Ooh, that's a risky subheading! It's a shame how often I speak about dreadful weather in these lists, but this one is actually rarer than you might expect, and certainly rarer than a game being called off or abandoned due to a downpour of any kind.
In an Edward Case Cup First Round fixture on Monday, we saw the first match abandonment due to fog/poor visibility of the season come from Maine Road's Brantingham Road. They were 58 minutes into hosting Ashville, and they were also 3 goals down, before the referee decided enough was enough. From a quick glance at Maine Road's official twitter account - yeah, fair enough.
4. Runcorn's revival
Last season was an unfortunate time to be a Runcorn Town fan. The club had been relegated from the NWCFL Prem in 2021/22, and came a whisker from going down twice in a row in 2022/23 from the First Division North. They were saved by a reprieve, and they've taken full advantage of that second chance.
They're sitting comfortably in 11th in the table at the time of writing, and have been involved in a few goal-fests this season, none more recently than at the weekend. They played host to the division's top scorers, Route One Rovers, and beat them at their own game, winning 5-3 - a much needed pick-me-up after the previous week's 7-1 defeat by Holker Old Boys.
5. Brocton 10-d 2 score plenty
It was only two weeks ago that I spoke to Brocton manager Alex Curtis about the whirlwind start that his Badgers have had to their NWCFL First Division South season, as well as discussing where all this momentum might lead them. He was cautious not to make any outright statements of intent - his team however, apparently, didn't get that memo.
At the weekend, they played host to struggling New Mills, and this game, especially the second half, showed Brocton at their best. Regan Smith bagged a hat-trick; Christian Blanchete, Will Whieldon and Cameron Osborn all notched braces, and Morgan Payne got in on the act in a 10-2 battering of their visitors. Certainly one for the fans to gush about.
Five Things We Learned 2023/24 - Gameweek 11
Wed 11th October 2023 | Five Things
By Jay Cooper
1. The Edward Case Cup is here!
I've been over the ECC Preliminary Rounds as they've been taking place of the last couple of weeks, but we saw the First Round proper get underway on Tuesday - here's your talking points.
For teams from the First Division North, Euxton Villa picked up the biggest win of any team in the round with a 9-2 drubbing of AFC Blackpool; other winners include Holker OB, South Liverpool, Ashton Town, Bacup Borough and Nelson. As for those in the South, slow starters New Mills and Winsford united both picked up victories; as did Droylsden, Market Drayton Town, Sandbach United, Eccleshall and Stockport Georgians.
2. We must stop meeting like this
I spoke about the Premier Division clash between Bury FC and Glossop North End from the opening day in the first "Five Things" list of the season, mainly because it finished 5-1 to the hosts and broke the NWCFL attendance record - that's the kind of thing that's worth mentioning.
And we all knew that, barring anything unforeseen, they’d play each other again in the reverse fixture for the season. They did just that on the final day of September, and Glossop got their win back in a 2-1 result, but they were then brought back together for the opening round of the Manchester Premier Cup in midweek. It was another game that took place at Glossop's Asgard Engineering Stadium, and it was another game that they would win 2-1.
3. Fog off!
Ooh, that's a risky subheading! It's a shame how often I speak about dreadful weather in these lists, but this one is actually rarer than you might expect, and certainly rarer than a game being called off or abandoned due to a downpour of any kind.
In an Edward Case Cup First Round fixture on Monday, we saw the first match abandonment due to fog/poor visibility of the season come from Maine Road's Brantingham Road. They were 58 minutes into hosting Ashville, and they were also 3 goals down, before the referee decided enough was enough. From a quick glance at Maine Road's official twitter account - yeah, fair enough.
4. Runcorn's revival
Last season was an unfortunate time to be a Runcorn Town fan. The club had been relegated from the NWCFL Prem in 2021/22, and came a whisker from going down twice in a row in 2022/23 from the First Division North. They were saved by a reprieve, and they've taken full advantage of that second chance.
They're sitting comfortably in 11th in the table at the time of writing, and have been involved in a few goal-fests this season, none more recently than at the weekend. They played host to the division's top scorers, Route One Rovers, and beat them at their own game, winning 5-3 - a much needed pick-me-up after the previous week's 7-1 defeat by Holker Old Boys.
5. Brocton 10-d 2 score plenty
It was only two weeks ago that I spoke to Brocton manager Alex Curtis about the whirlwind start that his Badgers have had to their NWCFL First Division South season, as well as discussing where all this momentum might lead them. He was cautious not to make any outright statements of intent - his team however, apparently, didn't get that memo.
At the weekend, they played host to struggling New Mills, and this game, especially the second half, showed Brocton at their best. Regan Smith bagged a hat-trick; Christian Blanchete, Will Whieldon and Cameron Osborn all notched braces, and Morgan Payne got in on the act in a 10-2 battering of their visitors. Certainly one for the fans to gush about.
