Eccleshall 3-6 Cheadle Town
Indulge me for a moment whilst I entertain you with a statistic: we've scored 84 goals in all competitions this season. 16 of those - sixteen - have come in our last two victories.
Another one for you. This was our fifth consecutive victory at Pershall Park. My own personal Cheadle Town FC results archive only stretches back so far but I think this is the best run of wins we've ever had for one particular away-day.
On the 54th minute both of those statistics looked highly unlikely as Jordan Elcock's effort sailed over Saul Lomax-Newton's head to give the hosts a strong 3-1 lead.
What followed was a barnstorming fightback. But more of that later.
Given the eventual scoreline it's hard to believe that this match took some time to really get going.
Mike Sherrington had the ball in the net on 15 minutes but was ruled offside and then couldn't quite make decent contact with a Rick Whyatt cross ten minutes later.
Mike looked clean through and certain to score just after the half-hour mark but the home 'keeper somehow managed to get something on it and deflect it away for the corner, from which James Moores had a free header but only succeeded in putting it over the bar.
On 38 minutes, our pressure told and the match really took off.
Luke Pearson floated in a corner from the right that was eventually nodded home at the far post by Mike Sherrington.
Eccleshall cast a shot across our bows straight down the other end when a volley went inches wide with them then equalising on 40 minutes when Steven Hughes drilled home from the angle.
Eccleshall's tails were up and they nudged themselves into the lead three minutes later with a well-worked move down the right, finished off by Adam Jones from close range.
Our energetic start to the second half was cut short by Eccleshall's third. If we were to get anything out of the game our response had to be quick. It ended up being better than that: it was immediate.
Straight from the restart Liam Tongue latched onto a through ball in the box and delicately poked it through the keepers' legs with a first-time shot.
The comeback was complete just four minutes later, with Liam Tongue instrumental once more.
His cross into the box from the left was clearly handballed by an Eccleshall defender in his efforts to clear it. Awaiting the referee's decision, everybody seemed to stop for that split second except Liam, who carried on and emphatically launched the loose ball into the roof of the net.
At 3-3, and despite us having most of the possession, the match still could have gone either way.
On 70 minutes Liam Tongue put Mike Sherrington through on goal but he could only sidefoot wide with Eccleshall then heading the ball off the crossbar from a corner just four minutes later.
Was that the next turning point in the match?
Possibly, as two minutes after that Liam Tongue got his hat-trick to put us 4-3 up, tucking home after a Mike Sherrington pass into the box had kindly ricocheted to his feet.
The hosts looked broken, and we capitalised to edge further ahead with two more goals in the final five minutes of the match.
James Horan was first, profiting from a Liam Tongue free-kick being spilled at his feet for him to easily tap home on 85 minutes with him then storming down the left side to roll in a delicious diagonal ball for Mike Sherrington to sweep home for Cheadle's sixth on 87 minutes.
A win that hauls us back up to 4th place in the table and keeps us, number of games played in comparison to everybody else aside, in the play-off mix.
Next up: Holker away.
Whereas Pershall Park renders a more positive statistic where away-days are concerned, the direct opposite can be said for Rakesmoor Lane. It has to change sooner or later....
TEAM: Lomax-Newton, Pearson (Horan), McLaughlin, Trucca, Moores (Halliwell), Smallwood, Stevenson (Nsimbe), Tongue, M Sherrington, Whyatt, Magida. SUBS: Halliwell, Horan, Nsimbe.
