Cheadle Town 1-2 Hanley Town

A result that does wonders for Hanley Town's promotion hopes but stymies our march towards securing a slot in the play-off lottery. With just eight games to go there is some comfort in the fact that we still have to face some of the teams around us: Holker Old Boys, Barnton and Irlam (twice).

Despite the relative paucity of clear-cut chances this was quite an entertaining game with plenty of cut and thrust.

A brisk opening five minutes from us was tempered by new 'keeper Saul Lomay-Newton called into early action when he perfectly judged a trip out of his own area to thwart a Hanley attacker bearing down on goal.

He was on thwarting duties again - Hanley's talisman Theo Stair the victim this time - before Ashley Smallwood troubled the Hanley keeper after weaving inside from the left and unleashing a shot.

On the 20th minute we took the lead.

A quick throw-out from Saul started a counter-attack and, thanks to some persistence and buccaneering wingplay from Josh Stevenson, the ball was squared for Thabiso Magida to slam home from close range.

Unfortunately the lead only lasted two minutes.

Straight down the other end Saul had denied Stair again as he took too long over what looked a formality but from the resulting corner he got the better of Saul this time, heading home from close range.

In terms of clear-cut chances the second half didn't see anything significant until the 70th minute. Unfortunately the significance was that it ended up being Hanley's winning goal.

From a corner they were granted a free header at the far post. Saul's remarkable efforts to stop the ball being forced home in the ensuing chaos ended when ex-Cheadle player Matt German bundled home; not the first time he has returned to Park Road and scored for the opposition.

A glorious chance to respond went begging two minutes later when Thabiso Magida skidded a ball across the goalmouth with nobody on-hand to convert what would have been an easy chance.

Laim Tongue went mighty close with a free-kick on the 87th minute but that was pretty much that and Hanley saw out the remaining time comfortably to take another step towards Premier Division football next season.

Next up for us is a midweek trip to Eccleshall (next Wednesday). Three points are a must if we want to stay in the mix.

TEAM: Lomay-Newton, McLaughlin, Pearson, Trucca, Moores, Dunn, Stevenson, Tongue, Smallwood (Horan), Whyatt (Sherrington), Magida. SUBS: Horan, Nsimbe, Halliwell, Lovett, M Sherrington.

Hanley Town 2-2 Cheadle Town

It was third time lucky for this fixture to be played following the previous postponements due to the recent inclement weather. Due to injuries and player unavailability, Terry Hicks had to shuffle the squad around which saw Reserve players Aiden Lovett and Josh Stevenson start their first game of the season. Whilst we welcomed Kieran Halliwell following his recent transfer from Atherton LR and an even bigger welcome to Jimmy Moore who returned back to Cheadle Town following a stint at Atherton Collieries.
 
It was Hanley Town who had the first chance of the game on 7 minutes, but Stephen Piggott did well to save a shot at the feet of their striker.
 
Cheadle’s first chance came on 13 minutes when Liam Tongue found some space on the edge of the area, but could only fire his shot wide of the target.
 
Hanley broke the deadlock on 23 minutes when the Cheadle defence failed to clear the ball before it landed to the feet of Theo Stair who made no mistake and converted easily.
 
Hanley were unlucky not to double their lead on 37 minutes when Thabiso Magida cleared a goal bound header off the line. That until 38 minutes when Luke Hincks challenged a Hanley player in the area and the referee pointed to the spot.  Hanley’s Theo Stair sent Piggott the wrong way to give them a two goal advantage.
 
HT: Hanley Town 2 Cheadle Town 0
 
Cheadle started the second half brightly and were unlucky not to score on 61 minutes when Josh Stevenson cut into the area from the right hand side and pulled his shot wide.
 
On 81 minutes Cheadle were awarded a penalty as Michael Sherrington was brought down in the area. In the absence of Luke Pearson, Magida stepped up to take the penalty and converted with ease.
 
Cheadle got their rewards on 86 minutes when Sherrington latched onto a through ball and drilled a low shot past the diving keeper.
 
With minutes remaining, Cheadle had the chance to win the game but James Horan could only poke the ball wide of the post.

February Preview

January 2016 wasn't much cop: not a solitary league point to our name. Here's hoping February 2016 is a little bit better....

Saturday 6th
Rochdale Town (away)

After four matches on-the-bounce at Park Road it's a relief to be on the road again.

Rochdale Town may be saying the opposite: of the 20 league matches they have played at the time of writing, only 6 have been at The Mayfield so I'm sure they'll only be too glad to be on home turf for a change.

Our record here isn't that bad - only one defeat in our last six visits here - but we are well aware that a poor performance on our part against Rochdale Town will be punished, something that was ably demonstrated by our 0-3 home defeat in the reverse fixture back in autumn.

Previous five seasons at The Mayfield:
2014-15: won 4-2
2013-14: won 2-0
2012-13: lost 0-1
2011-12: won 1-0; won 3-2 (FDT)
2010-11: won 3-1

Tuesday 9th
Hanley Town (away)

A crucial clash.

A quick glance at the table will suggest that Hanley Town hold a massive trump card where the promotion race is concerned: in one of the top two spots anyhow (at the time of writing) and with a hatful of games-in-hand as "insurance".

Our two previous visits here haven't been without angst. On both occasions we got ourselves into good positions (we were 2-0 up last time around), only to be leaving Stoke-on-Trent with nothing but wounds to lick.

After the disastrous January we need to make another statement of intent along the lines of our win at Barnton back in December. Winning here would be just the tonic.

Previous five seasons at Abbey Lane:
2014-15: lost 2-3
2013-14: lost 3-5
2012-13: did not meet
2011-12: did not meet
2010-11: did not meet

Saturday 13th
Stockport Town (home)

Oh joy of joys, a local derby.

If you enjoy the tension of such occasions then go and see a doctor. To be frank, parochial willy-waving is not for me and unfortunately the football itself ends up coming second. Anyhow....

This could end up being another important fixture as far as the play-off shake-up is concerned as Stockport Town are also in the mix. Both sides already have one win to their name in this fixture - Stockport Town taking the First Division Trophy tie and us taking the three points at Lambeth Grove in the league fixture.

Any takers for the draw?

Saturday 20th
Atherton LR (home)

The NWCFL fixture gods have given us a week off on Saturday 27th (thus far - anything can change!) so this will be our swansong for February.

Not much to say about this fixture other than we hope to add LR to our list of teams that we have done the double over this season, thanks to a very comfortable 4-1 win at Crilly Park back in October.

If all of the above four fixtures take place as expected, then there will only be eight league fixtures left. Eight. Yes, the season end is that near already....

Previous five seasons at Park Road:
2014-15: won 2-1
2013-14: drew 1-1
2012-13: won 1-0
2011-12: did not meet
2010-11: did not meet