Poynton 0-5 Cheadle Town

On arrival to Poynton Sports Club on Saturday afternoon you could have taken your pick of things to watch: tennis, a spot of leisurely bowls, a batting collapse on the cricket field or five football goals in this professional pre-season victory.

The starting eleven find out whether they are in the starting eleven or not

You'd have been forgiven for allowing your eyes to wander elsewhere for the first 20 minutes of this match as there was only one thing of note to speak of: Jonathan McLaughlin's drive from the edge of the area tipped over the bar on the 5th minute mark.

Tweeter's curse, Sod's Law, call it what you will, but after reporting that "nothing much had happened" on the 20 minute mark Mike Sherrington then broke the deadlock, evading the attention of two Poynton defenders to fashion himself some space in the box and fire home.

Liam Tongue went close with one of his trademark efforts before Tom Russell extended our lead on 35 minutes, dealing with a bouncing ball around the edge of the area with a deft flick of the outside of his boot.

Luke Hincks quashed any Poynton comeback early in the second half by finishing off a nice move from the edge of the box before Mike Sherrington was in on the action twice more, catching the keeper off his line only to see his lob sail inches over the bar and then profiting from good work by Liam Tongue only to see his effort saved brilliantly by the Poynton keeper.

Poynton looked set to reduce the arrears with ten minutes remaining but a last-ditch saving tackle by Joe Shaw meant we would keep a clean sheet.

As the game drew to its 90th minute we netted twice in quick succession. Liam Tongue latching onto a pass from Matthew German to roll home from the edge of the box before an unmarked Luke Pearson nodding home from close range to give the scoreline an emphatic sheen.

A good work out against energetic opposition and a bit more match fitness for those involved; in a pre-season game you can ask for no more.

Onto Knutsford this Thursday.

STARTING XI: Piggott, McLaughlin, Pearson, Shaw, Moore, Russell, Hincks, Tongue, M Sherrington, Tosum, Magida. SUBS: Connolly, German, Dunn, Rigby (gk)

Squad Update: Registered Players

Pre-season is just around the corner and we've been busy updating our playing squad in time for the big kick-off.

Here is a full lost of those who are registered to pull on the green-and-black for next season, be it for the First XI or the Reserves squad:

Zach CLARKE
Ben CONNOLLY
James DUNN
Jude GILBERT
Seb GROARKE
Luke HINCKS
James HORAN
Ben JUPP
Andy LINDON
Chris McGREEVY
Jonathan McLAUGHLIN
James MOORE
Conor NAUGHTON
Arnold NSIMBE
Luke PEARSON
Stephen PIGGOTT
Michael PRICE
Adam RIGBY
Tom RUSSELL
Mike SHERRINGTON
Liam TONGUE
Nathan TOSUM
Jack WARD
Richard WHYATT

More updates to this list as and when we have them.

League Cup & First Division Trophy Draws

The distant sound of the forthcoming season can be heard. We now know who we will face in both of the "domestic" cup competitions.

League Cup (Macron Challenge Cup)

We will enter this competition in the Second Round, facing an away trip to the winners of Widnes v Alsager Town. This match will be played on Saturday 29th October.

First Division Trophy (Reusch First Division Cup)

Again, we enter this competition in the second round and have been drawn away to NWCFL newcomers City of Liverpool. The date of this tie has yet to be determined.

Volunteers Needed at Cheadle Town FC

We are always on the look out for volunteers here at Cheadle Town FC.

Have you always wanted to get involved with non-league football? Always wanted to be regarded as a volunteer in any capacity and contribute to a local cause?

We could do with a few extra helping hands here at Park Road, be it to help out with minor tasks on matchday (behind the bar, matchday preparation etc.) or helping with the upkeep of Park Road Stadium itself outside of matchday (painting, general DIY jobs etc.).

If you are interested then please contact the chairman Chris Davies on (0161) 428 2510

Prize Draw Winners

First Prize
Mr S Sibbien, Hazel Grove
Ticket no: 02356

Second Prize
Mr B Dale, Edgeley
Ticket no: 01472

Third Prize
Mr D Higginbotham, Bredbury
Ticket no: 02927

Ex-Player Returns as Assistant Manager

It will be interesting to hear the views of new Reserves Team Assistant Manager David McGreal when he takes up his new post.

Not so much on his opinion of coaching, but what he thinks of Cheadle Town FC thesedays as he returns to the club that he played for in the days of Larry Gaffney as manager (in the 1990s).

Watch this apace as we will seek an interview with David to recall his days at the club and how he is looking forward to returning.

WANTED: Reserves Team Assistant Manager and Coach plus First XI Goalkeeping Coach

We have three coaching/management opportunities at Cheadle Town FC.

The first and second are related to the Reserves Squad. We are looking for a Coach and an additional Assistant Manager to assist Chris Woods on matchdays and help out with training where possible.

The third opportunity is a Goalkeeping Coach. The primary remit will be to assist with the First XI on matchdays but to aid with overall coaching duties during training as well.

Interested? Please contact First Team Manager Terry Hincks on 07976 725399

NWCFL AGM Round-Up

Once again the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool was the destination for this year's NWCFL Annual General Meeting.

The day serves as an excellent way of meeting and catching up with your peers as well as officially putting the season just gone to bed and opening the next.

Committee member Stuart Crawford: designated driver for the day

There was a handful of key points from the meeting but the main ones, that affect us directly, were as follows:

• we officially said goodbye to Hanley Town, Irlam and Barnton from the First Division as they were promoted to the Premier Division
• the relegation of AFC Blackpool, Alsager Town and Silsden from the Premier Division to the First Division was confirmed
• representatives from the six new clubs - City of Liverpool, Charnock Richard, Prestwich Heys, Oswestry Town, Sandbach United and Carlisle City - all got their moment to say hello to the NWCFL
• it was confirmed that Northwich Manchester Villa had resigned from the league
• Rochdale Town are appealing the decision to relegate them from the NWCFL. This meant that the draws for the League Cup and First Division Trophy could not take place. Once the outcome of the appeal is known, the league will commence with the draws and publish them.

A slightly more detailed breakdown of the news from the AGM can be seen by clicking here.

This means that we are definitely in a 22-team division next season and could quite possibly be in a 23-team one. Whatever happens it is going to be a busy season.

After the meeting was closed at 11.45am there is some time to kill before the dinner and presentation part in the evening.

There'll be a tram to Fleetwood any minute now. Any. Minute. Now.

Yours truly, Stuart Crawford and the chairman got "adventurous" and hopped on a tram to Fleetwood in search of lunch and to discuss a few operational matters relating to next season; the preparation for 2016-2017 starts now!

Back at the hotel there was time to take in Wales' excellent 2-1 win over Slovakia in the bar before the evening event: the dinner and the awards/presentations.

The early birds getting ready for dinner

We were sat on the same table as the committee members from First Division stablemates Litherland REMYCA and they were great dinner company; we look forward to seeing them again for the league fixtures this season!

The hotel had very kindly provided a big screen so that we could watch the England v Russia match and spirits were high when Eric Dier's free-kick flew in; such a shame that England couldn't hold on.

It seems that a dinner is not a dinner without some sort of "jus" on the menu thesedays....

Cabaret act Bernie Flint did his best to lift spirits once more before the denouement of the presentations and awards; congratulations to everybody that had the privilege of walking up to the stage when called by the league's Ian Williams. All richly deserved. A full list of who-won-what can be seen by clicking here.

Having set off from Cheadle at 9.00am we were finally back home at 1.00am, demonstrating what a long, but enjoyable, day the AGM can be....

If you want a selfie with the chairman (on the left in the picture), you have to catch him somewhat unawares....

Presentation & Awards Evening 2016: The Winners

The full list of winners....

FIRST XI
Manager's Player of the Season
James Dunn

Players' Player of the Season & Leading Goalscorer
Liam Tongue

RESERVES
Manager's Player of the Season
Daniel O'Donnell

Players' Player of the Season
Mitch Caldicott

Leading Goalscorer
Barry Lawson

UNDER 21s
Manager's Player of the Season
Tyrone Allen

Players' Player of the Season
Rory King

LONG SERVICE AWARDS
Paul Fitzgerald - Committee Member

Karl Florczak - Committee Member

Steve Piggott - Goalkeeper

SPECIAL CLUBMAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Stuart Crawford - Committee Member

Mike Derbyshire

Our thanks to everybody that turned up, and to club president Alwyn Thompson for presenting the awards to the winners.

Club Chairman Chris Davies

First XI Manager Terry Hincks

First XI Asst Manager Anthony Trucca

Club President Alwyn Thompson

Appointment of Cheadle Town Development Squad Management Team

Cheadle Town Football Club are pleased to announce the appointment of Tony Hancock, Ged Farrell and Phil Cork as their new Development Squad Management Team.

Tony, Ged and Phil will be responsible for overseeing the development of young players with the prospect of feeding players into the Reserve and First Team squads.

Everyone at Cheadle Town Football Club would like to welcome Tony, Ged and Phil to Park Road Stadium and we look forward to watching the Development Squad have a successful future.

WANTED: Cheadle Development Squad Manager & Goalkeeping Coach

There are two new coaching opportunities available at Cheadle Town Football Club.

The first one is Manager/Coach of the new Cheadle Town FC Development Squad. The new Development Squad will take the place of our separate U18 and U21 teams and will bridge the gap between those two age groups with the prospect of feeding players into the Reserve and First XI squads.

The second one is a Goalkeeping Coach. The primary remit will be to assist with the First XI on matchdays but to aid with overall coaching duties during training as well.

Interested? Please contact First Team Manager Terry Hincks on 07976 725399

2015-2016 Season Review: In Words

It may not have ended the way we wanted it to but, when all is said and done, it has been a memorable season in more ways than one.

Home Sweet Home?
If we're going to point a finger at where we could have improved matters then let's start with our home form.

Park Road - not quite the fortress we wanted it to be

Unfortunately Park Road wasn't the fortress we would have liked it to be. 7 defeats at home in the league compared to just the 3 on the road tells its own story. 61% of our league points total was gained away from Park Road.

The away form must have been good, for on Saturday 26th March 2016 we recorded our first win at Holker Old Boys for what seemed like a generation.

Play-Offs, On, Off and On Again
Although they didn't bring the desired end to our season, let's have it on record that we are a big fan of the play-offs here at Cheadle Town FC.

In the past two seasons that they have existed they have kept our season going. Without them the promotion issues would have been sewn up by late March leaving us with a handful of "dead rubbers" to trawl through at the end of the season.

As I mentioned in the match report for the play-off semi-final v Barnton, to have got there on this occasion says a lot about how far we have come under the guidance of Terry Hincks et al.

At around 4.45pm on Saturday 30th April it looked as though we could be missing out but Rick Whyatt's winning goal deep into stoppage time at Daisy Hill changed the outlook once more. Granted we still needed favours from others but the "ask" at that point wasn't as big, and the footballing gods smiled down on us for once and gave us a shot in the play-off picture.

We're confident that we can feature again next season...and going one better.

An Appetite for Destruction...
A lot of proverbial cats were kicked back home after the 2-3 defeat to Ashton Town in September. 2-0 up and absolutely coasting, despite having a man (wrongly) sent off, we inexplicably collapsed in the final ten minutes of the match and ended up going home with nothing.

The same happened again three weeks later in the FA Vase tie at Handsworth Parramore, although that game wasn't lost in the final ten minutes it was a bitterly disappointing way to go out.

The miserable mid-September to mid-October was capped by a non-performance at home to Rochdale Town where three goals were conceded without reply.

...and Character in Spades
And yet there was the 5-5 draw at Bacup Borough on the opening day of the season. 1-4 down at one point, with the result rescued some thirteen minutes into stoppage time.

And the 4-3 win at Staveley Miners Welfare in the FA Vase. 1-3 down midway through the second half, with Rick Whyatt's late winner sending us all home happy.

And the 5-3 win at Stockport Town. 3-3 until the last minute, when late goals by Luke Hincks and Chris Sherrington give us the sweetest of victories.

And the 6-3 win at Eccleshall. 1-3 down before performing a barnstorming fightback to win 6-3.

And the 2-2 home draw v Barnton, coming back from 0-2 down at half-time to claim what would turn out to be a precious point.

All matches that "the Cheadle of old" might have gone on to lose. Encouraging stuff.

Where did he come from?
If ever there was an example of somebody "coming up on the rails" in the club's goalscoring charts then have a look at what Liam Tongue did this season.

A rasping drive v Maine Road in a pre-season friendly raised a few eyebrows. That was followed by a couple v Chapel Town, also in pre-season, with Liam then not featuring in the goalscoring statistics until early November when he netted twice in the First Division Trophy tie at Irlam.

Liam Tongue. Pictured not scoring.

He chased Rick Whyatt down in impressive manner during the final nine games of the season where he netted eleven times to top the charts with 20 goals in all competitions for the club, his final act being one of his trademark thumps into the back of the net v Barnton in the play-off semi-final.

Such activity is going to attract interested parties. We sincerely hope that he stays and does the same again for us next season where he is capable of bettering his tally.

Keeping It All Together
To that end, the hard work starts now for Terry and the rest of the management team.

We have an excellent squad - we know that - but the trouble is that it won't have gone unnoticed by others.

We lost the backbone to our squad last summer and, frustratingly, lost Darryhl Mason and Chris Sherrington mid-season this time around. If we can keep the majority of this squad for next season, and add one or two new names to add a bit of strength and depth, then next season looks a very exciting prospect indeed.

Goals, Goals, Goals
The manic opening 5-5 draw at Bacup Borough should have served as an indicator.

If you came to watch us this season then there was the guarantee of goals. Not one match in all competitions ended up as a 0-0 and we only failed to score in two of them. In total we netted 102 times in all competitions, a massive gain of 29 goals on last season and the biggest total we've had for a while.

The 10-1 home victory over Atherton LR was the club's biggest home victory for a long while with the half-time score of 8-1 being the biggest interval scoreline in the club's history.

Happy New Year?
The turn of the year flung us from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other.

As everybody was tucking into their Christmas dinners we were top of the pile with a couple of points as a cushion. This was achieved on the back of three consecutive wins, once of which was away at Barnton...who would eventually go on to be promoted (via the play-offs).

That was all wiped out by mid-February as we went on a horror run. Ashton Town, Litherland REMYCA, St Helens Town and Stockport Town all came to Park Road and claimed victories, pushing us back into the play-off places.

The repair process started with a useful 2-2 draw at Hanley Town and then the 10-1 demolition of a hapless Atherton LR that set us on the way to our ultimate play-off destiny, but there's no denying the post new year slump potentially put paid to any hopes we had of automatic promotion.

Anything Else Worth Mentioning?
* Michael Sherrington surpassing his brother Chris' goal tally in only 11 games
* That win at Holker (have I mentioned that already?) and the hoodoo being buried
* Gillian Wood - our physio up-to-and-including that win at Holker. A valuable asset to the club this past season and sorely missed by all. We wish her well in her new venture back home in Norfolk.

Thank you to everybody who has read the match reports, articles, news etc on here and also engaged with us via social media, be it on Twitter or Facebook.

It may be the end of the season but that doesn't mean things come to an abrupt halt on here. We'll be reporting back from the Presentation & Awards Evening at the end of the month, giving you the key points from the NWCFL AGM that takes place in June and also letting you know about any pre-season friendlies before it all starts again in August!