2016-2017 Season Review: In Numbers

Final League Position and Points
12th place with 61 points

Home League Record
9 wins, 3 draws, 9 defeats

Away League Record
9 wins, 4 draws, 8 defeats

Goals Scored (in all competitions)
109 in total; 52 at home and 57 away

Goals Conceded (in all competitions)
101 in total; 51 at home and 50 away

Goals Scored Half-by-Half
48 in the first half, 61 in the second

Top Scorer
Rhys Webb with 26 goals in all competitions

Biggest Win
6-0 v Atherton LR at home, Hallmark Security League First Division; the second time in as many seasons that Atherton LR have provided us with this stat!

Heaviest Defeat
1-6 v Charnock Richard (away), Hallmark Security League First Division

Most Consecutive Wins
5 - that run at the end of the season

Most Consecutive Games Unbeaten
6 - again, that run at the end of the season from the 1-1 draw at AFC Blackpool to the final-day 3-0 win at Silsden

Most Consecutive Games Without a Win
7 - from the FA Cup loss at Trafford to the 1-4 home defeat to Widnes

League Doubles
6 - Stockport Town, Ashton Town, Atherton LR, Holker Old Boys, Daisy Hill, Silsden

Percentage of League Points Gained by Venue
49% at home and the remaining 51% away

League Points Gained as a Percentage of Total Points Possible
48% - a bit of a dip from last season's 55%

Impact of Cheadle Scoring or Conceding First
We highlighted this last season as a telling trait of ours and do so again because the stats are very telling! Simply put, if we score first then the likelihood of us getting something from the match is increased. See for yourself....

What Happened When We SCORED First?

...and What Happened When We CONCEDED First?

2016-2017 Season Review: In Words

From Penistone to Silsden: The Story of Cheadle Town 2016-2017. A play in two parts.

Act One: This Season Can't End Quick Enough

It started in the hills of West Yorkshire...

Our reward for our top-six finish the previous season was a ticket into the FA Cup competition, starting in the Extra Preliminary Round. Due to scheduling this was to be our first competitive match of the season; an odd way to literally kick things off.

After conceding within the first five minutes we came though 3-1 winners and set off on a mini FA Cup run that most clubs at our level would be more-than-happy with.

NPL Division One outfit - and giant-killers of yore - Northwich Victoria were dispatched easily in the Preliminary Round with a trip to Trafford in the 1st Qualifying Round bringing the mini-adventure to an end, but not before Mikey Sherrington had put us into the lead and given the NPL side an almighty scare.

The joy that our FA Cup exploits brought masked the frustration of a disappointing start to our league campaign.

A remarkable point at home to St Helens Town thanks to three goals in stoppage time failed to spark us into any form of consistency. Wins against Ashton Town and Chadderton were the only league victories in an August and September more marked by defeats to the division's new boys - Oswestry, Sandbach and City of Liverpool - and an inexplicable home loss to Eccleshall.

Much - far too much, perhaps - has been made on here about our record at Holker Old Boys. After finally burying the hoodoo last season we went and committed it to never-shall-be-mentioned-again history following a splendid 5-2 win.

The latter half of October would see a mini-revival with wins at Atherton LR, a draw at Litherland REMYCA and an impressive home win over Prestwich Heys but that wasn't before a 1-6 drubbing at Charnock Richard, a defeat that resulted in a lot of soul-searching in the dressing room afterwards.

As October became November we exited three cup competitions in successive matches and suffered a frustrating 2-4 reversal at St Helens Town before Ashton Town were then taken care of at Park Road and two draws claimed at AFC Blackpool and Whitchurch Alport, the latter seeing an impressive, battling performance and Dane Smith saving a penalty right at the death.

Another poor run of losses then took us into December and as we came away from Carlisle City we were languishing in the bottom half of the table with only six league wins to our name.

Act One league stats: Played 26: Won 6, Drew 5, Lost 12.

Act Two: I Don't Want This Season To End

Bacup Borough must be sick of the sight of us.

At the start of last season we snatched a 5-5 draw with a penalty some thirteen minutes into injury time (after being 1-4 down at one point) and repeated the late heroics again this season; Liam Tongue's double in stoppage time meaning we came away with a 3-2 win.

A win that set us off on a decent run right through to the season's conclusion.

Stockport Town - at that point in utter disarray - were easily beaten on Boxing Day at Park Road followed by a thoroughly deserved draw at home to Whitchurch, featuring the goal of the season from Justin Pickering, and then a 5-2 home win over Silsden.

A ill-tempered day - on and off the pitch - at Sandbach United was the only blot from that Bacup match through to mid-February as Daisy Hill, Holker and Carlisle were defeated at Park Road with our now-customary win at Eccleshall the final match in this block.

Oddly enough, what had started versus Bacup was ended versus Bacup.

A 0-1 home defeat to them started a run of four defeats that were all lost by the odd goal: away matches at Alsager, Widnes and Prestwich were all 1-2 and all three were games where we should have come away with something.

Any outside chance of the play-offs were mathematically buried by the time AFC Blackpool came to Park Road and got themselves a 2-2 draw. With five tricky-looking matches remaining, was the season going to peter out into a damp squib?

Absolutely not. Twenty goals were scored and just three conceded as five consecutive victories were notched up.

First up were Stockport Town on Good Friday. To us, just another match. To others, a chance to front-load it with "big local derby" bluster. They were left with egg on their faces as we swept them aside 5-1 in one of the most complete performances of the season.

A trip to promotion-chasing City of Liverpool was next on the Easter Monday and, with what was surely the result of the season for us, we came away with a creditable 2-1 win. Daisy Hill were then hammered 4-1 on the Wednesday to bring three matches in six days to a perfect conclusion.

On a fun afternoon at Park Road, Atherton LR were then hit for six in a match that will be remembered for Dane Smith's contribution with an away trip to Silsden for the final day seeing us round things off with a solid 3-0 win; another match that will always be remembered for Dane Smith's contribution.

Something of a curate's egg of a season. The good parts? Rhys Webb clocking up 26 goals in all competitions; the FA Cup mini-run; the bit at the end; Easter.

...and it ended in the hills of West Yorkshire.

Act Two league stats: Played 19: Won 12, Drew 2 Lost 5

Silsden 0-3 Cheadle Town

So that's that. We'll pick the bones out of the 16-17 season in the coming weeks when we review what happened but, as far as the here and now is concerned, it has been a wonderful end to the season.

Another solid performance against a half-decent Silsden outfit continued our barnstorming end to the campaign: 5 consecutive victories with 20 goals scored and just the 3 conceded.

The clean sheet was admirably maintained by John McIlwaine.

He was called into action as early as the 2nd minute to make a good parry and then thwarted their no10 who was through on goal just after the half-hour mark. Had he not been successful with an amazing double save on 58 minutes it wouldn't have counted anyhow (as the linesman's flag was up) but that would be unfair to tarnish a remarkable stop.

By that time we were two goals to the good thanks to a double from Rhys Webb in the first half.

We had already seen Mike Sherrington denied at the last by the Silsden keeper before Rhys collected the ball on the edge of the box on the 18th minute with two markers in attendance; shifting the ball inside onto his right foot he then curled a beauty into the corner of the net.

With just two minutes of the first half remaining he set off down the left and into the area with, again, two Silsden defenders tracking his every move. With consummate patience he waited for said minders to commit themselves before cutting inside and driling home from close range.

That was goal number 26 for Rhys and in the second half he should have clocked up numbers 27 and 28.

Benefiting from a kind ricochet off the referee's heel he was clear on goal only for him to lash his effort horribly wide and then on the 80th minute was perhaps given far too much time to think as he had all the time in the world in the box to pick his spot but ended up curling it wide.

It was at this point that Dane Smith entered the field to reprise his unfamilar role up front for the third time this season.

Surely convinced that his chance to get on the season's scoresheet had passed against Atherton LR the week before when he somehow missed from a yard out, he mustn't have believed his luck when Rick Whyatt's benevolence gave him another opportunity two minutes into stoppage time and with the last kick of the match.

Through on the right and looking set to score, Rick unselfishly squared for Dane....

For me to report that the whole Cheadle bench erupted as if we had won the First Division title should tell you that he managed to crash home a left-footed howitzer into the top corner, bringing a not-so-perfect season to the most perfect end possible.

And let's remember it that way.

Summer beckons and with it focus on 17-18. Watch this space for a review of what went before it.

TEAM: McIlwaine, Todd, Banda, German, Tongue, Pearson (Burton), Hincks, Blackwell (Smith), M Sherrington (Whyatt), Webb, Dunn. SUBS: Burton, Whyatt, Smith (gk)

Cheadle Town 6-0 Atherton LR

"It might be one of those...where once we get one goal, we'll end up getting a hatful"

After an uneventful opening 20 minutes these words - uttered by the Mystic Meg stood next to me - were more in hope than anything else. We had huffed and puffed with only a wayward Rhys Webb effort from long-range to speak about.

When Mike Sherrington went through on 24 minutes (only to plant his effort in the keeper's midriff) there were signs that we were starting to click into gear.

Three minutes later George Blackwell gave the keeper another easy chance to save after he met a Chris Sherrington cross from the left and then drove in a cross of his own from the right only to find absolutely nobody at the end of it.

Mike Sherrington then planted a free header straight at the keeper before we finally got our reward on the 38th minute from a rather unlikely source.

Davidson Banda broke free of his left-back role and carried the ball forward. No significant challenge was forthcoming from the LR defence so before he knew it he was inside the penalty area and given - and took - the opportunity to bury at the near post.

Chris Sherrington should have extended the lead when the ball broke to him free on the left of the penalty area and George Blackwell was then unlucky to see a mazy run down the right smothered by the keeper.

On the stroke of half-time we got that two-goal lead as Liam Tongue treated us to one of his specials, cutting in from the left and rifling home from distance.

Just as we had done at Daisy Hill earlier in the week, we netted within minutes of the restart of the second half.

Mike Sherrington had made good inroads into the penalty area but seemed to get the ball trapped beneath his feet just as he was about to shoot. Following close behind him was Matthew Todd who took over and lashed home.

Thabiso Magida then went agonisingly wide with a lob on 51 minutes before we got our fourth just five minutes later thanks to a Sherrington combination: Chris crossing from the left for his brother Mike to beat his marker and head home at the far post.

Not wishing to miss out on the goalscoring fun, Rhys Webb joined in on 62 minutes when he latched onto a neat through ball from George Blackwell to drill home from inside the area.

5-0 up and in absolutely no danger, Terry Hincks made a few substitutions.

Enter Dane Smith. Usually the one who stops the goals going in, he was given the chance - as he was during the last ten minutes at Widnes - to make a nuisance of himself upfront.

With the Cheadle bench and the vast majority of the Park Road attendees willing him to score, the footballing gods gave him his wish on the 87th minute as the ball scuttled across the goalmouth and into his path with the net as his mercy.

Unfortunately this footballing fairytale wasn't to have a happy ending, as he somehow skied the ball towards somebody's back garden in Tennyson Road.

Dane Smith almost writes himself into Cheadle history

He quickly made amends. Two minutes later he provided a lovely through ball for George Blackwell to slip it in under the keeper and net our sixth; a richly-deserved goal for George as he was desperately unlucky at Daisy Hill.

The ball nestles in the net after George Blackwell scores our sixth

Six different scorers, three from defence...and almost one from a goalkeeper. The (almost) perfect end to what is proving to be a perfect denouement to the season.

We take our proverbial partners for the last waltz at Silsden next Saturday.

TEAM: McIlwaine, Todd, Banda, German, Tongue, Pearson, M Sherrington (Burton), C Sherrington, Magida (Pickering), Webb (Smith), Blackwell. SUBS: Smith (gk), Dunn, Hincks, Pickering, Burton

Daisy Hill 1-4 Cheadle Town

It hasn't been a bad Easter at all, has it?

Despite having to play three matches in the space of six days we have come out of it with the cleanest bill of health: maximum points.

The play-offs died on us long ago but the aim thereafter was always to finish the season as strongly as we possibly could; and we're certainly doing alright thus far on that front.

Daisy Hill got within coughing distance of us in the latter third of the first half of this match but, if truth be told, we never looked in that much danger of being silly, out-Cheadling ourselves and throwing away a good position; two goals within the first four minutes of the second half killed this match - in our favour - stone dead.

We've not had many strikers to burst the 20-goal threshold of late - only the names Ben Brookes and Nathan Neequaye spring to mind - so step forward, into the (deserved) limelight Rhys Webb, who reached 23 goals in all competitions in netting a hat-trick.

Being the occasionally awkward soul that he is, Matt German made Rhys wait for his moment, netting the first of the night on the 8th minute by meeting George Blackwell's corner with the fiercest of headers.

Another header on goal surfaced on 15 minutes, this time from the pate of Chris Sherrington but his downwards effort bounced harmlessly over the bar.

Two minutes later Rhys was in on goal but unfortunately got his bearings all wrong and shot hopelessly wide. He was to get it right just before the half-hour mark.

Latching onto a neat through ball from Chris Sherrington, he advanced on goal and coolly swept home to double our advantage.

We then switched off a little and allowed the hosts a foothold in the match.

Luke Pearson had already cleared an effort off the line in last-ditch style before Daniel Gregory punished us with a neat finish off the post on 33 minutes to give us something to think about.

We thought that Thab Magida had restored our two-goal advantage on 39 minutes after he had rounded the 'keeper and rolled it goalbound but he was denied by a world-class clearance off the line.

Luke Hincks then saw a fierce drive gathered well by the keeper before Magida shovelled the ball over the bar from close range after connecting with a teasing Matt Todd cross from the right.

Any soreness from missing those gilt-edged chances didn't last long after the restart as we netted twice in the opening four minutes.

Virtually straight from the kick-off Rhys Webb seized on some hesitancy in the Daisy defence to latch onto a loose ball and have all the time in the world to stab it past the oncoming keeper.

Three minutes later and he was on the end of a diagonal lofted ball from the right, lobbing it over the keeper to give us a commanding 4-1 lead.

One player who was desperately unlucky not to get onto the scoresheet was George Blackwell. Three mazy runs into the box after the hour mark went undeservedly unrewarded and, to add to the ill fortune, he was injured in his third attempt and forced off with an sprained wrist.

Substitute Mike Sherrington had two excellent chances to add more polish to the scoreline, seeing one effort hacked off the line and then firing straight at the keeper when clean through with James Dunn then screwing the ball inches wide of the post in injury time when in a decent position in the box.

Just two to go. Two. Where has the time gone...? Atherton LR visit Park Road for our last home match this Saturday.

TEAM: Smith, Todd, Banda, German, Tongue, Pearson, Hincks, C Sherrington, Webb (Dunn), Magida (Burton), Blackwell (M Sherrington). SUBS: McIlwaine, Burton, Christopher, M Sherrington.

City of Liverpool 1-2 Cheadle Town

Whilst Cheadle Town effectively have nothing to play for this season, they are certainly not making life easy for their opposition as was witnessed on Bank Holiday Monday with a deserved victory at promotion chasers City of Liverpool.

Second half goals from Rhys Webb and Dean Nolan sealed the victory in front of a record breaking 691 crowd.

The first half saw few goal scoring chances for either side as resolute defending stopped the attacking play.

City of Liverpool had a chance on 35 minutes when header was excellently saved by Dane Smith. This was following by a half chance from Cheadle’s Luke Hincks who fired wide of the post on 41 minutes.

HT: City of Liverpool 0 Cheadle Town 0

The game started to open up in the second half and Cheadle were grateful for the strong defence.

Cheadle had a good chance to take the lead on 70 minutes when Rhys Webb took the ball past the keeper but could only cross it agonisingly across the line of the goal with no one availbale to convert.

Webb was rewarded with a goal on 75 minutes when his initial shot from the edge of the area was only parried by the keeper into his path and he finished from close range.

Cheadle increased their lead on 83 minutes when Dean Nolan rose to head home a corner.

City of Liverpool did reduce the arrears 4 minutes into injury time and it was too late for a comeback as the referee called time immediately after the restart.

Stockport Town 1-5 Cheadle Town

The pre-match "big derby" and "bragging rights" hyperbole finally gave way to a game of football on a blustery Good Friday at 1.00pm.

Regardless of who we were playing - Real Madrid, Barcelona or, in this case, Stockport Town - a win was required to arrest the run of five-without-a-win that we had undeservedly racked up. The job was executed in emphatic style.

An edgy opening quarter-hour was broken by the first attempt on target when Rhys Webb tested the home 'keeper with a shot from the edge of the box that was palmed over.

Some sloppy play on our part then resulted in a chance for the home side which Dane Smith was thankfully equal to, racing off his goal-line quickly to smother the oncoming danger.

Then on 25 minutes a controversial moment. Stockport's no5 blatantly right-hooked Liam Tongue as everybody was waiting for a corner sending Liam into a crumpled heap. Unfortunately - and annoyingly - the incident wasn't spotted by the referee and the atmosphere would have been even more poisonous had the said offender's header from the corner crept inside the post instead of hitting it.

But thankfully there is something called karma, and it started to kick in just before the half-time whistle was sounded.

Thabiso Magida - who had come on for the struggling-with-injury Justin Pickering - drove in a shot that was palmed away by the home 'keeper with the loose ball pounced on by Rhys Webb who blasted home from the angle to give us the lead.

Three minutes into first-half stoppage time our advantage was doubled, and it was Rhys Webb on-hand again, coolly turning home a teasing George Blackwell cross from the right.

Dane Smith was out quick from his line again right at the start of the second half to thwart danger before we got our third with the second half only four minutes old; Magida netting one for himself this time, cutting in from the right and drilling home inside the near post.

Dean Nolan - on for the injured Tom Russell - flashed a shot just wide on 69 minutes before we turned it into a thrashing on 73 minutes: a good advantage was played by the referee allowing George Blackwell to seize onto a loose ball and beat the keeper to it, poking it through his legs.

The home side then had a minor decent spell, one in which they grabbed a consolation goal on 79 minutes before we made the result even more emphatic with just three minutes remaining thanks to substitute Rick Whyatt who worked himself free on the left of the penalty area before seeing his effort take a slight deflection and spin in over the keeper's body.

A complete performance that, as alluded to earlier, achieved one main target: breaking the type of winless streak that no team wants. If you want to chest-beat about winning a "derby" then be our guest.

TEAM: Smith, Todd, Dunn, German, Tongue, Pearson, Hincks, Russell (Nolan), Webb (Whyatt), Pickering (Magida), Blackwell. SUBS: Whyatt, Banda, Nolan, Magida.

New Clubhouse Officially Open!

After nearly two-and-a-half years of coping with temporary measures, Park Road finally has its own clubhouse it can be proud of.

On the evening of Thursday 6th April 2017 members of the committee, current squad and special guests gathered at Park Road for the official opening of the new clubhouse, a project that has been in the making for quite a while.

At the start of the 2014-15 season we decided to demolish our old clubhouse that had been standing at Park Road since the 1960s.

Via the use of small caravans and portakabins we just about managed to survive the rest of that season. We took delivery of a small unit from Stockport Grammar School for the start of the following season and that served as our clubhouse - very well it has to be said - up until the present day.

That unit will remain and houses the new toilet facilities with a plan to convert the remaining space into a players' lounge.

The new, larger unit arrived at the start of this season and was converted into what it is today thanks to the very hard work of a whole host of committee members and volunteers.

We look forward to welcoming you all to the new clubhouse!

Club President Alwyn Thompson officially declares the new clubhouse open

Below is a video (4mins 30secs) that highlights the background to the new clubhouse and what it means to us to finally have it finished.

Prestwich Heys 2-1 Cheadle Town

Another frustrating 90 minutes. Another defeat by the odd goal.

A match of baffling juxtaposition. Not that many absolute clear-cut chances on record but the feeling that we did enough to come away from Adie Moran Park with a result. Equally frustrating was the fact that John McIlwaine had relatively little to do except pick the ball out of his net twice.

We started brightly and were one up after just six minutes.

Matthew Todd tried his luck from range with his stinging drive cannoning off the underside of the crossbar; first to react to the loose ball was Mike Sherrington who nodded home.

We then saw plenty of the ball in the opening half-hour and perhaps should have gone further ahead; if only somebody would have stuck their legs out to the couple of crosses that were zipped across the Prestwich goalmouth in this period.

After being troubled by no more than a few easy crosses to catch, John McIlwaine was beaten for the first time on 36 minutes when Jacob Wood was at the far post to head home from a corner.

We were gifted a great opportunity to perhaps retake the lead just before half-time but the poor clearance from the Heys keeper wasn't capitalised upon, and in our hesitancy the ball was cleared to safety.

Five minutes into the restart Heys repeated the medicine to take the lead, Shaun Johnson this time up to meet a corner with a header.

From that point onwards any decent chances came the way of Cheadle.

Rick Whyatt steamed through the Heys back line on 55 minutes only to fire his effort over the bar, Thab Magida met a right-wing cross with a firm header on 77 minutes but also put it over with Mike Sherrington then nipping in to beat the keeper to a through ball, only for his poke over to refuse to drop into the net.

With five minutes remaining Mike Sherrington then had a glorious chance to level matters. He latched onto a well-timed through-pass from Magida and bore down on goal. In his attempt to round the keeper the angle on goal became more difficult and his shot was side-netted.

Six matches to go. With struggling AFC Blackpool at home this Saturday it's perhaps the ideal opportunity to arrest this run of defeats and give the tail-end of this season a bit of shine.

Best of luck to Prestwich Heys in their bid for the play-offs. The 3 points they picked up last night certainly keeps them in the hunt in what is proving to be an intriguing race for the top six places.

TEAM: McIlwaine, Todd, Dunn, Russell, Tongue, Pearson, Hincks (Banda), Blackwell (Webb), Whyatt, M Sherrington, C Sherrington (Magida). SUBS: Smith (gk), Webb, Banda, Magida, Pickering.

April Preview

This is it: the run-in. Sadly this season's isn't tinged with the potential of chasing a play-off spot but we could certainly have a say in how the top-six pans out given that we are playing two of the contenders within the next four weeks.

All statistics are correct at the time of writing

Wednesday 5th
Prestwich Heys (away)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: a 2-0 home win towards the end of October.

Position in table: 8th, 66 points from 33 matches

Form: WWWLLD

No meetings between the teams in last five seasons at Park Road.

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Saturday 8th
AFC Blackpool (home)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: a rather drab 1-1 draw back in mid-November

Position in table: 19th, 26 points from 36 matches

Form: DLDWLL

No meetings between the teams in last five seasons at Park Road.

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Friday 14th
Stockport Town (away)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: a 2-0 home win on Boxing Day

Position in table: 10th, 52 points from 36 matches

Form: WWDLWL

Last five seasons at Lambeth Grove:
2015-16: won 5-3
2014-15: did not meet
2013-14: did not meet
2012-13: did not meet
2011-12: did not meet

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Monday 17th
City of Liverpool (away)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: a narrow 1-2 defeat in the First Division Trophy

Position in table: 2nd, 74 points from 35 matches

Form: WWWDWW

Apart from the First Division Trophy match this season, no previous meetings between the two teams in Liverpool.

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Wednesday 19th
Daisy Hill (away)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: a 4-0 home win at the end of January

Position in table: 16th, 39 points from 33 matches

Form: LWDLLD

Last five seasons at New Sirs:
2015-16: won 1-0
2014-15: lost 3-4
2013-14: won 2-0
2012-13: won 3-1
2011-12: won 2-1

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Saturday 22nd
Atherton LR (home)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: a much-needed 3-0 away win back in mid-October

Position in table: 20th, 21 points from 34 matches

Form: WLLLLL

Last five seasons at Park Road:
2015-16: won 10-1
2014-15: won 2-1
2013-14: drew 1-1
2012-13: won 1-0
2011-12: did not meet

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Saturday 29th
Silsden (away)
Hallmark Security League First Division

Previous meeting: an entertaining 5-2 home win in mid-January

Position in table: 14th, 44 points from 33 matches

Form: LLDWLW

No meetings between the teams in past five seasons at Silsden
 

Widnes 2-1 Cheadle Town

And bang goes our unbeaten record at the Select Security Stadium, albeit narrowly.

During the last 25 minutes of this match it looked as though we were capable of keeping it intact. As the 65th minute ticked over we sprang into life and almost clawed back a 0-2 deficit.

It was a dangerous-looking - and hastily-cleared - Chris Sherrington cross from the left that got us going.

From the resulting Luke Hincks corner all manner of mild mayhem ensued in the Widnes penalty box with the loose ball finding the feet of Liam Tongue, only for him to sky his effort.

Three minutes later Luke Hincks ploughed his way through the home defence before laying off to Chris Sherrington who sent in another dangerous ball that had to be dealt with quickly.

On the 78th minute we got our reward. Chris Sherrington was instrumental again, volleying the perfect cross from the left for Rick Whyatt to steal into the box and head home from close range.

Two minutes later Rick had netted what we thought was the equaliser but it had turned out he had literally given it a helping hand...and was booked for his efforts.

The introduction of isn't-he-usually-a-goalkeeper Dane Smith to the outfield gave us a bit of beef in the midfield but it sadly wasn't to be as the clock beat us.

But, as they say, the damage was done long before our impressive stint from the 65th minute onwards.

As early as the 7th minute John McIlwaine fumbled a corner from the left with Widnes' Chad Whyte gobbling up the loose ball at the far post with the hosts also sending a free-kick inches over and then hitting the post with a long-range effort before the half-hour mark.

They perhaps should have gone into the break 2-0 up but their no11 made a horrible mess of his chance when completely unmarked at the far post on the 38th minute.

In the opening two minutes of the second half, the perfect demonstration of the theory of "fine lines".

We had robbed Widnes of possession on the edge of their own penalty box but perhaps dallied that little bit too long with the ball with Rick Whyatt's resulting effort being blocked. One minute later, and up the other end, Widnes work a nice combination on the right before whipping a low ball in for Chad Whyte to sweep home his second of the match from close range.

A damaging defeat in more ways than one because, given the other results this weekend, in a blink of a mathematical eye the play-offs are now all-but out of reach for us.

With potential promotion and play-off contenders to face, we now become one of those teams where others look to us for favours. Good for them...but what we're concerned with now is the strongest possible finish to the season.

A trip to City of Liverpool on Saturday awaits.

TEAM: McIlwaine, Todd, Dunn, Russell, Tongue, Pearson (Crosthwaite), Hincks (Smith), Blackwell (Burton), Whyatt, M Sherrington, C Sherrington. SUBS: Smith (gk), Burton, Crosthwaite.

Cheadle Town FC Tour of China 2017

Cheadle Town FC have a rich tradition of travelling abroad to play matches, a tradition that has taken them as far as Cuba and Brazil.

As many as 96 matches have been played overseas...and now we're pleased to announce that this May will see the 100th being played in China.

The squad will set off from Manchester Airport on Saturday 20th May 2017 and, over a 14 day period, will play 4 matches in two different cities with the final match - the 100th to be played overseas by Cheadle Town FC - taking place in China's capital city Beijing.

The club will be looking for sponsors for the trip so if you want to offer your assistance then please get in touch with club chairman Chris Davies on 0161 428 2510.

An official press release will be issued in the very near future with more details about the trip. Please direct any media enquiries to cheadletownfc@icloud.com