Another Bank Holiday "Treble Header"

There were plenty of games a long way from home with a lot more riding on them but I simply couldn't be bothered facing up to the the Bank Holiday traffic on the motorways. However I did manage to find myself a treble about an hour from home. Start the engine... 

1100 Warrington & District League Guardian Cup Final @ Cantilever Park, Warrington 
Billinge 2-0 New Street 
Att: 120 (h/c)

The Guardian Cup is the flagship Cup Final of the Warrington and District League. The game was played at Cantilever Park, the home of Warrington Town. This was my first visit there in 12 years.

On a baking hot morning, Cheshire League Billinge were two up at the break thanks to goals from Ryan McCabe (28) and Steve Taylor (30) and they really should have been further in front. After the interval New Street, also from St Helens, applied the pressure but simply couldn't find a way through and gradually wilted in the heat. 

From Cantilever Park it was a straightforward 10 minute journey across town for... 

1400 Cheshire League Premier Div.
Tetley Walker Sports Ground
Greenalls Padgate St Oswalds 0 
Altrincham Reserves 4 
Att: 55 (h/c) 

The fantastically monikered Greenalls Padgate St Oswalds, who were founded in 2003 by a merger of Greenalls FC and Padgate St Oswalds FC, were hosting Altrincham Reserves at the Tetley Walker Sports Ground. It is a great set up with a covered stand on the halfway line. The ground was once home to Tetley Walker FC who were members of the NWCFL from 1994 until they folded in 2001. 

It was a comfortable victory for Altrincham, whose youngsters played some good football and scored some quality goals. Dylan Scanlan put Alty ahead (pictured right) before Joel Swift made it 2-0 with a tap in. Scott Smith then beat four GSPO defenders before slotting home the third goal and a late penalty from Darius Palma completed the scoring.

The final game of the day saw me head back down the M56 and across the border into Wales for...

1830 Welsh National League Div.1
The Gwyn 
Maesgwyn 2-5 New Brighton Villa 
Att: 32 (h/c)

Maesgwyn are in their second season at this level, having been founded in 2002. The ground is on Lilac Way, just down the road from Wrexham's Racecourse Ground, where you can see the floodlights in the distance. The Gwyn is a railed off pitch with no spectator facilities but on a balmy evening there was no need for any cover!

There was a minutes applause pre-match for Martin Ford, the Queens Park manager who died suddenly earlier in the day.

The match was a comfortable win for New Brighton, who in all honesty missed enough chances to at least double their score. The Gwyn goalkeeper was not a happy bunny as despite making several fine stops to keep the score down, he was certainly expressing his displeasure at the defence in front of him!

The New Brighton Villa goals came courtesy of Matty Williams (2), Jordan Dorrington, Ben Hughes and a Pete Morris free-kick rocket. Dan Roberts replied twice for the home side.

WYTHENSHAWE TOWN (Ericstan Stadium)

CHESHIRE LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION, WYTHENSHAWE TOWN 1-0 CREWE FC, ATTENDANCE: 32 (h/c)

The poor weather forecast made me abandon my original plan of a trip north of the border so I opted to keep it local-ish today. A couple of groundhoppers I know said they were heading to Wythenshawe, so I thought why not join them?

A quick tweet to the club around midday confirmed all was well and the game was on so I made my way along the M56. Unbeknown to me my fellow groundhoppers had also been in touch earlier on when the confidence of the club was not so great, so they diverted to the sunnier climes of South Wales. I was already parked up at the ground when I got the message. Oh well another time then.

Wythenshawe is a town south of Manchester, which became part of the city in the 1930's, but historically the town was part of Cheshire. At one time it boasted the largest council estate in Europe. One of my all time musical heroes, Johnny Marr, was raised in Wythenshawe.

The football team play at the Ericstan Stadium on Timpson Road. The ground is named Ericstan as a tribute to Eric Reynard and Stan Orme who were prime movers in Wythenshawe's early days. Without doubt Wythenshawe are a club on the up.

In 2014/15 the club transferred from the Manchester League to the Cheshire League where they won the quadruple of Division Two League Title, League Cup, Altrincham FA Senior Cup and the Manchester FA Amateur Cup. The club were promoted once again in 2016 and are now in the Cheshire League Premier Division.

Speaking to a club official and he said if the club are in position to accept promotion to the North West Counties League this season then they definitely make the move up. The club have already had an informal meeting with the NWCFL ground grading chairman and know what work needs to be done.

The ground already has two stands on each side of the pitch so the only additional work needed would be enlarging the dugouts and the erection of floodlights. There is a large social club at the ground, though this afternoon there were probably more people inside watching the Burnley v City game on TV than outside watching the game.

It was bitterly cold but, thankfully, frost and fog free. Well it was fog free at kick off but boy did the mist descend as the game progressed.

The game was a full blooded encounter with some very robust challenges being made, but the referee kept things in control.

Both teams had opportunities but the game was settled on the hour when Cyril Owalabi was played in to fire home for Wythenshawe. The home side had further chances to extend their lead but in the end it was a solitary goal that separated the two teams.

This was my first ever dip into Cheshire League and thoroughly enjoyable too. I will almost certainly be taking in more games in this league!

Spot the ball!