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Cammell Laird 2-0 Cheadle Town
It was a frustrating opening weekend to the 2019-20 campaign as we went down 0-2 at Cammell Laird
Let’s get the negative statistic out of the way first.
This was the first time that Cheadle Town had lost their first competitive match of the season since the 2007-08 campaign. Funnily enough that was a 0-2 away defeat and all (at Padiham, in case you are wondering) but my memory serves me correct enough to recall that it was nowhere near as frustrating as this one.
Yannick takes a tumble
After a shaky start in which we conceded in the 3rd minute, we laid siege to the Cammell Laird net with the ball always managing to find an outstretched limb in its path.
The match was barely three minutes old when we conceded our first of the season.
Cammell Laird broke down the right and Danny Whiting looked to be winning the race to a threaded through-ball but then hesitated slightly, allowing Lairds’ Ollie Nugent to nip the ball around him and slide home from an angle.
That was to be the home side’s last meaningful shot on goal until the 88th minute when they got the second; Danny Whiting had pushed a fierce shot out wide, only to see it returned square and tapped home by Michael Furlong.
Patrick Davin making his presence felt
In between those two goals, more so in a concentrated spell in the first half, we had chance after chance.
On the 11th minute both Ben Brooks and Ashley Woodhead saw efforts blocked at the near post with Aaron Taylor then picking up a cross from Patrick Davin and seeing his drive spin off the keepers legs and harmlessly over the bar.
Patrick got in on the act a minute later, using his quick feet to garner himself a shot, only to see that effort stopped right on the line.
It continued. Patrick then rifled one straight at the keeper with a fluid passage of play setting Yannick Machado Le Gal in on the right only for his effort to be blocked at the near post.
Let’s dance
On 35 minutes Patrick Davin then tried the audacious, craftily flicking an Ashley Woodhead cross narrowly over the bar before Aaron Taylor’s neat turn-and-shot on the edge of the area was saved on the line.
A Patrick Davin free-kick that cannoned off the keeper’s legs (he would have felt that) was the last Cheadle shot in anger before the half was out and, bar a moment where Le Gal just couldn’t connect onto a Woodhead free-kick early in the second half, the final half-decent chance we created for the rest of the afternoon.
A frustrating afternoon but if half the chances we created end up in the back of the net for our next league match then we will be bringing home three points.
Onwards.
TEAM: Whiting, Hamzat, Machado Le Gal, Clarke (Knight) (Rakundo), Gaskin, Johnson, Woodhead, Rezayan (Kayode), Davin, Taylor, Brooks. SUBS: Knight, Piggott (gk), Phelan, Rakundo, Kayode
NWCFL Fixtures for 2019-2020 Released
The First XI’s fixtures for the forthcoming season were released at 10.00am this morning
The full fixture list for the First XI’s forthcoming campaign in the First Division South was released this morning at 10.00am.
A quick guide to the season’s fixtures; you can click on the image for a larger version
We start our season away on the Wirral with a trip to Cammell Laird on Saturday 3rd August with the following weekend seeing our first home match at Park Road when St Martins come to visit.
Our main derby match versus Cheadle Heath Nomads has yet again been arranged for Boxing Day with us having home advantage this time around during the festive season; the return match is on Easter Monday.
Other matches of note include an early midweek visit to West Didsbury & Chorlton on Tuesday 20th August and the two matches versus Abbey Hey - in early November and early April.
Please note that all dates are subject to change. Keep an eye out on Twitter for any changes throughout the season.
NWCFL ‘Domestic’ Cup Draws Made
The start of the 2019-20 season must be near; the league have made the draws for their two ‘domestic’ cup competitions: the Macron League Challenge Cup and the First Division Cup.
As far as the League Challenge Cup is concerned, we were granted a bye to the 2nd round where we will face a trip to Wythenshawe Amateurs or Chadderton.
For the First Division Cup we face a long trip up the M6 to face Cleator Moor Celtic in the 1st round. Should we be successful in this tie we will then travel to Alsager Town for the second round.
Watch this space for further news re fixtures as the start of the season draws nearer.
The FA Vase draw for the Preliminary Rounds is usually done in early July and the league fixtures are released mid-July.
2019-20 Pre-Season Training Has Begun!
The first league match may not be until Saturday 2nd August but our squad are already being put through their pre-season paces!
The first workout of the summer took place at Park Road today!
2018-2019 Season Review: In Numbers
The 2018-19 season in numbers for all you stats fans out there….
The end-of-season tradition. We look at the same statistics year-on-year and compare and contrast.
Final League Position and Points
16th place with 40 points. 13 fewer points than last season. :-(
Home League Record
5 wins, 3 draws, 11 defeats - only one more win at home than last season but more defeats.
Away League Record
6 wins, 7 draws, 6 defeats.
Goals Scored (in all competitions)
78 in total - only 28 at home and the other 50 away!
Goals Conceded (in all competitions)
92 in total - 37 at home and 55 away.
Goals Scored Half-by-Half (in all competitions)
35 in the first half; 43 in the second half
Top Scorer
Rhys Clooney
Biggest Win
13-0 v Stone Dominoes (away), Hallmark Security League First Division South
Heaviest Defeat
0-7 v Sandbach United (home), Hallmark Security League First Division South
Most Consecutive Wins
3 - from the 4-0 win away at Barnton near the start of the season to the 3-2 home win v Eccleshall on August Bank Holiday Monday that took us top of the table….
Most Consecutive Games Unbeaten
6 - the run leading up to Christmas from the 2-2 draw away at Vauxhall Motors to the 1-1 draw at Abbey Hulton United after which the season started to unravel…..
Most Consecutive Games Without a Win
8 - the horrible run that took us to the season’s end, from the 0-3 home defeat v Barnton to the final day of the season.
League Doubles
3 - Wythenshawe Amateurs, Stone Dominoes, Ellesmere Rangers
Percentage of League Points Gained by Venue
42% at home and the remaining 58% away
League Points Gained as a Percentage of Total Points Possible
38% - a drop from last season’s 42%
Impact of Cheadle Scoring or Conceding First
Yet again this is quite telling where Cheadle Town FC are concerned. If we score first then we are more than likely to get something out of the match. Take a look….
WHEN WE SCORED FIRST....
WHEN WE CONCEDED FIRST...
2018-2019 Season Review: Players Awards
A rundown of who-won-what at the Presentation Evening at the start of the month….
A full rundown of the players who collected awards at the Presentation Evening earlier this month….
FIRST XI MANAGER’S PLAYER
Robbie Wallis
FIRST XI PLAYERS’ PLAYER
Rhys Clooney
FIRST XI YOUNG PLAYER
Rhys Clooney
FIRST XI EMERGING PLAYER
Callum Knight
RESERVES MANAGER’S PLAYER
Mo Rokundo
RESERVES PLAYERS PLAYER
Kieran Alley
RESERVES YOUNG PLAYER
Kieran Alley
RESERVES EMERGING PLAYER
Craig Barnett
Cheadle Town 0-2 Cheadle Heath Nomads
It was another disappointing day at Park Road as Cheadle Town’s final home match of the season resulted in defeat to near-neighbours Cheadle Heath Nomads.
Everything that could have gone wrong during this 90 minute spell, did.
A goal from an ex-Cheadle Town player for the opponents, a Cheadle Town bench that resembled an episode of ‘Casualty’ before half-time and a second goal for the opponents that was pure comedy cuts. When it’s not your day….
A brisk start from us saw us carve out two half-decent opportunities in the first ten minutes.
Desley Osakwe got himself into space on the edge of the area on the 7th minute and looked to be in a good position to shoot but he was crowded out by the Nomads defence and found his space limited, resulting in him shooting wide.
A minute later and Rhys Clooney nipped in following some confusion in the Nomads’ defence, only for him to see his effort hastily cleared.
Nomads’ first foray came on the 12th minute when Adam Stevens was forced to make a good stop at his near post.
And then two injuries that really derailed us. First of all midfielder Conor Naughton limped off having twisted awkwardly on the dry pitch and then centre-half Ollie Hatfield-Banton saw his day cut short with a bad knee injury.
…and there endeth Ollie’s day
The only remaining action of the first half saw Nomads take the lead on 42 minutes.
A quickly-taken free-kick on the left caught us napping a bit and the cross was headed home by unmarked ex-Cheadle Town midfielder Callum Collinson.
Our start to the second half mirrored the one we made in the first, carving out two decent chances in quick succession once again.
On 56 minutes Callum Knight placed a teasing cross in from the left that fell at the feet of substitute Shaq Lewys but he somehow skied his effort over the bar from close range.
One minute later Rhys Clooney powered through down the left and looked set to score but the Nomads keeper got a vital touch to it to force the effort wide.
Robbie Wallis and Rhys Clooney
On 62 minutes Nomads then squandered an identical chance in front of goal and would have gone further ahead four minutes later if it weren’t for Robbie Wallis acrobatically clearing a lobbed effort off the line.
As the match entered the final ten minutes Adam Stevens made another great stop as Leon Grandison’s near-post volley was beaten away with Rhys Clooney then latching onto a slide pass from Joe Neild only for him to place his effort straight at the keeper.
‘Deadly’ Desley Osakwe
For all of Adam Stevens’ efforts it was a shame the match ended the way it did. A minute into injury time he misjudged a clearance straight to Nomads’ Kirkby who kept his head, rounded Adam and slotted home from the edge of the area.
Only one more match to go. With plans for next season already in the offing 5.00pm this Saturday can’t come quick enough. It’s been one heck of an indifferent season….
TEAM: Stevens, Phelan (Neild), Wallis, Naughton (Rezayan), Dunn, Hatfield-Banton (Lewys), Russell, Knight, Osakwe, Clooney, Christopher. SUBS: Lewys, Rezayan, Neild, Whiting (gk).
Cheadle Town 0-2 Stone Old Alleynians
It’s now one win in ten league games as Cheadle Town fell to a home defeat on a disappointing day at Park Road
“There’s no place like home”.
We would disagree at the moment. Since the turn of the year we have struggled at Park Road; four league matches, four defeats. There’s two more opportunities to put that right before a rather indifferent 2018-19 campaign comes to a close.
All smiles during the pre-match warm-up!
Looking back at my notes for the match I recorded only one direct shot on-target for us in the whole match; that came on 18 minutes courtesy of Rhys Clooney. His effort from the edge of the area could have been one of those that the keeper failed to spot due to the traffic in front of him but he was alert enough to gather it safely.
Other than that we would have to admit that Stone OA had the better of it overall.
As early as the 3rd minute they got themselves down the right (their no7 Williams was a nuisance all match) only for their tall striker Tomlinson to head over from close range.
A couple of their corners then came to not-very-much before they forced a world-class save from Danny Whiting who somehow managed to push a point-blank header over the bar.
Rhys Clooney
Stone OA really should have been 1-0 up shortly before half-time as they contrived to act out the miss of the season. A header back across goal was on a plate for one of their unmarked strikers a yard out from goal but, with the goal gaping, he opted for a low header and somehow managed to scoop it over the crossbar.
They did take the lead early in the second half, though.
On 53 minutes Ollie Hatfield-Banton unfortunately got the ball stuck under his feet on the edge of the area with possession lost to Stone OA’s Samuel Wilson. With Danny Whiting off his line Wilson coolly clipped the ball over him into the far corner of the net.
Stone OA increased their lead on 72 minutes with a penalty that David Ablewhite crashed home.
Four more to go. Two at home, two away. Next up is a visit from Alsager Town this coming Saturday. 3.00pm kick off…..
TEAM: Whiting, Neild, Daulby (Son), Naughton, Dunn, Hatfield-Banton, Wallis, Egan, Clooney, Lewys (Benjamin), Knight (Ntalu). SUBS: Christopher, Ntalu, Son.
Cammell Laird 1-1 Cheadle Town
The points were shared in a closely-contested affair on the Wirral
Given that these two teams have the highest number of drawn matches between them I suppose there shouldn’t be any surprises at the outcome.
It all could have been very different, however, were it not for some heroics from Cheadle goalkeeper Adam Stevens early in the second half.
Conor Naughton
In a match of very few clear-cut chances, Lairds will be ruing their most golden of opportunities on the 50th minute when they were awarded a penalty, only to see our Adam beat it away to safety.
That was the only real excitement of note in a rather staid second half. Rhys Clooney did manage to get himself in a good position on the 58th minute but shot straight at the keeper, Shaq Lewys saw an effort deflected wide and Joe Neild sent a long-ranger wide of the post just as the match was coming to an end.
Rhys Clooney had better luck in the first half when his effort on the 37th minute had brought us level.
Latching onto a neat through ball down the left channel he won his individual battle with his marker before breaking clear and drilling home past the onrushing keeper.
Congrats all round after Rhys Clooney pulled us level
Lairds had got themselves ahead in the 13th minute after, arguably, having the better of the early exchanges.
They had hooked an effort inches wide as early as the 2nd minute following a long throw-in from the right and had forced Adam Stevens into a good block some ten minutes later.
Mr Clooney with the Lairds defence in admiration
He could do nothing about the moment of quick-thinking shortly after, though.
Possession was lost in our midfield and, spotting Adam Stevens off his line, Lairds’ Elliott Jones thumped a shot from 35 yards over the top of his head and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Rhys Clooney then had his first chance to pull us level after a Nathan Ntalu shot had found its way to his feet on the edge of the area. He twisted and turned away from danger only for him to fire just over the bar.
Next up is a visit from high-flying Stone Old Alleynians this Saturday, 3.00pm kick-off.
TEAM: Stevens, Neild, Daulby, Naughton, Dunn, Hatfield-Banton, Ntalu, Egan, Clooney (Knight), Rodriguez (Wallis), Son (Lewys). SUBS: Wallis, Lewys, Knight.
Eccleshall 0-0 Cheadle Town
It was another frustrating day for Cheadle Town as the points were shared in a goalless encounter at Eccleshall
Another draw that doesn’t do anything to try and help crowbar ourselves away from 11th spot in the table where we seem to have taken root.
Both teams were complicit in providing the goalless scoreline, seemingly reluctant to put the ball in the net when presented with gilt-edged opportunities to do so.
Eccleshall probably had an inkling it was “going to be that kind of day” as early as the 28th minute. Having won themselves a penalty they were denied by an excellent Danny Whiting stop top his left, grasping the ball in flight without having to parry it to further danger.
Danny’s palms had been stung as early as the first minute when he had to deal with a well-taken free-kick but from that moment until the penalty it was all Cheadle.
Nathan Ntalu was sent scampering free down the right in the 9th minute but was denied by an excellent tackle before an outrageous passage of play on the 15th minute where we had three consecutive chances to take the lead.
Rhys Clooney bombed down the right and put over a delicious cross for Ben Brooks at the far post but his close-range effort was saved. The loose ball then kindly fell at the feet of Callum Knight but his effort was blocked with Tom Ratican then collecting and arcing a shot goalwards that was saved again.
Our “going to be that kind of day” moment came just before half-time.
Nathan Ntalu was sent racing clear down the right once more where he managed to delicately lob the onrushing keeper. Despite the fact he was following the ball in to absolutely make sure it somehow got cleared off the line at the last minute. We’re still not sure how it stayed out.
Connor Naughton keeps tabs on Eccleshall’s tricky no11
The second half started with more Cheadle pressure.
Ben Brooks nodded the ball back across goal for Ntalu to race onto but the keeper put in an excellent block at his near post to deny us yet again. From the resulting corner Ollie Hatfield-Banton plunged a free header over the bar.
The hosts then had a golden opportunity to break the deadlock moments later but dilly-dallied over it for far too long and did actually have the ball in the net just before the hour mark but was ruled out for offside.
Eccleshall went in on the Cheadle goal down the left twice more and squandered as the match became a bit more stretched towards the closing phase.
On 81 minutes the returning Rhys Webb clipped one in from the edge of the area but saw it tipped over the bar and that was the final decent effort on goal for either side as the match descended into an unfortunate climax with Ollie Hatfield-Banton receiving a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident.
The referee did his utmost to try and avoid a deadlock by adding on a hefty eight minutes of injury time but, having witnessed the profligacy from both sides, should have realised that was never going to bear fruit.
Next up is the visit of Maine Road this Saturday, the first of just five home matches remaining for our First XI.
TEAM: Whiting, Wallis, Ratican, German, Dunn, Hatfield-Banton, Ntalu (Magida), Knight, Clooney (Osakwe), Naughton, Brooks (Webb). SUBS: Osakwe, Magida, Webb.
Five-a-Side Pitch Bookings
Did you know we have a five-a-side court at Park Road Stadium? Bookings are being taken now!
Did you know we have a five-a-side football court at Park Road Stadium?
If you want to book a kick-around then do it quickly as booking slots are starting to go; it’s New Year…everybody wants to get fit again!
Interested? Simply call James on 07714 829696 or email him at james@cheadletown.co.uk to see what is available.
Slots are charged at £35 per hour and discounts are available for block bookings.
Cheadle Town 4-1 Ellesmere Rangers
A Rhys Clooney hat-trick powered Cheadle Town to a comfortable win over Ellesmere Rangers
After a clutch of matches against local opposition, teams coached by ex-coaches, top six etc. it made a pleasant change to engage in something without some sort of extra agenda.
On paper this looked like a home banker: Cheadle Town in great form, Ellesmere Rangers struggling at the foot of the table and to those who didn’t attend the resulting 4-1 scoreline would have been everything they expected.
It didn’t tell the whole story, mind, as Ellesmere certainly had their chances up to the moment we took the lead and gave some indication as to why their recent form had picked up.
Danny Whiting was called into action as early as the 4th minute, getting down low to block as Ellesmere broke down the right with our crossbar being clipped on 11 minutes when we suddenly found ourselves with a three-on-two situation.
Rhys Clooney - Mr Hat-Trick
Our first decent half-chance came on 17 minutes. Sheriff’s deep cross from the right was headed back across goal by Ben Brooks to Ben Christopher who looped a header just inches wide.
Ellesmere then had two more chances of their own leading up to the half-hour. Danny Whiting grateful for the shot being driven straight at him first of all with a simple give-and-go on the edge of our area setting somebody free on the right only for him to balloon his effort over the bar.
On the half-hour mark came the swing as we were awarded a penalty which Rhys Clooney duly buried.
Eight minutes later and we were two clear. Rhys Clooney collecting the ball in midfield, driving forward and shoving everything out of his way before rifling a left-footed shot into the roof of the net.
Kefala Sheriff
For all their efforts Ellesmere were now two-down in the blink of an eye.
Just after the hour mark Rhys netted his hat-trick, latching onto a Ben Christopher square ball from the left and taking his time to set himself before blasting home from close range.
Ellesmere got one back on 71 minutes from a penalty of their own which Adam Davies netted and then could have reduced the deficit even further on 80 minutes were it not for an excellent stop by the legs of Danny Whiting.
The match was put to bed just four minutes later, and for a change it wasn’t Rhys Clooney who was instrumental!
The tireless Connor Naughton saw a powerful drive cannon skywards via a pair of Ellesmere legs and spin towards the area. A bit of “after you, Claude” ensued in the Ellesmere defence and Ben Brooks was quickest to react to the falling ball, stabbing home past the hesitant keeper.
Thankfully New Years football isn’t a thing at this level and the players get a bit of a break after what has been a semi-hectic schedule. Next up is a really tricky away match at promotion-chasing Abbey Hulton United. Given our recent run of form we should have nothing to fear.
TEAM: Whiting, Wallis, Ratican (Neild), German, Dunn, Naughton, Sheriff (Ntalu), Taylor, Clooney, Christopher, Brooks. SUBS: Neild, Huynh, Ntalu, Todd.