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Ashton Town 0 Cheadle Town 1
I was a bit apprehensive going into the game after our trouncing at the hands (or feet) of Kirkham & Wesham, then I thought it was maybe a chance for us to get that game out of our system and bounce back with a result today and basically that’s what happened.
OK, so we were a little fortunate and had a bit of the luck that normally deserts us, but maybe we deserved it - as the saying in football goes ''you make your own luck,'' and we did.
It was a really entertaining game with both teams giving it their all, then there was the weather to contend with, rain, hail and some sunny spells all at once. The team that Trev and Steve put out was not a lot different to the Kirkham game, but we had taken about 8 defenders with us - so it looked to me like we were going for a draw at best.
Adam Roberts was back in centre of defence alongside Barry Cotterill and Neil Logan and Scott Clarke and Ben Roberts playing wing backs, Arron Riley and Brad Fallows were in centre mid and we had three upfront in Carl Buchanan, Scott 'The Wasp' Flanagan and Mike Myers.
We started well and after 3 minutes a cross from Arron Riley was met by Brad Fallows and the Ashton keeper made a good save, then a huge clearance from Baz Cotterill almost bounced over the said keeper, then Arron had a chance but shot wide after a good run and at this point we were playing well and deserved to be in front - which we were on the 18th minute, when the unfortunate Ashton number 10, Martin Rigby, put past his own keeper, whilst intercepting a good pass from Myers intended for Scott Flanagan.
Ashton would have been level on 35 minutes but for a great save from our keeper Anthony O'Keefe, who kept out a McNally free kick and then 6 minutes later, saved again from the same player.
Just before half time there was a clash of heads between the Ashton keeper and our Brad Fallows, which Brad seemed to come off the worse with a cut head and we were down to ten men until the half closed.
The second half opened with Brad wearing a head bandage and Ashton in the ascendancy, O'Keefe was on hand to save from Paul Crewe and a few minutes later he saved from McNally again. Trev and Steve had reverted to a 4-5-1 formation, so we had surrendered a lot of the pitch to Ashton this half, with us trying to catch them on the break, knowing they had to attack us to equalise.
On 65 minutes, O'Keefe again kept us in the game, with a tip over the bar from a Rigby header, as he tried to make amends for the own goal.
Then on 75 minutes, we could have been two up, as Myers put Flanny through with a one on one with the Ashton Keeper, but he shot wide and in the last 15 minutes we were hanging on as Ashton went for the point, Trev and Steve brought on Sam Hall for Flanny and Steve Moores for Mike Myers and we managed to see the game out 1-0, but it was a close thing as Arron Riley headed off the line with our keeper beaten in the 92nd minute.
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Norton United 2 Cheadle Town 1
Well what a difference a few day makes, a huge improvement from the Oldham game but we still end up on the wrong end of a scoreline.
The team got caught up in the jam on the M6, so arrived late, it looked at one point as though the kick off might have to be put back to 3:30pm, but the referee decided that was not needed, so we didn't have the greatest of warm ups but we started well, Trev and Steve went with a 4-4-2 formation, with Arron Riley and Mike Myers upfront.
We welcomed Andy Lindon back in midfield and Adam Roberts came in at Centre back which pushed Scott Clarke from full back into midfield, a role he plays well, giving us speed down the flank.
The game started with a bit of a snow storm which soon subsided and we were quick off the mark with Mike Myers having a shot saved by the Norton keeper after 50 seconds.
Then it was our keeper Moores to make a good save from Jimmy Dunn, the Norton no. 9. then on 16 minutes Myers goes round the keeper, who had kicked the ball straight to him, but loses the ball in his feet and the chance has gone, then our keeper Moores, does exactly the same, with the ball going straight to Dunn, but fortunately he skies it.
Then we score, an exquisite chip from about 30 yards out, over the keepers head and into the net from Johnny Hussein, 1-0. Norton are a bit taken aback by this and we are in the ascendance now as Arron Riley gets away from his marker, but the keeper makes a good save, 2 minutes later Arron lays a cross at the feet of Ben Roberts who shoots wide.
Just before half time Dunn gets another chance but he also shoots wide, HT 0-1.
Norton start the second half well and make a couple of chances in the first ten minutes, then on the hour mark Arron beats his marker again and lays an absolute peach of a cross onto the head of Mike Myers, but somehow he gets underneath it and the ball goes over the bar. A goal now would have seen us home I'm sure.
Arron then had a shot saved and Brad Fallows also worked the keeper from a clearance from a corner, then Myers almost made amends for his missed header when he fired in a great shot but the Norton keeper made a good save and it looks like we are going to hang on to our one goal advantage.
Trev and Steve bring on Brad Brokenbrow for Mike Myers and we go 4-5-1 with Arron up on his own for the last 7 minutes, but our plans are blown out of the water when on 86 minutes Allen scores for Norton and just to rub it in, that man Dunn scores from a cross-come shot in the 90th minute to win the game for Norton, unbelievable!!
What do we have to do to win?
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Oldham Town 7 Cheadle Town 0
Now here's a good question for you - how do you make a 7-0 defeat sound interesting?
Well everyone got here on time, so there was a good start. Unfortunately, it didn’t get much better after that. We started with Neil and Baz at centre Backs and Tom Seaton in midfield with Brad Fallows, Arron Riley, Johnny Hussain and Carl Buchanan in a 4-5-1 that saw Mike Myers up front on his own, to stifle Oldham's Curley and Scanlan - well that was the theory anyway.
As you can see it didn't work, this match was over as a contest after 21 minutes, which by that time Oldham were three up. The 3 players that they had upfront were like greyhounds and they ran us ragged - having said that the Oldham keeper made two top class saves, from Brad Fallows header and later on his free kick - so it wasn't all one way traffic.
To be fair, it sounds like a mauling and we never looked like winning, but we didn't play that badly either - although I can hear you laughing at that. What happened, was that we made three defensive mistakes in the first 20 minutes, and all three were punished, on another day two of those may have been missed, but it wasn't our day and after five minutes a loose ball from our midfield let in James Curley to race past our static defence and rifle home. It was our keeper Moores first action.
Next up was Andrew Pheby, after 12 minutes another clanger and our defenders are AWOL as he picks his spot past Moores. Then a rash tackle sees Curley make it 3 from the penalty spot. In between these Arron Riley had a good header well saved by the Oldham keeper, if that goes in, one never knows.
We then weathered the storm and actually started to play a bit of football, it was like we had suddenly woken up and on 37 minutes Brad's header was flying in only for the Oldham keeper to make an outstanding save to tip it over the bar. You see it could be 3-2 now.
On 40 minutes and we are the better team now, Myers is fouled on the 18 yard box and Ben Roberts curls one just over the bar, HT 3-0.
The second half starts and we are still playing well, maybe Oldham have taken their foot off the pedal. On 52 minutes we get another free kick and this time Brad Fallows takes up the mantle and beats the wall with a curler but not the Oldham keeper. Again he makes a terrific save as he couldn't have seen it till late - that could have been 3-3 on another day.
That unfortunately was our last shot in anger, as after this Oldham were stirred into action and clinical wasn't in it - on 61 minutes Darren Scanlon makes us pay for a bad clearance from an Oldham free kick to make it 4-0, then Stuart McGill makes it 5 after another defensive blunder, Curley then makes it 6 with a shot from outside the 18 yard box and just to rap it up, McGill makes it 7 and strolls through unmarked from a great through ball and by this time we have more or less given up and just want the ref to blow his whistle.
So there you have it - interesting or not - we have to get this out of our system and put it down as a bad day at the office, its off to Norton next and we need a result - Come on Cheadle!
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Cheadle Town 3 Darwen 3
Well, you know the famous film quote 'life is like a box of chocolates, you never know whatcha gonna get', well that would just about some this game up. This is what you get at Park Road - excitement!
Cheadle started with a rather strange line-up with Brad Fallows playing in midfield with Andy Lindon and Neil Logan playing at centre half in place of Adam Roberts, up front we had Brad Brokenbrow partnering Carl Buchanan.
We got off to a flyer and nearly scored within the first minute when Scott Clarke's cross was headed just wide by Carl, a few minutes later and Johnny Hussain shot wide, 5 minutes later we are in front! Johnny's through ball was measured perfectly for Carl to run onto and finish, 1-0.
At this stage we were playing with confidence, knocking the ball around and causing Darwen some problems, Ben Roberts beat two players but shot wide and then Arron Riley shot wide after a good run, Carl could have got his second when he easily outpaced his marker but shot straight at the Darwen keeper.
Then Darwen put a few passes together and Moores had to make his first save of the game after 25 minutes, but then Carl did get his second from Andy Lindon's through ball and we were cruising, 2-0.
Unfortunately, we did a Cheadle and relaxed just before half time and let in 2 goals, when first Clarke scored and then Fogarty scored on 43 minutes, then Cheadle's Arron Riley thought he'd put us back in front when his header was kicked off the line having beaten the keeper, right on the stroke of half time, 2-2.
Second half started with Darwen and their renewed confidence putting some good moves together and our keeper Moores’ was having his hands kept warm but just as Darwen were looking good for a draw, we started to play again and Carl went on a mazy run that almost produced a goal but the Darwen keeper was alert to it and made a good save.
Then it was Brad Fallows turn to make the Darwen keeper earn his money when he had two shots saved within a minute of each other after more great work by Carl but then we were fortunate when Clarke missed a sitter at the other end.
Then we got a free kick and without Rob Brocklehurst, who has now moved onto Runcorn - all the best Rob, we are sure you'll get some goals with your free kicks for them. But now we needed a free kick taker and up stepped Ben Roberts and what a finish, 3-2 to us - bend it like Ben. It was a great strike, good enough to win any game but just as we are celebrating another win - we throw it away arguing with the ref over a Darwen free kick and have Johnny Hussein sent off for verbal abuse, the ref lets Darwen take the kick without blowing his whistle and Johnny hasn't left the pitch, of course Darwen score and mayhem breaks loose - we have Ben Roberts sent off for telling the ref off or something to that end.
Just to make matters worse - Carl Buchanan, who up to this point had had a great game almost got our fourth and his hat-trick when he went round the keeper and shot into the side netting, unbelievable.
Darwen think it's their birthday and we feel mugged! the game finishes 3-3 and we're off to Oldham next - Come on Cheadle!
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Blackpool Mechanics 5 Cheadle Town 0
What a strange game football is, you can never predict what is going to happen. We went into this game on the back of two good results and had a very strong team with us, the only exceptions being Dean Martin and Andy MacDonald who are both suspended and Andy Lindon who is still injured.
From the off it looked like Blackpool wanted the result a little more than us, even though it was very wet and windy, they put together some nice football and had a few chances early on but they came to nothing. Our first effort on goal came after 20 minutes when Scott Flanagan shot over the bar after a pass from Arron Riley.
You can tell that Blackpool had the majority of the play, when I tell you that our next effort came on 35 minutes, when a Mike Myers shot that was goal bound hit 'Flanny' and almost knocked him out! and rebounded wide of the goal.
Flanny also had our last effort of the half, when again he shot wide of the mark, but at least it was a shot in anger, needless to say we were pleased to go in 0-0 at half time and maybe for Trevor and Steve to get the lads to regroup and start playing the way we know they can.
Whatever Trevor and Steve did say to the lads at half time it didn't work! as the second half started with Blackpool on the attack again and in the 53rd minute Ali scored with a header from a free kick.
A second goal from Gibson on 57 minutes saw us having a bad day at the office, as Ali set up the goal and Gibson looked unmarked to me as he slotted home.
The game became very one sided after this and then we went from bad to worse when effectively the match was over as a contest in the 75 and 76 minutes when first Warwick scored, followed by Webster who made it 4-0.
On 80 minutes Trevor and Steve swapped the forwards around and gave Brad Brokenbrow and Adie James a run out, taking off Flanny and Mike Myers but there were a lot of candidates that he could have taken off.
It couldn't get any worse! or could it? It did, on the stroke of full time we conceded another. Substitute Kinsey made it 5-0 and although Blackpool played well, to be brutally honest, we were dreadful, maybe we didn't deserve for the score to be 5-0 but there were too many of our lads who looked jaded and at times we couldn't put two passes together. When you think that that is one of our best attributes on a good day, you'll know what I mean.
The less said the better - roll on Darwen - Come on Cheadle!
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Cheadle Town 2 Daisy Hill 0
Another good result for the lads on the back of the Norton result in midweek, we've stopped the rot and have two clean sheets as well.
Trevor and Steve started with our usual pairing of Baz Cotterill and Adam Roberts in the centre of defence, where Matty Smith and Neil Logan had done so well against Norton, but both were back with the reserves for their game at Oldham, Dean Martin is still suspended so we started with Mike Myers and Scott 'The Wasp' Flanagan upfront.
We got off to a great start reminiscent of the game against Norton where we battered them for 20 minutes but couldn't score, well the opposite happened here, we scored two in the space of ten minutes, with Carl Buchanan scoring after 15 minutes and what a great pass from Rob Brocklehurst that set him up with just the keeper to beat and then after 25 minutes another goal, this time for Scott Flanagan, who got the goal in midweek against Norton, after a great cross from Arron Riley, the ball was flicked on by Baz Cotterill and hooked in on the turn by 'The Wasp' to make it 2-0.
Well, at this stage I am thinking that we would go and build on this and do our goal difference a power of good, but as this is Cheadle it was not to be and we seemed to stop playing, to be fair to Daisy Hill they shut up shop and did it well, for the last 10 minutes of the first half they were actually the better team.
Daisy also started the second half well and our keeper Steve Moores, who had been an onlooker for most of the first half was starting to work a sweat up, also Trev and Steve had had to bring on Johnny Hussein for Scott Clarke at full back, after Scott had pulled up just before the break with a groin strain.
On 50 minutes Daisy actually had the ball in the net, only for it to be ruled offside but it was a close thing and I was looking for us to get going again but it wasn't happening, we had started the game really well but had now gone into cruise control and couldn’t get out of it. To freshen things up, Trev and Steve brought on Brad Brokenbrow for Mike Myers.
Add that to the fact that the Daisy Keeper, our ex-keeper Danny Smith, was now having a 'blinder' and made a fantastic double save on 65 minutes, when a great run by Arron Riley took him past two Daisy players and he crossed to Brad Fallows who must have thought he'd scored only for Smith to dive down to his right and push the ball out to Brad Brokenbrow, who also had his shot saved by the keeper on his way up, tremendous stuff.
Our keeper Moores, was also in action on 70 and 74 minutes to make two good saves, as Daisy realised they may get something out of this game but although it seemed a long, last 15 minutes, we managed to keep a clean sheet and win the game 2-0.
So we're off to the seaside this weekend let's just hope we can carry on this good run - come on Cheadle.
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Cheadle Town 1 Norton United 0
An incident happened in this game that has no place in the game of football and unfortunately it has happened twice during Cheadle Town games this season and that is the degrading sight of one player 'spitting' at another, it happened earlier in the year against Chadderton and it happened again in this match against Norton, although the player who did it got sent off, he didn't get sent off for 'spitting' - he got sent off for elbowing his opponent, in this case our winger Carl Buchanan, who also left the pitch for raising his arms to an opponent and was rightly sent off as well.
It's a shame that this incident happened and spoiled what was otherwise a very entertaining game, that both sides wanted to win for different reasons - ours, because after a recent poor run we find ourselves not too far from the foot of the table and Norton's case for winning it, was because after a good start to the season they find themselves tenth with a lot of games in hand, and if won, they could easily become 5th or 6th.
Anyway, it was Cheadle who got off to the better start and we had Norton penned in their own half for the first 20 minutes until they got their first corner which was cleared off the line by Ben Roberts. Trevor, our manager had started with a few new faces in this match due to suspensions and injuries, the reserves pairing of Neil Logan and Matty Smith, were awesome at the back replacing Baz Cotterill and Adam Roberts, we had new signing Tom Seaton replacing Andy MacDonald in midfield and also in midfield was another reserve Phil Corley replacing Andy Lindon and last but not least we had Steve Moores replacing the injured Peter Mellor in goal.
The Norton keeper saw a great deal of action in those first 20 minutes, saving shots from Ben Roberts, Phil Corley twice, a header from Matty Smith and a Brocky special that just flashed wide.
In these early stages, our winger Carl Buchanan had been giving his opponent a torrid time, getting in some great crosses for his team mates to fire in on goal, so it was a great shame when just before half-time he saw fit to push/slap his opponent after he tried to go past him and the full back elbowed him for his trouble. Carl said he was retaliating to the lad 'spitting' at him - but you cannot raise your arms to a player in the game of football and expect to stay on the pitch, HT 0-0.
The second half began as the first with us in the ascendence and our first attack resulted in Arron Riley, who was captain for the night, just shooting wide after beating two defenders, then the Norton keeper got lucky when Mike Myers charged down one of his clearances and the ball went wide.
As the match seemed to be petering out to a draw, it seemed to suit Norton whose ten men were quite happy for us to have the ball and we seemed to be running out of steam after a good performance for 70 minutes, so Trevor made two changes, he brought on Brad Brokenbrow and Scott 'The Wasp' Flanagan, for Phil Corley and Mike Myers.
This paid dividends almost immediately when a cross by Brocky hit the hand of a Norton defender and whilst everyone stood still expecting the referee to award a penalty, Flanny latched on to the loose ball and smashed it past the keeper, 1-0.
This brought Norton to life at last and we had to weather the storm for the last few minutes, before the ref blew for full-time and another deserved win for us at last.
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Cheadle Town 0 Maine Road 4 (Challenge Cup)
I have to admit I was really looking forward to this game, a quarter final against a team one division above us and you know the results that Cheadle have achieved in the past, against teams from a higher division.
And although I don't want to admit it, but apart from the first 20 minutes, when we totally outplayed our opponents, the rest of the game belongs to Maine Road, who in the end were just too good for us on the day.
I am not saying we were poor because we weren't. We started the game really well and Maine Road were rocked back on their heels a few times. For example, after only five minutes we could have been 1-0 up when Arron Riley went on a run and beat two defenders before unleashing a great shot that just went over the bar with the Maine Road keeper scrambling.
Then on 10 minutes, Dean Martin puts Andy MacDonald through but he just couldn't get enough purchase on it to beat the keeper, five minutes later and Johnny Hussain shoots over after good work from Deano and Macca.
Then it all changed - Andy Lindon was injured in a tackle and we conceded a corner from the outcome and Andy had to come off, so we defend the corner with 10 men and guess what? Maine Road score from it, a header from Chris Smith Maine Road's number 8, gets in a good header and we are 0-1 down.
Lindon had to be replaced by Scott 'The Wasp' Flanagan and he goes upfront with Deano who shoots over from a free kick on 35 minutes. At this stage Maine Road have ridden the storm and are beginning to put some passes together for the first time in the game, having got the goal against the run of play they have grown in confidence.
Just before half time, Dean and Baz Cotterill both have shots saved but on 38 minutes we are two down! Beckford the Maine Road number 9 shoots and Peter Mellor in our goal injures himself trying in vain to save it, he collided with the post, being Mellor he just got on with it after treatment - he's made of girders! HT 0-2.
Second half begins and Maine Road start the better and Mellor makes a good save to stop a third goal. On 70 minutes Trev and Steve send on Mike Myers for Arron Riley, who has a calf strain. Soon after Ben Roberts sends a 'screamer' towards the Maine Road goal and is unlucky to see their keeper make a great save.
But on 78 minutes our cup dream is over as Smith scores his second by lobbing Mellor and its just not our day. Andy MacDonald is replaced by Brad Brokenbrow and we are still trying as 'The Wasp' makes the Maine Road make another good save but two minutes later and Maine Road tie the game up with a fourth, Beckford gets his second after Cheadle defenders had charged down several shots, his shot just evaded everyone and rolled into the net. This scoreline definitely flattered Maine Road as even the ref said that they were not four goals better than Cheadle.
But let's not be bitter, it was a good cup game played in the right way and we should wish our visitors all the best for the semi finals - so good luck Maine Road. If you are as clinical as you were today you should have a chance.
On a positive note to finish it was good to see Carl Buchanan named amongst the substitutes after his bad injury - welcome back Carl!
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Holker OB 1 Cheadle Town 0
Well, after last week's poor result that ended our interest in the Vodkat Cup, I was hoping for a somewhat better performance and result on our 'jolly boys' outing to Holker, unfortunately it was not to be.
As we met up at Cheadle, for the minibus to take us on our long day out, the weather was sunny and the lads were in good spirits with the exception of Scott Clarke, Adam and Ben Roberts, who all missed this trip.
When we got to Holker we got a good reception from the Holker officials and learned that they have included a few 17 and 18 year olds in their line up, we had 'Flanny the Wasp' in our line-up as Trev and Steve rested Mike Myers for the cup game next week.
The game itself, I have to say was poor, although I'm sure both teams gave their all, but the amount of clear cut chances could be counted on one hand.
After half an hour and both teams had carved out chances but not troubled the keepers and the first real chance came on 35 mins, when Holker number 9 Tod Bamber, who for me was Holker's M.O.M., headed wide from a free kick.
On 40 minutes, Andy Lindon shot wide from the first of one of his five shots in this game which all ended up wide! better luck next week Andy, HT 0-0.
We just get out from our half time cuppa to see the Holker lads celebrating, unfortunately two of our defenders leave the ball to one another and Phil Morris makes the most of it by putting Holker 1-0 up.
This stuns our lads into action and with a bit more accuracy we could and should have equalised, but although we huffed and puffed we never really looked like scoring - apart from that is, when Arron Riley had the ball in the net only to find he'd been ruled offside!
Trev and Steve brought on Brad Brokenbrow to add some pace on the left wing with 'The wasp' making way. But it was all a bit 'too little, too late' and the game petered out to a 1-0 defeat for the lads. So, after having a nice journey and some friendly hospitality at Holker, it was the usual 'ifs and buts' stories on the way home - one day we will go up there and win! although I'm not sure what year!
I just hope we have our 'shooting boots' on for the cup match at home to Maine Road next Saturday!
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Cheadle Town 0 Chadderton 2 (Divisional Trophy)
If you want excitement then come down Park Road to Cheadle Town. I've just witnessed four sendings off (all Cheadle players and management), plenty of bookings, a referee that lost the plot and completely spoilt the game, an alleged 'spitting incident', a penalty claim for Cheadle turned down, 2 goals for Chadderton, oh and a football match in there somewhere.
The game started brightly enough and it was 'even stevens' for the first quarter of an hour, with both sides having openings but little to actually trouble the keeper's with.
But that was to change on 23 minutes when Paul Ashton scored for Chadderton from a mix-up in our defence which gave Mellor, in our goal, no chance.
That gave us a bit of a jolt and we battered 'Chaddy' for the rest of the half, but their keeper - who must get a special mention - was absolutely outstanding and kept the score 0-1 for them. First he saved from a tremendous strike from Rob Brocklehurst, then Andy Lindon beat two players and tried his luck but another save this time tipped round the post, last but not least, Andy MacDonald skipped past a couple of defenders and blasted towards the top corner only to see his shot tipped over the bar! tremendous stuff.
Then just before half time, Trev and 'Hillsy' had to make our first substitution, with Brad Fallows coming on for Mike Myers, just after this Arron Riley headed over from a corner and Andy Mac shot wide and the ref blew his whistle for half-time.
The calm before the storm - we kick off the second half and we started as we had finished with Andy Lindon shooting at the keeper and him making another very good save! this time the ball rebounded to Dean Martin but he stumbled and the ball was cleared.
Just on the hour and it was our keeper who had to be at his best to keep out a strike from 'Chaddy's' number 7, then at the other end Arron Riley went through on goal but slipped on a divot, at the vital moment and the ball rolled through to the Chadderton keeper.
Then in the 80th minute, we were denied a penalty, when Deano was pushed in the back in the Chadderton box, we didn't get one mind you, so Dean called the ref a something or other and ended up being sent off! so we're 0-1 down and now have ten men.
Trev and Hillsy now bring on Scott Clarke for Adam Roberts who has a groin strain and just to make things worse, 'Chaddy's' number 12, Taylor (who looked well offside!) goes through unchallenged and chips Mellor into our net to make it 0-2.
This is where 'all hell broke loose' as allegedly (and I didn't see the incident - but quite a few did!) the number 8 from Chadderton spat at one of our players and this incensed our club captain Barry Cotterill, who went over to remonstrate with the linesman, who he thought must have seen the incident and ended up being sent off by the referee, so we're down to nine men and 0-2 down.
Then this spilled over to the other players and the Cheadle dugout, who then had Trevor, our manager and Scott Flanagan, one of our substitutes, both sent off by the referee, whom by this time had completely lost the plot and the game and by the shoving and pushing that was going on, had lost the players as well.
A real shame, because what had started as a bright but physical game, had developed into farce, as he blew the final whistle, he left behind a rather bemused crowd, who felt that there were no winners today and this game will not be one to remember in the history of both clubs I shouldn't think.
And by the way, the 'match' finished 2-0 to Chadderton.
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Cheadle Town 3 Runcorn Linnets 2 (Challenge Cup)
Well, we always knew this was going to be a tough, hard fought game and it certainly turned out to be just that.
Just to make it a bit more interesting, Runcorn had signed Vinnie Braine our one time striker, just in time for him to make his debut against us.
Both teams went for it from the kick-off, but were canceling each other out in midfield, until we had the first proper chance on goal, when Mike Myers made himself a bit of space and ran at the centre-half, beat him and the keeper and unfortunately shot wide.
Runcorn also had a couple of chances that were blocked and resulted in corners that were cleared and at this stage, just coming up to half time things looked pretty even.
Then a short throw out to his full back by the Runcorn keeper was intercepted by Myers and his delightful chip over the said keeper ended up in the Runcorn net, 1-0.
That's how it finished at half-time and when the second half started it wasn't long before we were gifted a second goal! this time a mix-up between centre half and keeper ended up with Dean Martin tapping the ball into an empty net to make it 2-0.
Ben Roberts then had a recurrence of his neck injury he sustained in last week's game and had to come off, Trev and Steve then brought on Scott Clarke and we reshuffled at the back, as Scott went to right back, Johnny Hussein went to Ben's position at left back and James Heath went to right mid and Arron Riley went to Johnny's position of left mid - needless to say, whilst this was happening, Runcorn were getting themselves back into the game and from a corner they managed to pull one goal back.
Inevitably, the ball went in off Vinnie Braine and our luckless James Heath, but Runcorn were now on the up and they started to dominate the game - and then we had a second blow as our club captain Barry Cotterill had to go off injured, so on went Brad Fallows who slotted in at Centre half with a quarter of an hour to go.
With the enforced changes at the back and with Runcorn now looking for an equaliser and extra time looming we were definitely under the cosh and eventually Runcorn did equalise from another corner, this time O'Driscoll with a header to make it 2-2.
Runcorn now looked like finishing the stronger, but I've said this before in reports, that our lads are no pushovers these days, in the past losing a 2 goal lead would have meant we would have gone on to lose, but we are now made of sterner stuff and just when extra time was fast approaching we conjured up a winner.
The ball was fed to Arron Riley who made for the byline and he had two targets in the box, Deano and Scott Flanagan, who had come on for Mike Myers, he managed to pick out Deano and the ball ended up in the Runcorn net 3-2! what a cup tie and what a result.
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Cheadle Town 1 Ashton Athletic 3
After last week's good result where we played some really good stuff, especially in the second half, I was expecting more of the same for this game as well.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way as we huffed and puffed a lot and although we created more chances than Ashton, we weren't as clinical as they were.
We started off well and on 7 minutes, Mike Myers was the first to have a shot on target when he tried an overhead kick from a corner which just cleared the cross bar.
On 12 minutes and we had another chance when Dean Martin was cleverly put through by Rob Brocklehurst only to see the Ashton keeper make a very good save.
Ashton got their first chance on 16 minutes when McVeigh got himself in a good position only to shoot wide from a cross into our 18 yard box.
Andy Lindon was the next Cheadle player to try his luck but his shot was just over the bar and then we had to make our first change as Ben Roberts, our left back, was injured following a clumsy challenge from the Ashton No.7, so on came our club captain, Barry Cotterill, this meant changes in the back four where Scott Clarke went to right back, Heathy went to left back and Baz sat in at centre half.
After half an hour played and we were trying to pass the ball on a surface which started off well and is a credit to our groundsman, Colin, that the game was on at all! our game being the only one in our division, but as the game went on and more rain came down it started to get churned up and heavy going and both teams were getting bogged down in midfield.
Then just before half time, we saw two good efforts from Deano and Mike Myers, Dean curling one just wide, Mike making the Ashton keeper make another good save. HT 0-0.
Second half began with Arron Riley crossing for Dean to shoot at goal but he played Myers in who shot wide and our thoughts turned to, “are we ever going to score”. And what happens when you are on top and you don't score, the opposition does.
A cross from the right of our goal wasn't dealt with and Aspinall headed in unmarked at the back post 0-1, Ashton for the first time in the game were now on top and before we could get back in the game, they scored again, this time Mellor in our goal, made a great save initially but the ball was put back in and another header, this time by Lawton, made it 0-2.
Trev and Steve then made a double substitution and threw caution to the wind as they took off Heathy and Myers and put on Brad Brokenbrow and Scott 'The Wasp' Flanagan and put them both upfront, we were now playing 3-3-4 and we started to have a good spell of possession and on 75 minutes the Ashton keeper kept his team in the game with two great saves, one from an Andy Lindon free kick and then 2 minutes later from Deano, both looked odds-on a goal.
By now the Ashton keeper is beating us on his own as another good move by us was thwarted by him throwing himself at the feet of Rob Brocklehurst and then Scott Flanagan had a header saved. A cross by Azza then went begging as three of our players couldn't connect and it ended up going out of play.
To cap it all, Ashton then went down our end and scored! unbelievable - they've had four chances and scored 3 of them this time it looked like Mellor had it covered but was second to the ball as McVeigh made a very brave header over our keeper into the empty net 0-3.
We went down to the other end from kick off and Scott Flanagan rounded the keeper and scored a consolation for us. 1-3 and that's how it ended, we will have to show a bit more clinical finishing next week when we take on Runcorn Linnets, that's for sure! we had at least 9 chances to Ashton's 4, but that's football.
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Cheadle Town 2 Ashton Town 0
I was a little apprehensive as we walked towards the ground today after our 'mugging' last week by Blackpool and even more so when I heard the team news that we were without Andy Lindon and Andy MacDonald plus Carl Buchanan was at the game on crutches after his injury at last weeks match.
Well, we've still got a decent side out there, I thought, so we'll see what happens - don't forget we've already met Ashton twice this season where we won 3-0 in the F.A. CUP but lost to them 3-2 in the F.A. VASE.
The game itself, when it started was a mediocre affair in the first 15 minutes, when Dean Martin hit the post with a terrific shot, but there was not much else to shout about and Ashton didn't seem too interested either, only having troubled Mellor in our goal with two corners in the first half and no shots on target.
Deano had another attempt saved by the Ashton keeper, who looked like he was struggling with a thigh injury, just before the half finished and that was about it really, we had had the lions share of possession with out really having too many clear cut chances. HT 0-0.
Second half and Ashton came out a lot quicker, after probably having had a ticking off at half-time and they had a new keeper, the right full- back was in nets - so we were right there had been a problem.
But the Cheadle lads are made of stern stuff and we soon got back on top and started to create some more chances, one of them fell to Arron Riley who could only stab his shot straight at the keeper who did well to hurry him.
We had a couple more chances which the new keeper also did well to save, with whatever part of his body he could get in the way! but it was soon to change and what an absolute screamer, we have probably just witnessed the goal of the season at Park Road today.
The goal started with a cross from James Heath which was headed out to the edge of the 18 yard box and as it fell 'Azza shifted his body to make a great connection with his LEFT foot and the ball just flew into the net - you can't blame keeper's for those sort of goals.
Ashton tried to make a comeback after this setback and we were defending a little more but then we got a penalty. Brad Brokenbrow, who by the way, was making his first start, after having had a few run outs from the subs bench, got the better of a defender in the 18 yard box and the defender just hacked him down, before he could get his shot away, so up stepped Deano and we were 2-0 up.
This just about finished the game off, Deano did have another chance well saved again by the sub keeper, but that was just about it and we gained a good 3 points, after our disappointment last week where we had more chances than today but just couldn't put them away, today, we didn't have as many chances but did put them away - funny old game isn't it.
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Cheadle Town 1 Blackpool Mechanics 2
I felt like a pensioner who had been robbed twice in one day after this match - we had enough chances to win two games and lost! unbelievable.
The game got off to a slow start - although we were at full strength we looked like we had a new year hangover and for the first 15 minutes just felt our way into the game.
After that it was mainly one way traffic towards the Blackpool goal and boy did we have some chances, the better ones fell to Arron Riley, who on another day could have had a hat-trick!
Arron did turn provider in the 27th minute, when a lofted ball into the penalty area by Andy Lindon, was cleverly brought down by Azza, as he beat the keeper and then passed the ball back across the area into the path of the oncoming Dean Martin who finished it and we were 1-0 up.
Unfortunately the flood gates still didn't open and we had to struggle towards half time still battering down the door but Blackpool then had their best and probably first strike on our goal on 44 minutes, when their 'portly' number 9 missed a great chance to equalise. HT 1-0.
The second half started with us in the ascendency, still knocking the ball around and enticing openings in the Blackpool defence but to no avail - until when we had a 3 against 1 situation, with the three lads being Azza, Deano and Carl, we thought here we go 2-0 up! but unfortuanately we missed that chance as well!
The Blackpool keeper wasn't playing the game either, as he kept popping up to make some good saves from Carl Buchanan and Baz Cotterill, before Carl suffered a nasty injury and had to be carried off, we wish you a speedy recovery Carl and hope it isn't as bad as it looked.
Johnny Hussein came on for the injured Carl and then on came number 14 Cowell, for Blackpool and after this the game changed, as we couldn't cope with the new lads pace and before long he had set up the equaliser, first he took the ball off Rob Brocklehurst as he tried to shepherd the ball out of play and crossed for Hoogerwerf to score. 1-1.
We now had to get out of cruise control and couldn't, we were shell-shocked and to make matters worse Blackpool started to look for the winner and we were on the ropes! at this stage with about 5 minutes to go we would have settled for the draw, but it wasn't to be as Cowell went on to make our afternoon worse with a goal in the 88th minute and what started out as a stroll in the park, turned out to be a daylight robbery.
Well, we have another home game next week against Ashton Town and maybe we will have a bit more luck in front of goal then! I sure hope so.
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Cheadle Town 3 Holker OB 1 (Divisional Trophy)
Fortunately, the result went our way in this dour and at times dreadful, football game and we can now look forward to playing Chadderton at home in the next round.
The game started brightly for us as we rained a few shots in at the Holker keeper in the first ten minutes unfortunately most of them went wide.
Holker looked short on confidence and didn't really trouble our keeper until they managed a couple of corners after half an hour, the rest of the half was totally forgettable, HT 0-0.
Second half started like the first with us in the driving seat and Dean Martin had a shot saved by the Holker keeper on 50 minutes and then it was Mellor's turn in our goal to stop a shot from the Holker No. 11 on 55 minutes.
Then we got a bit of luck, Andy McDonald went on a mazy run and slid the ball across the 18 yard box to Carl Buchanan who initially slipped as he shot but immediately got up to put the rebound away and we were ahead 1-0.
Then a totally ridiculous wild kick at one of our players by the Holker keeper and some abuse to the referee got him sent off who had already been booked for saying something out of turn, which left his team mates 1-0 down and with 10 men. I bet his manager loves him.
Strangely enough, this brought Holker to life the stand in keeper played brilliantly, he made two fantastic saves from Deano and his team mates started to take hold of the game and it was no surprise when in the 88 minute up popped Chris Squirrel to equalise with a header from a free kick, 1-1.
Trev and Steve then sent on Mike Myers for Arron Riley and Scott 'the wasp' Flanagan for Carl and it was Myers who almost saved the game for us in the 91st minute when he went through but shot wide.
So into extra time we went hoping Holker's ten men would tire, but they started as they had finished the game in control, but it all changed in the 105th minute when Deano scores from a Macca cross and break the hearts of the Holker Boys who were just beginning to show signs of weariness and two minutes later the game is over as Flanny scores from a Deano pass.
Brad Brokenbrow came on for the last five minutes for Deano and Mike Myers hits the bar with the last kick of the game and we are quite content to put this game behind us and look forward to our next game away at Kirkham and Wesham.
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Cheadle Town 2 Padiham 0
Well it's about time we put the Padiham ghost to bed, our previous record against these lads isn’t very good and although Padiham huffed and puffed, we thoroughly deserved this result.
We started the game without our Club Captain, Barry Cotterill (injured), James Heath (injured) and Team Captain Johnny Hussain (suspended), but the lads did a tremendous job and we hardly missed them.
Padiham also had a few lads missing, notably our ex-striker Vinnie Braine, who has moved on to Chadderton and their other notable striker Paul Fildes, who has also moved on to Clitheroe.
Carl Buchanan was on the left side of midfield and had our first chance of note, when he was put through in the first few minutes, only to be ruled offside, but this was just a warning of things to come.
In the 17th minute we were ahead from a corner, as Arron Riley's front post flick on left Dean Martin with an easy tap-in! 3 minutes later and the Padiham number 7 crashed straight into our keeper Mellor, which laid the keeper out for a few minutes and it looked serious, fortunately, Mellor's a tough nut to crack and he got back up and carried on.
At this stage we were having the better of possession and could have had a couple more goals as we made lots of chances, Carl was giving the Padiham full back a torrid time and seemed to beat him every time he got the ball and his crosses and knock backs just evaded everyone in the box.
Dean Martin also went on a mazy run which ended with him just shooting wide. Then a great effort from Ben Roberts hits the post with the keeper watching! It was a shame that we took our foot off the gas and let the last 10 minutes before half time belong to Padiham, who finished the stronger, but we kept our lead and went in 1-0 up at the break.
Second half started with Padiham the stronger again and we had to ride with it for a while until Deano put us 2 up in the 53rd minute, with the same combination getting us the goal, from another corner Padiham hadn't done their homework as Azza again headed on from the near post and Deano swiveled and smashed the ball past the Padiham keeper and that was game over.
Trev and Steve then decided Deano had done enough and replaced him with Mike Myers in the 75th minute and a few minutes later on came Brad Brokenbrow to replace Carl Buchanan.
Arron Riley almost made it 3-0 in the last minute when a great run wasn't matched by his finish, which went wide and that was it! a good performance and a clean sheet to boot! Let's get ready to support the lads next Saturday against Holker at home - see you there.
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Stone Dominoes 2 Cheadle Town 2
What a wonderful afternoon's football and what a wonderful pitch to play it on.
When you consider that we didn't trouble the Stone keeper for the first twenty minutes, you will realise that this was a well earned point.
The truth is that whilst we were awful in the first half and had one real chance in that time, Stone were awesome in the same period and played some wonderful attacking football, which kept us pinned in our own half.
We kicked off and were one-nil down within five minutes, when Baz Cotterill misjudged a header and it went straight to James Curley, who gave Mellor no chance with his shot.
Our first corner of the game produced our one effort on goal - which was duly dispatched to the back of the net by Arron Riley's head and we went in a little embarrassed 1-1 at half-time.
To be fair our lads came out fighting in the second half and we started to play a bit of football ourselves, a couple of efforts on target by Baz Cotterill and Andy MacDonald from Deano's pass and then Mike Myers got in on the act but shot wide - this was 100% better than the first half and the young Stone side seemed to get a little rattled.
This was becoming our best spell of the game and just when we thought we would score - Stone did. Danny Brown, who for me was Stone's best player, fed off a misplaced pass by Rob Brocklehurst and smashed the ball past Mellor in our goal.
But the lads kept battling away and Brocky almost made amends with his header just going wide and with the next attack we equalised.
Mike Myers beat his man to a long pass from Ben Roberts and crossed to the six yard box where Dean Martin slid the ball past the Stone keeper to make it 2-2.
Then on the 75th minute a rash challenge by Deano got him sent off - so we knew we were in for a rough last 15 minutes with ten men.
Trevor sent on Carl Buchanan for Mike Myers and Scott Flanagan for Scott Clarke just to add some fresh legs for the battle to come - but the lads managed to repel everything Stone threw at us and we even got lucky when a Stone player hit the post with Mellor beaten in the dying seconds. You can't beat a Cheadle Town game for excitement.
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Eccleshall 1 Cheadle Town 2 (Challenge Cup)
What a game - end to end stuff, lots of chances for both sides and a last gasp goal - for us.
We started with a fit again Barry Cotterill on the bench and Scott Clarke playing centre half again after his good performance against New Mills last week, where to be honest, all the back four deserved credit.
After a bright start, we had our first chance after 10 minutes when Dean Martin was put through on goal and hit the bar with his shot, then at the other end Mellor had to be at his best to make a good save from Dwayne Spence , of Eccleshall.
We were playing really well at this point but were to be knocked back, when out of nothing, the Eccleshall number 10, Adlington, smashed a great shot into the back of our net, from outside the 18 yard box.
It took us a while to recover from this but we started to put some good passing moves together and this resulted in Johnny Hussain, Arron Riley and Ben Roberts all having good efforts blocked or wide.
Then we got our reward, Rob Brocklehurst hit an absolute screamer from 35 yards to equalise. HT 1-1.
Second half started with lots of chances for both sides and on another day Spence from Eccleshall could have had a hat-trick, fortunately for us he left his shooting boots in the club house!
Another good save from the Eccleshall keeper from Arron Riley and then another good save from Spence by Peter Mellor with both teams going for the winner.
Trev and Steve bring on Mike Myers for Carl Buchanan to add a bit of pace down the left and then Baz Cotterill comes on upfront in place of the injured Andy Lindon.
This move eventually wins us the game as from Barry's pass Deano hits the winner in the 90th minute and we are through to the next round at home to Runcorn Linnets.
Commerisations to Eccleshall whose players gave everything and could also have won it but for several missed chances, one of those chances was missed just 2 minutes before we took ours.
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Cheadle Town 1 Leek CSOB 2
What a disappointing end to what looked like being a really good match, when we kicked off at 3pm.
We got off to a flying start and first shot on target was Mike Myers when he took an early to test out the Leek keeper, unfortunately, he was up to it.
The game was being stifled in midfield by both teams and it was a while before any side got a chance until after 25 minutes when Arron Riley was put through, he took a touch and shot which beat the keeper but hit the post and was cleared.
But after 32 minutes we were in front and deservedly so, Mike Myers surged down the right wing beat his man and crossed for Andy Lindon to score, he missed, but Andy McDonald following up made no mistake, 1-0.
We then had two penalty shouts turned down, one for handball in the box when a Leek defender deliberately stooped to stop a cross field ball reaching Andy Lindon and again a few minutes later when Arron Riley went charging past a couple of Leek defenders and upended, according to the referee just outside the box! not inside as we all thought.
Half time came and went and if we thought our referee had made a couple of strange decisions in the first half, it got even more bizarre in the second as he let bad tackles go and booked several players for innocuous fouls or shouts.
It then got worse for us when the Leek number 7, Machin was allowed to run about 40 yards with the ball unchallenged and smashed a shot which hit the post before ending up in our net, 1-1.
More niggly fouls went unpunished before, inevitably, the players thought if the referee won't ref us, we will do it ourselves, which then resulted with a mass brawl on 55 minutes, with the said ref sending off our captain Johnny Hussain and Leek's goalscorer Machin.
The game lost its way a little after that and then Leek lost their centre half for a cynical foul on Andy Lindon to end a run towards the Leek 18 yard box.
This was the signal for us to launch several attacks on the Leek goal which resulted with McDonald just failing to connect a Lindon cross and a minute later Scott Clarke's long throw caused mayhem in the Leek goal mouth but was cleared after several shots were charged down.
Trev and Steve then took off Mike Myers and put on Adie James and Carl Buchanan for Brad Fallows who had taken a painful knock on his ankle earlier.
Just as we went for the jugular, Leek got a free kick about 30 yards out, after 86 minutes and would you believe it - their number 12 Rowe smashed the ball past Peter Mellor in our goal, to make it 1-2.
Now we needed to throw caution to the wind and the last few minutes became a blur, as we tried everything to equalise with our best chance going to Arron Riley who controlled a McDonald pass on the six yard box but slipped as he went to shoot and the Leek keeper made a brave save at his feet.
So, there it is, we have lost at home this season now and must put it out of our heads for Wednesday nights game against Oldham Town.
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Daisy Hill 1 Cheadle Town 2
Well, there is only one way to describe this game - dreadful! both teams struggled to put two or three passes together and failed.
The one consolation being, that we won the game and came away with the three points, but only just. I've not seen us play this badly for some time and miss as many chances.
The game started with both teams giving the ball away and not really creating much until after 10 minutes Brad Fallows, deputising for Barry Cotterill, who has a broken foot, shot wide. After this we managed a few chances with Arron Riley and Deano missing chances, the nearest Daisy came was after 17 minutes when their full back's shot went sailing over the bar.
A few minutes later and Mike Myers went through on his own but failed to beat the keeper, two minutes later and we were made to pay for those missed chances when Daisy striker Fairhurst beat Mellor and scored.
A minute later and we were having to sub Andy McDonald who had picked up a knock on his knee so on came Andy Lindon after 26 minutes.
A couple of chances went begging just before the interval and we went in 1-0 down and it was not looking good, we had had a good percentage of possession and chances but failed to convert any of them.
Just after half time we had a good header by Deano cleared off the line, but then he also got injured and had to come off, so on came Adie James and at this stage Daisy Hill were quite happy to soak up the pressure and try to hit us on the break.
But the game turned on its head on the 70th minute when a Daisy defender handled the ball from Arron Riley’s header which was goal bound, so Daisy were down to 10 men, Mellor took the penalty and scored 1-1. Then Daisy were down to 9 men when the keeper went over and said something to the referee, which the ref didn't like and off he went.
Now Cheadle piled everyone forward to snatch a winner and it paid off in the 91st minute when Jonny Hussain was found unmarked on the six yard line and he managed to stab the ball home, 1-2.
At least if we didn't play well we got a win but it was a close thing.
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Cheadle Town 2 Ashton Town 3 (F.A. Vase)
Well, this looked before the start, as a very winnable game for Cheadle after the lads display at Atherton Collieries, last week, in the F.A. Cup, until I saw the changes made to the side and with no Matty Smith, Dave Carpenter, Dean Martin or Andrew MacDonald and David Atkinson dropped to the bench, I began to wonder whether we would win against a side who were seeking revenge for a 3-0 defeat, a few weeks ago, here at Park Road.
Anyway, the game began and as you would expect it was 50-50 for the first quarter hour, then on their first serious attack, Ashton's Phil Howard shot and Mellor had to make a good save.
But on 16 minutes, we were in front. A free kick from Rob Brocklehurst was knocked down to Andy Lindon, who smashed it in from the edge of the 18 yard box, the Ashton keeper had little chance to do anything about it.
Unfortunately, instead of Cheadle hanging on to our lead, we let Ashton back in the game after 24 minutes when Howard for Ashton, beat his marker, got down the line and crossed for his strike partner to score.
Just after this we should have gone got a second as Carl Buchanan, just failed to connect and the ball ran through to the keeper, any sort of touch and a goal looked certain.
Ashton had the better chances after that, but just when half time began to loom we were down to ten men! James Heath looked to swing a punch at an Ashton player and was sent off. HT 1-1.
This game could go either way and we knew we would be up against it now with
a man short, but maybe not, as Arron Riley picks up a through ball and outpaces his marker to smash a great shot past the Ashton keeper to make it 2-1.
But as usual we can't keep the lead for long and on 57 minutes, it's 2-2. A reckless challenge on the edge of our box brings down an Ashton player and their number 11 scores from the penalty spot.
Just as the match looks like petering out to a draw we concede a corner in the last minute, Andy Lindon gets hurt and has to go off giving Ashton a 11-9 numerical advantage and from this corner they win the game, seven or eight players go up for the ball and Ashton's number 12 squeezes the ball over the line and we've lost the game - although straight from the restart Arron Riley looks to be pulled back as he is about to pull the trigger in the Ashton box, but the ref plays on and then blows for full time.
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Atherton Collieries 2 Cheadle Town 5 (F.A. Vase)
What a great performance by the lads, especially when you look at Atherton's recent results record, they have just come off the back of a 17 match unbeaten run.
The game got off to a hectic start, to be expected for a F.A. Cup game, lots of midfield action and tackles flying in.
But it was Cheadle who got off to the better start with McDonald shooting over and Andy Lindon making the Atherton keeper making a good save on 13 minutes.
This attacking spell from Cheadle paid dividends after 17 mins, when Arron Riley scored with a great header from Johnny Hussain's cross.
Two minutes later and we're in F.A. Cup heaven - exactly the same connection, Arron gets a second header from another of Johnny's crosses.
It took Atherton a while to get going again after this shock setback and they gradually started to put a bit of pressure on Cheadle just before the interval but Cheadle keeper Atkinson made a great save from Atherton's no. 7 and Cheadle went in 2-0 up at half time.
Well Atherton get the 'hairdryer' treatment at half - time and come out all guns blazing as we expected but then on 49 minutes we knock the stuffing out of them by scoring our third! when Dean Martin fires in from Lindon's cross.
Five minutes later and its 4-0, Dean gets his second from Lindon's headed knock down and now we are flying and dreaming of the next round and also playing some really good stuff - when we are suddenly knocked out of it by Atherton's first goal from their no. 17, Barry Massay, on 70 mins.
Now it's our turn to be under pressure and Atherton start turning the screw and we are camped in our own half, with 'Acky' having to make 3 really good saves! one of them was absolutely brilliant as he turned a deflected shot round the post whilst in mid-air.
Just as Atherton started to get back in the game, we got a fifth from a rare attack, Dean gets his hat-trick from Rob Brocklehurst's flick over a defenders head and Dean blasts home on the volley, surely that is it now.
But Atherton keep going to the end and in injury time Massay gets his and Atherton's second.
Trevor and Steve make a couple of changes to rest tired legs and on come Mike Myers for Dean and Dave Carpenter for Andy Lindon and Carl Buchanan came on to make his first team debut and replaced our captain Johnny Hussain with a few minutes to go.
The ref blows his whistle and we are in the next round! what a brilliant day, it was a great team performance from the lads and a great day out for Cheadle fans all round.
Maybe we caught Atherton on a bad day or maybe they looked at our league position and took it easy - maybe we'll never know but to their credit they wished us all the best for the next round.
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Leek CSOB 0 Cheadle Town 0
Well that's three clean sheets in three games and our defenders and goal keeper must take some credit for them especially 'Acky' our keeper who has been brilliant, in the last two games.
To say we started well at Leek is an understatement as early as the third minute we had a goalscoring opportunity as a knock down from Arron Riley somehow evaded everyone in the the six yard box and went out of play.
Then Rob Brocklehurst shot over the bar from a free kick and it looked like we just needed to be a little bit more composed and we would score.
Leek then surprised us and launched their first attack on goal in the ninth minute, then we had a good attacking spell where we had 3 shots on goal by McDonald, Brocklehurst and Hussain and a header by McDonald that just cleared the bar.
Dave Carpenter was also getting in on the action, after a great run and shot just went wide and you felt that if we could score now, we would get six.
Obviously, football does not work like that and although on top we didn't make the Leek keeper work that hard and a bit more accuracy would not have gone amiss.
So half time came and went and Leek had definitely had a 'hairdryer session' in their break because they came out the more determined and started having a few shots and attempts on goal that they hadn't been allowed in the first half.
This was becoming a really entertaining game and both sides were going for it - even though the game was being spoilt by a rather pedantic referee who having booked 3 players in the first half and 2 more in the second and a sending off for our midfielder McDonald, and this could never be called a dirty match - passionate, yes - dirty no.
With Cheadle having the better of the first half and Leek the better of the second it was just a matter of who snatched the win and Cheadle nearly got that on 85 minutes, when down to 10 men and having to defend heroically, Arron Riley was picked out by Rob Brocklehurst on the wing, he cut inside his defender, ran towards the 18 yard box and smashed what looked like an unstoppable shot, from where I was standing! only for the Leek keeper to make an outstanding save, diving to his right to tip the shot round the post! It would have made a great 'smash and grab'.
As it turned out no-one managed to break the deadlock - so we came away with a point - which I have to admit I would have settled for with 15 minutes to go and we were down to 10 men.
So to sum up, not a bad day's work and we have 3 draws and 2 defeats from our league games so far, but we are doing a lot better in the cups! and we have another of those cup game this weekend against Atherton Colleries away in the F.A. Cup - lets cheer the lads on to another success.
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Cheadle Town 1 St Helens Town 0 (F.A. Vase)
We expected a hard fought game and we got one - this was quite a battle at times especially near the end of the second half with a few frayed tempers and nerves getting the better of the players and the crowd.
St. Helens Town are a division above us and although they have lost a couple of League games they have had some good wins as well, beating Winsford 2-1 and Holker Old Boys 3-2, so we knew this was not going to be an easy game.
The majority of the action was in the middle of the park early on with some good individual battles going on and a few corners to the visitors which Danny Atkinson dealt with comfortably with our usual keeper Peter Mellor being away.
On the half hour mark and we almost take the lead from a Rob Brocklehurst free kick Arron Riley knocks the ball down for Mike Myers but his shot was well saved by the Town keeper.
Next minute though and we take the lead, Andy McDonald is allowed to run with the ball and his shot flies over the head of the Town keeper and suddenly its game on, HT 1-0.
St. Helens come out quicker and with more intent in the second half and apart from a few Cheadle skirmishes into opposition territory, they dominate the middle and put us under a lot of pressure, as you would expect - I think their manager had had a word with them?
Just when St Helens thought they had equalised a brilliant clearance off the line by Barry Cotterill denied them.
Trevor and Steve then took off Andy McDonald and put on Matty Smith and five minutes later took off Mike Myers and put on Dave Carpenter with instructions for him to try and get at the Town back four who were not having a lot to do.
After a flurry of booking and free kicks to both sides 'Carpy' went on a great run beating 3 town defenders before shooting just over the bar with what would have finished the game off, but he didn’t and we still had a lot of defending to do, although time was running out for Town and a few frayed tempers and bad tackles from both sides didn’t help matters.
Arron Riley made way for Dean Martin’s return to the Cheadle side for the first time this season, but we hung on for the win and look forward to our next game which is back in the F.A. Cup again next against Ashton Town - what a great job our boys are doing, lets hope they can keep it going.
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Cheadle Town 3 Ashton Town 0 (F.A. Cup)
Well we hoped that the lads would bounce back after the Darwen game and they certainly did with some really good football.
Although it took some time for both teams to get started, as it was a fairly even, but boring game early on with both teams trying to stifle each other in midfield, apart from one effort from Barry Cotterill which he headed over the bar from a Rob Brocklehurst free kick.
We had a let off after half an hour when an Ashton striker hit the post with Mellor beaten and then we went down the other end and Andy McDonald had a free kick well saved by the Ashton keeper.
That was about it in a fairly uneventful first half, which neither team really deserved to be in front.
Second half starts and with our first real attack, Ben Roberts knocked a ball down the wing to Johnny Hussain and he quickly saw Arron Riley sprint into the Ashton penalty box and hit a great pass which Arron flicked over the Ashton keeper and we were 1-0 up and on our way.
Five minutes later and we're 2-0 up, this time it's Andy Lindon who beats 3 Ashton players with a mazy run and beats the keeper with a well placed shot.
After 75 minutes, Trevor and Steve bring on Dave Carpenter and Matty Smith for Mike Myers and Andy McDonald, with like for like as we try to finish the game off and get into the next round with some fresh legs.
Matty had an shot saved soon after he came on and then in a hectic last few minutes Lindon and Riley both had attempts on goal before Johnny Hussain wrapped it all up with a brilliant curler into the top corner that the Ashton keeper could do nothing about and that was that 3-0.
So a really good day for us and I'm sure Ashton can play better than this but this was our day and we look forward to our next cup game in the F.A. Vase next week.
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Darwen 2 Cheadle Town 0
This was always going to be a tough game for us, as last week Darwen beat Ashton Town 5-1 and went into this game on a high.
They also started the brightest too as we made another slow start and let Darwen control the game with some quick accurate passes, before we managed to launch a few attacks of our own and on 11 minutes Dave Carpenter had a one on one chance with the Darwen keeper but shot wide.
Then it was Darwen's turn to force Mellor into a good save from a free kick after 20 mins, but he could do nothing about the next Darwen attack which resulted in a goal for Stanford on 25 mins.
Dave Carpenter had another effort save two minutes later and then Matty Smith shot wide and Cheadle now started to play with some belief and this was our best period of play so far Carpy again shot wide on 35 minutes and a minute later Barry Cotterill missed a chance from a free kick.
Just when you thought a Cheadle goal was inevitable, Darwen scored their second just before half time when Jones made it 2-0.
Cheadle started brightly in second half and McDonald had a header well saved by Darwen keeper before Johnny Hussain shot wide, before Darwen had two good chances missed by their number 9.
Trevor and Steve then made a double substitution bringing on Ben Roberts and Andy Lindon for Mike Myers and Dave Carpenter on the hour mark and it almost paid off as Rob Brocklehurst hit the bar from a free kick after Lindon had been brought down.
Lindon himself missed a good chance on 68 minutes as Cheadle desperately searched for something from this game but Mellor had to be alert as a Darwen striker broke through near the end, but Cheadle kept going and threw on another forward in Scott Flanagan and took off captain Johnny Hussain for a last assault on the Darwen goal but to no avail as our last chance went begging with the Darwen keeper making a good save from Matty Smith in the dying seconds.
So a hard fought game, unfortunately we gave Darwen a two goal start and then decided to start playing.
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Cheadle Town 3 Kirkham & Wesham 3
Another home game to another new team in this division, Kirkham had had a good start to this their first season with 2 straight wins, so we knew we were in for a good game.
It was Kirkham who got off to the better start, we were a little slow to start and we were 1-0 down after 9 minutes when after a disputed corner, Kirkham took the lead after one of their players bundled the balll home, from that corner.
We eventually started to play with a bit of urgency and had a couple of chances ourselves, but it took an Arron Riley flick on, for Matty Smith to score to get us level at half -time.
In what started like a fairly boring second half, suddenly came to life when Matty Smith turned a cross across the face of the Kirkham goal for Barry Cotterill to have the easiest of chances to score and make it 2-1 Cheadle.
A minute later and it was 2-2 from a free kick Mellor was well beaten with a header and we were back all square - then suddenly we were back in front from a penalty. Andy McDonald scored from the spot after Arron Riley was fouled in the box.
But again, for the second match running we could not hang on to our lead and with 9 minutes remaining, we gave away a stupid penalty which ended the game at 3-3.
We can console ourselves with the facts that this was a good Kirkham side today who had not conceded before this game and we put three past them. Unfortunately, they put the same amount past us.
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Cheadle Town 2 Stone Dominoes 2
Well here we go with our first league home game of the season and with it a lot of high hopes for a good run in the cups and also in the league.
Today we meet a Stone Dominoes team who are looking to go straight back up from where they came from which was the league above this one.
And it was Stone who made the quicker start, with Mellor in the Cheadle goal having to make two good saves to keep us in the game early on - but it wasn't long before Stone scored and there was nothing Mellor could do about it, a Stone midfielder broke through our defence and passed across the face of goal for one of his strikers to bury into the net.
That moment seemed to wake the Cheadle boys up and we almost had an equaliser from Arron Riley, but he was tackled well at the vital moment and shot wide, then it was Mike Myers turn but he could only fire over when put through on goal.
Stone looked comfortable with their 1-0 lead in the second half, that was until Trevor and Steve brought on Matty Smith in the 65th minute and ten minutes later we were level as Matty combined with Arron Riley to set up Mike Myers with his first goal for the club.
In the 85th minute we were in front! 2-1 again it was Matty who brilliantly set up Mike for his second goal for the club when from a 'knock down' he gave Mike all the time in the world to pick his spot and beat the Stone keeper.
Just when we thought we had the points we had to settle for one, as a long ball from the Stone keeper wasn't dealt with properly and a Stone forward lofted the ball over a stranded Mellor in the Cheadle goal to make the final score 2-2.
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Padiham 2 Cheadle Town 0
Well this is what we've been waiting for, the start of the new season and a difficult away trip to start off with - we don't usually get very much from Padiham but we usually give them a good game.
Goalkeeper Peter Mellor is back in our ranks today after missing half of last season and he'll need to be in good form. We also have Scott Clarke making his first team debut at right back, Scott has been another to come through our reserve team to make the first team as Ben and Adam Roberts also have.
Straight from the kick off we are on the attack and within 90 seconds we have what looked like a 'nailed on' penalty turned down when James McDonough breaks through with just the Padiham keeper to beat and the keeper swings and misses the ball but gets James and the ref gives a goal kick.
Five minutes later and the boot is on the other foot when Jonny Hussain allegedly nudged a Padiham striker - nobody appeals - but a penalty is given to Padiham.
Paul Fildes steps up and scores and we have to start again and we again take the game to Padiham who are not playing that well it has to be said and maybe this is our chance as we finish the first half the better side.
Scott Clarke is having a great game against a real old fashioned left winger from Padiham so much so that the winger is withdrawn on 70 minutes as Padiham try to hold on to their 1-0 lead as we launch several attacks and push bodies up front to try and get a draw but it is not to be our day and in the last few minutes a long ball from a Padiham player is not dealt with by Jonny Hussain and Fildes skips past him and fires past Mellor to make it 2-0 to the home side with around 3 minutes to go.
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