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SPORTS FACE LEAGUE LEADERS

by Peter Scherer

Paul Carden’s team have got off to the best possible start in this year’s Northern Premier League campaign, with four straight wins and not a goal conceded.

They beat Whitby 1-0 at home, before Atherton Collieries went down 2-0 at home too.  It was 3-0 against Gainsborough and 2-0 in last Saturday’s game at Basford. Josh Amis and Bohan Dixon have each scored twice, and both Matt Regan and Jack Dunn have been on the score sheet too, and not surprisingly they are currently top of the league.

They did have one competitive defeat, but only on penalties. Going out of the FA Cup against South Shields after 0-0 draw, they lost 6-5 on penalties.

Goalkeeper Charlie Albinson only joined the club last month. The ex Manchester City and Blackburn Junior had been loaned to Warrington previously. But after his release from Blackburn he spent last season at Southport.

Centre back Matt Regan played his academy football at Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, He then moved on to Tamworth, Hednesford, Worcester, Stalybridge, Northwich and Colwyn Bay.

Not only did James Baillie come through Crewe Alexandra’s youth scheme, he played 18 games for them in league one. The defender has also been at Nantwich and Curzon Ashton following his release.

In Michael Rose they have a very experienced midfielder, with over 680 League appearances and 53 goals under his belt. He’s an England C International and started out at Manchester Utd.

After spells at Chester and Hereford, he was picked up by Yeovil and played in league’s one and two, gaining a league championship medal with the Somerset side. He also played league football for Cheltenham, Southport, Stockport, Norwich, Swindon, Colchester, Rochdale, Morecambe and Macclesfield, winning another league two title at Rochdale.

Centre back Callum Grogan is a recent signing, from Radcliffe. He started out at Shrewsbury Town and played for Skelmersdale before joining Radcliffe.

Captain Mark Roberts is another experienced defender with league two experience. After graduating at Crewe, he made seven first team appearances, plus various loan spells before joining Northwich.

He returned to league two with Accrington and sampled both leagues one and two with Stevenage, Fleetwood and Cambridge Utd, before joining Warrington from Forest Green in August 2018. He reached the league two play offs with Stevenage and Fleetwood and was an FA Trophy runner-up with Stevenage, as well as acting as caretaker manager for a while.

Jack Mackreth came to Warrington in 2018 too. The midfielder or winger started as a Tranmere Junior, but had spells at Hyde, Barrow, Macclesfield, Grimsby, Bury and Wrexham.

Defender Mitch Duggan was at Tranmere too, but unlike Mackreth he made 16 starts in the league before his release in 2018 brought him to Warrington, after a loan at Marine.

Preston North End was the start for striker Josh Amis, he was loaned out to Stockport, before Northwich signed him after an initial loan. He had another spell at Stockport and came to Warrington via Altrincham and Marine. 

Winger Jack Dunn came out of the Liverpool Academy. He made his league two debut on loan to Cheltenham and added more experience to his cv at Burton, Morecambe and Tranmere, before joining Warrington in 2018. He was also an England player at under 17, 18 and 19 levels.

Bohan Dixon has had a varied career since starting out at Kingsley Utd. Spells with Welsh Clubs Connah’s Quay and Buckley Town. The midfielder then moved on to Hednesford, Burscough and Accrington, before joining Lincoln City. Further travels have taken him to Northwich, Stockport, Salford City, Stalybridge, Halifax and Ashton, before arriving at Warrington in September 2018.

Midfielder Charlie Munro is a more recent acquisition from Ashton, while youngster Luke Duffy has been brought in from North West Counties side Lower Breck.

Defender’s Joel Amado and Matthew Taylor are also newcomers. Amado was signed from Trafford, having previously played at Irlam and Curzon Ashton, while Taylor was a Wigan and Derby youth player, who has arrived from Harrogate.

Midfielders Craig Carney and Irwyah Gooden are new too. Carney is ex FC Utd, Lancaster, Stockport and Marine, while Gooden has come from Ramsbottom Utd.

Currently on loan from Harrogate is experienced defender Scott Brown. The former Everton youth played for England at under 15, 17, 18 and 19’s and made 63 league appearances for Bristol City.

He joined Harrogate in 2o19, having been at Cheltenham, Port Vale, Morecambe, Fleetwood, York, Macclesfield, Chester, Southport, Grimsby and Accrington.

Among his honours are Youth Cup runner up with Everton, League one runner-up with Bristol City, Conference North Champion with Chester and League two winner with Accrington.

They have six other squad members yet to make the first team this season. Striker Jawad Jebrin is a youth player from their own scheme, experienced striker Jordan Buckley was signed from FC Utd in January, Evan Gumbs came straight from his release as a Tranmere junior this summer, defender Tom Warren is an ex Everton junior who joined from Witton last season, defender Adam Carden came in 2016 and midfielder Lewis Sharp completes the squad.

by Peter Scherer

Mickleover FC will looking for their second Northern Premier League win of the season when they visit Stalybridge tomorrow evening (Tuesday).

Celtic have never beaten Mickleover in six previous meetings, with Sports winning five and drawing one, including last December’s 3-1 victory.

So far this season Stalybridge have taken one point in a 1-1 draw with Lancaster, having lost 3-0 to both Nantwich and Scarborough.

They went out of the FA Cup last Saturday losing 3-2 against Longridge, having previously knocked out Bishop Auckland 3-1 and Stocksbridge Park Steels 3-1.

They are currently 21^st in the League and have been managed by former Welsh International striker Simon Haworth, since May 2018.

Tom Stewart is their first choice goalkeeper, a youth player at Halifax, Bradford Park Avenue and City and Brighouse, before joining Blackburn Rovers from Guiseley. He has had spells at Morecambe, AFC Liverpool, Harrogate, Buxton, Whyteleafe and Whitehawk, before joining Stalybridge from Ramsbottom in June.

Like most of the team defender Omar Sinclair is another new signing, but although Manchester born he has come in from Michigan Stars. He has also played for SVSU Cardinals and Detroit City.

Kallum Mantack is one of the few players in his second year. A former Oldham Athletic youth player, he played three times in their first team, before a loan at Alfreton, FC United and Stockport, saw him move onto Altrincham and Ashton before arriving at Stalybridge.

Midfieldfer Scott Sephton has recently moved from Matlock Town, where had had a short spell after leaving Warrington. He has also played for Buxton and Porthmadog among others.

Although Luke Barlow started as a Crewe Alexandra junior, he has spent his recent career with Kilmarnock, before heading back to England in August. 

Matty Makinson is their other centre back, he started with Everton and Blackburn, before moving to Cardiff. He returned to the North West with Warrington and Atherton, before becoming a Celtic player in August.

Although Krisel Prifti is another new signing, he may not be available due to injury. The Albanian midfielder has played for a number of teams in his home country over the last seven years and was signed from KF Apolonia Fier in June.

Damani Holness is a vastly experienced midfielder, and was signed in July. He has come back from US football where he played for Memphis 901, having previously been at New Mills, Morecambe, Stockport, Northwich and Macclesfield.

Callum Harris is well travelled too, having been a junior at Manchester City, Blackburn and Wolves, before moving to Germany with Patro Elsden. His next stop was Spain with Real Burgos and Burgos CF, before coming back to England last month.

Striker Jonathan (Berat) Ustabasi has international experience too. The Macedonian born striker has played mainly in the Turkish League, including Europa League appearances. He spent last season with FC Shkupi in Macedonia.

For Mike Burke it was a return home when he was signed in June. The striker was a Junior at Stalybridge, but has rejoined from Staveley MW, where he scored 21 goals in 21 games.

Also on the injured list are midfielder Charley Doyle, 13 years a Blackburn Youth player, defender Freddie Sass, ex Macclesfield and Egerton and striker Nic Evangelines, recently signed from Ramsbottom.

Their own youth product Reece Nuttall is the reserve goalkeeper and they also have ex Wigan and Fleetwood winger Keano Deacon.

Midfielder Harry Freedman started out at Nottingham Forest and Wolves before joining from Halifax and Stephen O’Halloran is a former Irish under 21 international defender, who has served Nuneaton, Stockport, Salford and FC United too.

Kyle Hawley is an ex Morecambe striker, while fellow striker Lewis Salmon is currently on loan from Altrincham.

Their squad is completed by former Sheffield Utd Academy defender Tom Wilson, ex Fleetwood midfielder Anthony Williams and former Northwich, Ramsbotton and Hyde defender Ben Woods.

Kick off is 7.45 and can be followed on Mickleover’s own twitter feed.

by Peter Scherer

Mickleover marched into the third qualifying round of the FA Cup with a resounding 4-1 home win over Newark FC.

There were three changes from the team that beat Witton Albion in midweek, with Joe Slinn back in goal for loanee Callum Hawkins and Kemy Agustien was back in midfield for Ben Gowing, having re-signed this week.

Paddy Webb was back to lead the attack to in place of Jordan Walshaw, having come off the bench in the Witton victory.

1-Joe Slinn 2-Jake Bennett 3-Alex Morris 4-Kemy Agustien 5-James Butler 6-Phil Watt 7-Mason Warren 8-Andrew Wright 9-Paddy Webb 10-Stuart Beavon 11-George Milner. Subs: Declan Bacon, Louis Pennington, Ricky Ravenhill. Pablo Mills, Jordan Walshaw, Josh Satchwell.

Mickleover were straight into attack from the kick-off, with Webb having two chances in the first five minutes. The first didn’t trouble Newark keeper Jason White, with a weakfish header, before following up with a shot into the side netting.

But Butler found himself in the referee’s book after a late tackle, before Warren led the next Sports attack with a shot just wide after eight minutes.

Agustien was next to try his luck, but his long speculative attempt was both high and wide.

Newark nearly caught out the Mickleover defence 13 minutes in when Craig Westcarr got around the defence and had Slinn beaten, only to put his shot wide.

But Mickleover responded quickly with a telling ball from Beavon across the face of the Newark goal, but no one was on hand to put it home.

Newark had another chance of opening the scoring when Watt gave away a penalty in the 17^th minute. But just to show that Hawkins isn’t the only Mickleover to save penalties, Slinn kept Ben Hutchinson’s kick out and it remained 0-0.

It was back into attack mode again for Sports when Wright fired a powerful shot straight at keeper White, but four minutes later Newark got another break when Kevin Baspos outpaced the Mickleover defence, before cutting inside and firing into the side netting again.

Just after the half hour the promise that Mickleover’s attacks had been showing finally came to fruition, with Beavon leading by example to make it 1-0.

There were few more free kicks for Newark before the half time whistle, but Slinn handled them with relative ease, so it remained 1-0.

The second half sparked into life almost on the hour, after Slinn made a spectacular diving save to his left as Newark pursued the equaliser.

Beavon and Webb then broke clear and after connecting with Beavon’s cross, Webb’s shot was just wide.

Bacon came on for Webb after 63 minutes, but the attacks became more intense, with Milner putting the ball in the area to keep the pressure on the Newark defence.

The reward came after 69 minutes when Wright hit the first time ball and sent it curling into the bottom right hand corner for 2-0.

There was a short delay when Slinn was treated after a knock to the head, then the  rainfall got heavier and Beavon had a header cleared off the line, before Warren sent a powerful shot goalwards, initially saved by White before a succession of corners.

79 minutes and Wright was on target again, 3-0 with a fizzing shot deep into the left hand corner, followed by Walshaw and Pennington coming on for Beavon and Warren.

But with three minutes of normal time left, Watt was penalised again, only for Newark to find their second effort saved once again by Slinn from the spot.

Newark were still looking for that elusive goal and on 90 minutes Slinn had to pull off a point blank save following a corner.

Mickleover were quick on the break again though, which gave Bacon the chance to make it 4-0, which he duly accepted.

Newark finally got their goal in injury time, to make it 4-1 to Mickleover and the thoughts of who next in the third qualifying round for Sports.

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by Peter Scherer

Midland Football League Premier Division side Newark FC (formerly Newark Flowserve) are undefeated so far this season after six competitive matches.

They started with a 4-0 won over Deeping Rangers in the FA Cup Preliminary, before hammering ex League Club Rushden & Diamonds 5-0 in the first qualifying round.

They have had four straight wins in the league too and only conceded their first goal in last Saturdays 2-1 win over Walsall Wood.

Unfortunately we can’t go into the usual detail of their players career information, as they appear to be a bit of a mystery team, with little recent information about them.

Kick off as usual is 3pm, with everyone welcome.

by Peter Scherer

Following the disappointment of last Saturday’s home defeat at home to Morpeth, Mickleover opened their Northern Premier League points account with a 2-1 win over Witton Albion.

There were four changes in the Mickleover line-up, with Phil Watt back in the centre of the defence for Pablo Mils, Ben Gowing in for Aman Verma, still nursing a calf injury, a first start for Jordan Walshaw, in for Paddy Webb and George Milner for Declan Bacon.

The full line-up was 1-Callum Hawkins 2- Jake Bennett 3-Alex Morris 4-Mason Warren 5-James Butler 6-Phil Watt 7-Ben Gowing 8-Andrew Wright 9-Jordan Walshaw 10-Stuart Beavon 11- George Milner Subs: Paddy Webb, Ricky Ravenhill, Pablo Mills, Josh Satchwell, and Joe Slinn.

There was a chance for Sports within minutes of the kick off, when Milner broke through, but his effort was too close to keeper Chris Renshaw.

Throughout the night there seemed to be an excessive number of free kicks and after six minutes Witton’s first attempt prompted a goal area scramble with the resultant shot over the bar, with Hawkins untroubled.

But then it was Mickleover’s turn after Milner was pushed, before a succession of further kicks for Witton proved fruitless for the visitors, with Hawkins looking a safe pair of hands.

Wright was in the book after a challenge just inside the Witton half, before some nice interplay between Bennett and Walshaw ran out for a goal kick.

Witton’s first real attack from general play came after 14 minutes, when Isaac Baldwin had a good run down the left , but his cross was cut out by Hawkins.

A few minutes later Warren lobbed the ball into the area, leaving Renshaw at full stretch to collect, as Walshaw and Beavon closed in.

It was still a fairly scrappy game but Witton had another chance when Tom Owens shot just over from a well-timed cross after 20 minutes.

Warren put a free kick into the box eight minutes later for Mickleover, causing another goalmouth scramble before Witton cleared.

Two more free kicks for Witton failed to trouble the Sports defence, as Butler and Watt had control of the area, ably supported by keeper Hawkins.

On 36 minutes the deadlock was broken, after Witton’s midfield lost possession and Beavon intercepted. His initial shot was blocked but not cleared, leaving Milner to hammer home his first goal in Sports colours.

Only a minute later Witton were given yet another free kick after Watt had made a perfectly good tackle. Will Booth took the kick straight at Hawkins, who held onto it tightly.

Witton pushed hard to try and get the equaliser in the closing minutes of the first half. Baldwin again overlapped well and placed his shot high to Hawkins right, but it was comfortably saved.

There were no changes in the line-up for the second half and again Sports started with pace and determination. A free kick on the right was perfection placed by Wright, just inches short of a connection for Walshaw.

Bennett and Morris were both active on the overlaps for Sports and Bennett dove a low cross into the box, but it went uncollected.

Despite a couple more free kicks, Witton didn’t seem to take any advantage from them, but just after the hour it could have been a second for Mickleover, after a well drilled move from the back linked by Wright and Beavon, saw Walshaw hit the post.

Walshaw was again in the thick of it, when a Milner cross was followed up with a weak shot into the keepers hands.

Witton made their first substation when Steve Tames came on for Will Jones, but it was still Mickleover looking the most threatening. Beavon shot just over from a Warren corner after 70 minutes, just before Witton replaced Booth with Josh Gregory.

Billy Smart tried a shot for Witton, but failed to trouble Hawkins, before Milner went close for Mickleover from a Morris cross.

Witton made their third substitution bringing on Leon Johnson, as they tried up their pace, still looking for the equaliser.

After a fairly quiet night Scott Bakkor had a shot wide on 80 minutes, before Mickleover replaced Milner with Satchwell and Walshaw with Webb.

With three minutes of normal time on the clock there was a loose ball just outside the box. Wright picked it up and smashed it into the Witton net for 2-0.

As Sports tried to play the possession game to soak up the final minutes, Witton managed to break clear and Smart hit a well-timed shot on the volley, looping it over Hawkins to make it 2-1 in the 89^th minute, with the full-time whistle soon following.

Milner tenacity was probably the highlight of Mickleover’s performance, along with Hawkins rock steady performance in goal.

Walshaw looked dangerous on occasions, but just needed to sharpen up on his first touch, while the reliability of a more solid looking defence and the midfield drive from Warren, Gowing and Wright, kept Beavon well supplied, not forgetting the striker was playing with a broken wrist.

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by Peter Scherer

Tuesday night’s visitors to the Don Amott Arena are Witton Albion. Like Sports, they started their Northern Premier League campaign with a defeat 2-0 at home to Whitby Town.

There was further disappointment when they were knocked out of the FA Cup too, going down 3-2 to Whitey Bay.

But they more than made up for it last Saturday, winning 4-1 at Radcliffe, with Scott Bakkor scoring a hattrick.

Manager Carl Macauley is a former player and has been in charge since October 2015. He has also worked with Liverpool Academy amongst his other managerial jobs.

Assistant manager Gary Martindale is an ex Bolton Wanderers player, having also played at Peterborough, Notts County, Mansfield and Rotherham before going non-league and joining Macauley at Witton in 2015 too.

Goalkeeper Chris Renshaw was an Oldham Athletic Youth player from the age of 11, before being snapped up by Everton. He came to Witton in July last year, following his release by the Toffees.

Raj Gill also started his goalkeeping career with a league club. After learning his trade with Leicester City, he played for a number of Midlands clubs, including Tamworth, Bedworth, Rugby, Cirencester, Redditch, Kettering and Stourbridge.

Left back Isaac Baldwin came from Farsley Celtic in October last year, he played junior football at Blackburn, Leeds and Huddersfield, before moving on to Halifax, Ossett and Spennymoor. He also played for England Schools at under 16 and 18 levels.

Vastly experienced centre back Steve McNulty made his Witton debut in the defeat against Whitby. He was a Liverpool Youth player from the age of eight and played league football for Luton, Fleetwood and Tranmere. Last season he was at York City.

Josh Wardle is the captain, a centre back in his third season at the club after signing from Skelmersdale Utd. He also played for Lancaster City and Kendal Town and captained the John Moores Liverpool University side.

Right back Jack Byrne is in his second season with the club after coming in from AFC Fylde, while Nick Ryan is in his third year. The versatile defender was previously at Stalybridge, but came back from serious leg injuries last season, with a loan spell out at Runcorn.

Scott Bakkor wasn’t only a hattrick hero last weekend, he once hit a hattrick in nine minutes. He was at Witton 2013/14 and has been at Skelmersdale, Stalybridge and Clitheroe, before a spell at Colwyn Bay. More recently he has played for Warrington, Ashton and Marine.

Central midfielder Josh Gregory is another new signing. He’s an ex Wigan Junior, who’s been at Chorley, Clitheroe and Prescot Cables.

James Foley was brought in back in 2017 from Marine. Macclesfield had originally signed him from AFC Liverpool, but he has also had spells with Cammell Laird and Buckley Town.

One of Witton’s own Youth products is Will Booth, the attacking midfielder left for Kidsgrove Athletic and came back via Colwyn Bay. He is another player to miss most of last season through a leg injury, but went on loan to Congleton to regain his fitness.

Another new signing is Leon Johnson, he has come North from his origins at Croydon FC Kinetic.

Right side midfielder Danny McKenna came out of Bolton Wanderers Academy, joining Runcorn following his release. He’s been at Witton for three years.

Cesaire Lingouba is also in his third year at the club, joining from Stalybridge, he has been at Droylsden, Morecambe and Northwich too.

Another returnee is Tom Owens, having originally signed from Marine in 2016. The ex Wigan, Rochdale, Tranmere and York midfielder then tried his luck with Australian side Brunswick City, but returned to Witton in September 2017.

After a number of spells at Marine, Billy Smart came to Witton in 2018, he has also been at Warrington, Burscough and Bootle.

New signing Steve Tames leads the strike force. He was at Ashton last season and has been at Prescot Cables, Southport, Hyde and Warrington among others, but played in the Europa League during his time at Bala Town.

Will Jones has scored 37 goals in his 144 games since coming to Witton in February 2017. He’s had three spells at Burscough, as well as playing for Marine, Warrington, Nantwich and AFC Liverpool. He also played for Colwyn Bay.

Former Rochdale Junior James Hooper is a more recent signing. He played in the league for Rochdale and Carlisle and had spells at FC United, Salford City, Radcliffe and Altrincham.

Rob Hopley is another long serving striker on his way back from injury. The former Macclesfield Youth player had eight years at Colwyn Bay, as well as playing at Winsford, Leek and Chester, before joining Witton in November 2015. He has scored 84 goals in his 175 games.

Kick-off is at 7.45pm as usual and so Sports need all the support they can muster as they strive to earn their first points of the Northern Premier League season.

by Peter Scherer

Although it was a home defeat for Mickleover FC in their first home Northern Premier League game of the season, Callum Hawkins heroic double penalty saves, kept the score to respectable 1-2.

There were two changes to the starting line-up from Tuesday’s FA Cup win at Leek Town, with Callum Hawkins in goal and Pablo Mills in for Phil Watt in the centre of the defence.

1-Callum Hawkins 2-Jake Bennett 3-Alex Morris 4-Mason Warren 5-Pablo Mills 6- James Butler 7-Aman Verma 8-Andrew Wright 9-Paddy Webb 10-Stuart Beavon 11-Declan Bacon Subs: George Milner, Josh Satchwell, Ben Gowing, Jordan Walshaw, Joe Slinn.

Mickleover had an early chance to gain the advantage over the visitors, when Beavon almost connected with a Butler header just inside the box.

But the attacks soon seemed to turn in Morpeth’s favour, with Hawkins forced into a spectacular save from Liam Noble’s close range effort after six minutes.

It was only four minutes later that Morpeth had a penalty appeal turned down, after Hawkins clashed with Morpeth striker Jack Foalle.

The attacks from the visitors continued to threaten the Mickleover defence and they went close again after Liam Henderson volleyed a 13^th minute free-kick just inches over the bar.

Although the defence held out, it finally succumbed in the 17^th minute when Noble’s shot was deflected, sending Hawkins the wrong way 0-1.

Callum Williams had another long range shot just over the bar for the visitors, as Mickleover were struggling to retain possession to move forward.

Wright had a blast from outside the box after 33 minutes, before Hawkins had to make a double save as Andrew Jonson and Henderson tried their luck.

Just before half time the defence was split again, but Morris was on the line to clear the danger.

There were two changes for the second half with Milner and Gowing on for Webb and Bacon.

The game had only be back under way two minutes when Sports were able to strike back. Beavon’s first attempt was saved, but he buried the rebound in the roof of the Morpeth net, 1-1.

The momentum quickly went back in the visitors favour, with Hawkins having to save again from a quickly taken 51^st minute free-kick.

Two minutes later Foalle was brought down in the area and this time a penalty was awarded, only for Hawkins to magnificently save Henderson’s effort.

The save seemed to spur on some positive attacks from the Sports players, but after 58 minutes another penalty was awarded, with a handball in the area.

Noble took the kick and unbelievably Hawkins saved it again to keep the scores level.

With Walshaw on for Verma there was another spell of positive Sports attacks, with Gowing heading just over from inside the box and Milner making Morpeth keeper Dan Lowson earn his keep with two saves in close succession.

But after 68 minutes Morpeth grabbed the winner when Johnson connected with a header from Noble’s corner.

Warren had a free kick tipped over for Sports and Gowing had another good effort from outside the box saved, while Joe Walton went close again for Morpeth in the last few minutes, before the whistle went to secure all three points for the visitors.