by Peter Scherer
(Photos by Sarah Middleton)

Before arriving at the Don Amott Arena, Warrington had not only won every game, but hadn’t conceded a goal in their Northern Premier League campaign.

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

Warrington started the stronger and went close in the seventh minute when a Josh Amis header from a Michael Rose cross bounced off Slinn before Morris cleared the danger.

Three minutes later Amis had another shot blocked following a Warrington corner, before it was third time lucky for the striker making it 1-0 to the visitors from a Charlie Munro corner, headed down across the goal for Amis to finish, 12 minutes in.

A 15^th minute free kick was from skipper Mark Roberts tried to catch Slinn off his line, but he dealt with it comfortably, before a following shot outside the box from Jack Mackreth was well over.

As Sports were still struggling to get into the game, Slinn was busy again when Warrington’s second corner came in tight from Rose.

The domination continued and Bohan Dixon was next to try his luck, his shot was close to the right hand corner from way out.

With 10 minutes left in the first half, Warrington’s keeper Charlie Albinson had to make his first real save. Bennett and Milner interpassed and it was Bennett’s final header that had the keeper diving at full stretch.

A minute later Mickleover were back on equal terms when Watt connected with a corner, placing his header wide of the keeper 1-1.

But further drama followed when both Warren and Warrington’s Scott Brown were shown red cards after 38 minutes, following a mass brawl.

Both sides had another chance before the half time whistle though, Rose put Jack Dunn through for Warrington who shot just over and Webb had almost broken through for Sports, before Roberts stopped him with a last ditch tackle.

Initially the second half started off in a similar vain to the first, with a Mackreth cross providing attempts for Warrington from both Dunn and Dixon, before Watt was forced to make a goal line clearance after 50 minutes, deflecting a Rose cross away from Amis.

But Mickleover started to come into the game more and after creating his own space, Beavon had a good attempt saved by Albinson.

Four minutes later Webb had a shot deflected away for a corner by Matt Regan.

The attacks continued to flow and after a piercing ball through the middle split the Warrington defence, a series of headers weren’t dealt with and the ball fell to Bacon with just the keeper to beat, which he did admirably with a shot into the left hand corner for 2-1 on the hour.

Ravenhill came on for Webb and Beavon set Bacon up for another chance, saved this time by Albinson.

Amis tried a chip with Slinn out of his goal but failed to challenge the Mickleover keeper, but with 10 minutes on the clock it became 3-1 to Sports when Beavon caught out the Warrington keeper with a classy chip.

It could easily have been 4-1 when Bacon was next to try and chip Albinson, after a Regan mistake left the keeper vulnerable. The chip succeeded but the ball hit the post.

Walshaw came on for Beavon for the last 10 minutes but in injury time Jordan Buckley managed to pull one back for Warrington.

An outstanding result for Sports and sends them into tomorrow nights FA Cup tie at St Albans on a high.

The Sports Report is ready to view for today’s game. Click here

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.

The Sports Report is ready to view for today’s game. Click here

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.