The Last Post

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I write this but, after much soul-searching and a sleepless night (aided and abetted by my 11-month old son) I have decided to cease my online activities (website and Twitter account). 

Yes, it may appear that I am cutting my nose off to spite my face etc. but please bear with me and let me explain the two main reasons why I have come to this rather difficult decision. You can shout at me later. 

Firstly, it's down to my own failings and faults as an individual. I'm not proud of it, but I can grind one hell of an axe. If you cross me once I will hold a grudge against you forevermore. It's just the way I am and have been ever since I was at primary school. It drives my wife mad. This has been the main reason why I have been unable to let a certain thing regarding a certain person at a certain other club go. I just can't do it.

If somebody sidles up to me at a game and bends my ear inceassantly about how our no9 shouldn't be on the pitch, if somebody calls the police to a match because he feels as though an assault has taken place despite the referee having dealt with it and then lies about having called them, if somebody ferociously hounds a referee after a game to ensure that the fact that my club have brought an incorrectly-numbered shirt goes in his report - despite the fact that we have cleared it with the referee before the match - and subsequently gets the club fined...I'm sorry but I am just not going to let it go.

I hate bullies and will always stand up to them. However I may have to concede that on this occasion I'll have to let him have my dinner money and sweets, just for a quiet life. 

Secondly, it is down to the powers-that-be's failure to understand where this website and my Twitter account "sit" in the grand scheme of things. There are some very good people at the NWCFL who I have had countless informative pitchside chats with (you know who you are) but the fact that the issue of this website and my Twitter account being officially linked in with Cheadle Town FC and the NWCFL is about to raise its head again - despite me going to the time and trouble of obtaining a disclaimer in response to last time this misunderstanding surfaced back at the start of 08-09 - makes me weep with frustration.

Simply put, I can't carry on if this inability to grasp the basic concepts of modern-day social media and online activity persists. Not only does this restrict the notion of internet free speech via a website that is recognised as unofficial but it also inadvertently offers a shell of protection around those who conduct themselves in a generally unacceptable manner. 

I can hear you all shouting. I know, I know. This might not be the most popular thing I have ever done in my lifetime but you have to trust me that I have, as I've said, thought long and hard about this and believe that this is for the long-term best. It is easier just to walk away.

My many thanks to all of you who have stuck with this website over the past six years and have offered words of support, ideas, corrections to my stats, feedback on one of my countless summer revamps, enjoyed my match reports etc. I'm glad to say that in the main I have enjoyed doing this website - it has been a labour of love.

What I do with my Saturday afternoons will be decided in the close season. I can't just turn my back on Cheadle Town FC - I owe them that much after being a large part of my life for the past six years and by Christ I'd miss the pitchside bonhomie - so I'll probably still be found down at Parkstrasse or on one of my favourite away-days like Holker or Eccleshall; I'll be able to just watch the game in peace now without having to remember to tweet the score, text it to Des Hinks etc. As for Bryan, he's going to have to guess the goal timings for himself! :) 

To quote an oft-used final line of a film, it has been emotional. I'll see you around some place. 

Cheadle Town did their chances of finishing in the top-ten of Division One no harm at all with this 2-0 win away to Oldham Boro.

With 51 minutes on the clock, Oldham Boro break free. Their no10 is in acres of space on the right as he squares the ball to the no9, in even more acres of space and with all the time in world - and then some - to pick his spot as Steve Piggott is rooted to his goalline. He settles himself for the shot...and hits the post. The no10 gathers the rebound and, with the goal still relatively at his mercy, thunders it across the face of the net.

On such slender moments games are decided. God only knows how the game would have turned out should the ball have been buried but for sure it would have been nail-biting time as Oldham Boro would have pressed to claw back the 0-2 deficit that we had racked up in the first period of play.

Making good use of the Alder Street slope in our favour we were good value for our 2-0 lead at half-time. As early as the 8th minute we had forced an almighty goalmouth scramble where the ball somehow wouldn't go in with Arron Dellosa seing a volley well-blocked by the Boro keeper another 8 minutes later.

Shortly before our opening goal Oldham Boro had the ball in the net but, confusingly for most of the Boro squad on the pitch, it was ruled offside; the most relieved to see the linesman's flag would have been Steve Piggott as he did rather make a hash of coming for the cross in the first place.

Three minutes later and we were ahead. A free-kick on the edge of the box was arrowed directly towards the keeper by Arron Dellosa , gathered by said keeper but then promptly fumbled into the back of the net. 

It only took another six minutes before we extended the lead, with Arron Dellosa again involved. With a Boro defender at his heels and Alex Monde-Leke as company he chased a long through ball; neither defender nor Arron really managed to get a clear foot on the ball, which instead bobbled kindly to Alex who poked it home.

As the half came to a close we had another comedy goalmouth scramble and Ben Brooks had a shot cleared off the line by a Boro head; I was rather looking forward to the second half, thinking that our momentum would see us finish the game off.

If you can guess whose face is hidden by the ball you get a prize*
*promises of prizes will not be honoured 

Instead the second half was a gnarly, scrappy affair somewhat hindered by a card-happy referee. We never really re-created the same kind of clear-cut chances that we had in the first half and had to weather small periods of Boro - with the slope now in their favour - enjoying spells of possession as they pressed to get a foothold in the game. 

That horrendous miss aside, the only other decent chance Boro had came on 70 minutes when a cross was sent to the far post and headed goalwards, only for it to be stopped at the very last by the head of Andy Lindon...who didn't know too much about it.

And thus the chance of a top ten finish still rests in our own hands...which is not a bad position to be in at all. Just two to go; the tension mounts....

TEAM: Piggott, Clarke, Hall, A Roberts, Gaskin, Walley, Dellosa (B Brokenbrow), Lindon, Brooks (Street), Monde-Leke, German (Tiffany). Subs: Street, Tiffany, B Brokenbrow. 

No, you haven't read that wrong. We are indeed off to Atherton Collieries' ground this weekend to play Oldham Boro... 

...which sort-of knackers the spiel I had prepared about how The Whitebank (Oldham Boro's actual home) used to be a hellish place for us to go resultswise but of late has turned into something of a lucky ground for us. I'll focus therefore on what this match may mean for a top-ten finish: a lot.

Going into this game we are in that 10th spot with 38 points from 31 games but, within shouting distance, are Oldham Boro...three places lower but just one point behind. Oldham Boro's form is exactly the same as ours and their home form - taking into account games played at The Whitebank and Alder Street (this isn't the first time they have switched venue this season) - is as equally miserable as ours and all; perhaps something we can take advantage of.

Just three to go: this, Formby away and Holker at home at the season wrap next Saturday. Top ten is in our own hands. Win all three and it'll be another great finish.

Come on Cheadle!

Live score updates will be available via Twitter from 3.00pm onwards
Match report will be on here by MIDNIGHT SUNDAY 

Last five seasons at The Whitebank:
2010-2011: won 2-1
2009-2010: won 1-0; won 3-2 (FDT1)
2008-2009: lost 1-3
2007-2008: lost 0-7
2006-2007: lost 1-4 

Wednesday Evening's Match

In keeping with this website's policy regarding our opponents, this Wednesday's match at Parkstrasse Stadion will not be covered in any way, shape or form.

This means there will be no match report or updates on Twitter. Normal service will be resumed for this weekend's match at Oldham Boro.

Results Round-Up: Saturday 14th April 2012

Apologies for not putting one of these on last week after what was a busy Bank Holiday weekend; the arse that was most definitely not in gear is back now. For the moment anyhow.

Our very own Cheadle Town have slipped to 12th place after this weekend's fixtures, mainly due to the fact that we didn't kick a ball as our away match with Formby was postponed. 

At the top of the table Wigan Robin Park took another step towards promotion with a 4-1 home win over Irlam who, after mamanging to put together a run of three straight wins, seem to be on another slump. WRP's chances of snatching the title aren't over yet, either as you-know-who dropped another two points, this time at home to Rochdale Town in a 2-2 draw. Two more slip-ups from our friends in Staffordshire and WRP could win the title yet....

Elsewhere, Atherton Collieries kep themselves in 4th spot with a late equaliser at AFC Darwen (their penultimate game) to claim a 1-1 draw; Ashton Town fell to a 1-3 home defeat against Northwich Villa; Chadderton drew 1-1 at home to Eccleshall; Holker Old Boys went to Leek CSOB and won 3-0 (the result that was the main reason for our slip to 12th) and Oldham Boro travelled to Nelson and gave them a 5-0 tomming. 

Cheadle Town's hopes of a top-ten finish took a bit of a knock as they suffered a defeat in a frustrating afternoon at Andrew Street.

As if to further prove that the 8-2 win in the FA Cup earlier in the season was a freak of nature, yet another day at Andrew Street ended in sheer depressing, soul-destroying exasperation. 

The first ten minutes of this match pointed towards a goalfest as both teams went at matters with purpose, Chadderton taking the lead and Cheadle squandering a couple of decent chances. Just two minutes in and we should have been a goal to the good: Arron Dellosa stormed through on the right, squared the ball to an unmarked Ben Brooks but the ball bobbled at the last minute, resulting in Ben screwing his shot wide.

Two minutes after that and the hosts had taken the lead after the ball was fed down the right to Lee Bowles who smacked in a ferocious shot from the underside of the crossbar.

Ben Brooks had another glorious chance just four minutes after that after he cut inside from the right, continued unchallenged but went inches wide with a shot back across the face of the goal.

Paul Walley with his Player of the Month Award for February/March 2012

The last action of that hectic opening ten came from Chadderton as one of their forwards had all the time and space to get a diving header onto a free-kick but only put it wide. The next action wouldn't be seen until the half-hour mark but it did result in Chadderton taking a 2-0 lead after a cross from the right was converted by Paul Socha in the centre of the penalty box.

We got the goal we needed five minutes before the break and, considering the decent chances we had garnered and missed before, it was ironic that it was as scruffy a goal as you could see all season. The Chadderton keeper spilled a corner from the right and, after what seemed like an eternity of scrambling and general dicking around, Ben Brooks just managed to get enough toe on it to stab it home.

Despite having more than the lion's share of possession in the second half - and being aided by Chadderton going down to ten men after their no2 had decided to give Andy Lindon a thick ear - we couldn't make good the foothold on the game that we had built for ourselves. Paul Walley went close with a header on 70 minutes and newcomer Alex Monde-Leke looked to have got himself on the end of a decent cross but, not for the first time at Chadderton, it just wasn't to be; they soaked up what we could muster and another chance of a result slowly ebbed away.

Just four to go. I reckon two wins and a draw will see us in the top ten by the end of the season. Just.

TEAM: Piggott, Hall (Taylor), B Roberts, A Roberts, Gaskin, Walley, Riley, Lindon, Brooks, German, Dellosa (Monde-Leke). Subs: Taylor, Monde-Leke.

If you cast your eyes over to the right-hand side of the page you will see the list of five 'Forthcoming Fixtures'; after this weekend I will have no more to add and that list will dwindle week-on-week. The end-of-season cliff-edge is near.

Bar the freak 8-2 win in the FA Cup for us this season, Andrew Street has been a shitty place for us to visit. That FA Cup win was our first victory there in our past eight visits in all competitions, the percentages made worse by our most recent trip: an extra-time 0-1 reversal in the League Challenge Cup back in November.

Now might be the best time to get our first league win there since 2005-2006. Chadderton may be below us in the table (by a hair's width) but they have a game in-hand; if we have any hopes of finishing in the top ten then a win is a must this weekend, thus damaging Chadderton's hopes of overhauling us (it's all to do with "potential points, you see - trust me).

We need a bit of that "everything we hit goes in" luck from that FA Cup tie. Come on Cheadle!

Live score updates will be available via Twitter from 3.00pm onwards
Match report will be on here by MIDNIGHT SUNDAY

Past five seasons at Andrew Street:
2010-2011: drew 1-1
2009-2010: drew 2-2
2008-2009: lost 1-4
2007-2008: lost 0-3
2006-2007: lost 0-3 

Results Round-Up: Saturday 31st March 2012

There's just four weeks to go of the current season and there was plenty of jostling for position over the weekend.

Wigan Robin Park look the better-placed now to join you-know-who in the promotion places after they picked up a 3-1 home win over AFC Darwen. The win brings them level on games with Abbey Hey now but with a six-point advantage over them; it is going to take a spectacular collapse from Staffordshire or for Wigan Robin Park to lose a handful of games if Abbey Hey are going to be promoted.

Irlam's recovery continued over the weekend as they came from 0-2 down to get a 3-2 home win over Atherton Collieries. They are now in the much-healthier position of 6th where the defeat for Collieries kept them in 5th spot.

Elsewhere, Eccleshall's excellent season continued apace with a 2-1 win at Holker Old Boys; Formby won for the fourth time on the bounce as they went to Oldham Boro and came away with a 2-1 win and Chadderton and Northwich Villa played out a 0-0 draw at Andrew Street.

Our very own Cheadle Town are in 10th place with 37 points from 29 games. 

Two wonder strikes guided Cheadle Town to a much-needed victory as they ran out 3-0 winners at AFC Darwen.

It was a night of bread-and-butter football served with champagne goals. I feel somewhat sorry for Paul Walley; as well-taken and important as his goal was, it paled into insignificance when compared with the efforts of Mssrs Dellosa and Brooks.

Up until wonder goal number one on 33 minutes our hosts arguably had the run of the game and garnered the better chances.

Just four minutes had passed when Darwen's tricky no10 had gone on a mazy run only for his shot to fly just over the bar. On 24 minutes a ball across our goalmouth caused all sorts of mayhem where we were lucky not to concede and three minutes later their no9 looked clean-through on the left but hacked his shot wide.

In amongst all of that Arron Dellosa had managed to take down a cross from the right, make himself a bit of space and skim a shot across the face of goal but that was nothing compared to what he achieved just after the half-hour mark; I don't think he could have hit a free-kick more sweetly - it arrowed into the top corner of the net and gave the Darwen keeper no chance.

As has happened a few times this season, that opening goal gave us the kick-start we needed in the game and we never looked back. With four minutes of the half remaining, Aaron Simpson looked to have scored when he got his head to a cross at the far post but somehow a combination of Darwen goalkeeper and full-back denied him. Darwen failed to clear their lines from the resulting corner and the ball eventually fell kindly to Paul Walley who crashed home to give us a comfortable-looking 2-0 lead going into half-time.

Thirty seconds into the restart and we had wonder goal number two. Ben Brooks cut inside from the left and, from around 20-25 yards out, unleashed a beauty into the top corner of the net. With thoughts of "if Darwen get one back now...." in the back of one's mind it was just the start to the second half we needed.

Ben's goal heralded a lively period where darwen did all they could to get a foothold in the game but were twice denied by Steve Piggott, once on 48 minutes when he did well to get his hands to a deflected shot and then three minutes later when he blocked a fierce, angled drive. Darwen kept plugging away but as the clock ticked on, their clear-cut chances dried up.

We could have made the scoreline more comfortable in the end. Paul Booth got clear on the left just after the hour mark but got his feet in a tangle when he looked poised to leather one in and with minutes remaining Ben Brooks latched onto a loose ball but snatched his volley just wide.

So, my 100% record at The Anchor remains intact; four visits, four wins for The Cheadle. AFC Darwen will be approaching Lancashire Council for a banning order if this carries on....

TEAM: Piggott, Hall, Simpson, A Roberts, Gaskin, Walley, Dellosa (Eme), Taylor, Brooks (Street), Booth, German (Ratcliffe). Subs: Street, Ratcliffe, Eme.