CFL Press Round up 14/5/16

Premier Division

A hat trick from Andy Hurst and another goal from Rick Tindall saw Poynton cancel out Josh Lane’s strike to beat Sandbach United 4-1 at home, while a 76th minute goal from Tom Rutter saw Knutsford beat Garswood United 1-0.

Greenalls PSO beat Whaley Bridge 3-2 at home through strikes from Ellis Houghton (2) and Ben Slater, while Jake Drayson and George Burgess scored for Whaley.

Denton Town look to have secured premier division football for next season after beating Eagle Sports 5-4 at home. Thomas Bane (2) Brad Robinson, Paul Smith and Vinnie Braine hit home for Denton, while a hat trick from Owen Ellis and a goal from Chris Quirk made up the goals for Eagle.

Linotype CHN continued their run of form by scoring ten goals in two games. Kieran Herbert (2) Kayle Power, Leon Grandison and Phil Yuille helped them to a 5-1 win away at local rivals Poynton before going on to beat Rudheath Social by the same score line through further goals from Power, Grandison, Yuille, Dean McGregor and Nehru McKenzie. This leaves Linotype nine points behind leaders Knutsford with three games left to play but if Knutsford get a point from their last game at Whaley Bridge then the title is theirs.

Whaley Bridge sit in third place following a 1-0 win against Eagle Sports, while Matt Pearson and Charlie Crouch scored in Crewe’s 2-0 win over Rylands and Sandbach United beat Gamesley 6-0 at home.

Greenalls PSO played hosts to Malpas and the visitors finished 4-2 winners in an end to end game. Both teams started at a good pace, Malpas created good chances and a fine save from Conor Yarwood kept out Joe Sumner. The first goal came when Greenalls failed to clear a corner which fell neatly for Danny Lloyd to strike from close range after 12 minutes.

Ten minutes later a long ball caught out the Malpas back line for Lee Vaughan to slot in for the equaliser and soon after it was 2-1 when a simple ball through to Danny Toone saw him give Greenalls the lead. Greenalls were on top and Malpas struggled to settle down the game even though a great move saw Adam Hailes shoot just over from twenty yards.

Malpas started the second half with a different formation and this paid dividends when Alex Hughes worked well down the left, turning and weaving before his cross was met by Hailes, sending a header low into the net to level the scores. Andy Morris made it 3-2 in the 68th minute as Malpas confidence started to grow but down at the other end, Connor Tinsley was called into action on several occasions by the Greenalls strike force of Vaughan and Toone. In the 80th minute Morris finished well with his second of the game and Malpas held on strong for the win despite the game continuing as an end to end affair.

League One

Daten climbed to seventh following a 3-1 win away at Tarporley Victoria, while Grappenhall Sports beat Maine Road Reserves 2-1 in a feisty encounter at the bottom of the table. Veteran midfielder Leon Goulden gave Grappenhall the lead in the 22nd minute after he headed home a free kick from just outside the box and Sam Shaw doubled the lead ten minutes later.

Aeron Woodman pulled one back for Maine Road in the 69th minute to set up a lively end to the fixture but Grappenhall held on to secure their place in league one next season with one game remaining. Maine Road have finished their fixtures and currently sit one point above Tarporley Victoria who need three points (due to goal difference) from their remaining two games to avoid relegation and send Maine Road down.

League Two

Halebank chalked up two victories this week as they continue to seek promotion in their first season. Tuesday saw them beat Moore United 6-1 at home through goals from Lee Marshall (2) Conor Speed, Jake Parton, Oliver Main and Dan Whalley. Moore’s goal was scored by Ben Roe.

Halebank then went on to beat Cheadle Town Reserves 5-0 on Saturday and they could potentially finish second if they win all of their remaining four fixtures.

West Didsbury & Chorlton Reserves moved up to seventh with a 7-2 home win over Litherland Remyca Reserves in a game that saw veteran striker Tommy Walsh come off the bench to score a hat trick. Sam Dee bagged a brace and Yahya Saeed and Tim Rakshi also made the score sheet.

Two goals from Joe Carroll saw Lostock Gralam sign off their season with a 2-0 win over FC Ct Helens and currently sit in third place, three points ahead of their opponents who have three games remaining and could also secure promotion to league one.

Mersey Valley also finished on a high as they beat Litherland Remyca Reserves 6-1 away and currently sit in fifth, a point above Halebank.

Presidents Cup

Cuddington progressed to the quarter finals of the cup following a 2-1 win away at Cheadle Town Reserves. Jason Alexander gave Cuddington the lead early in the first half but a penalty from Barry Lawson evened things up on the stroke of half time, after Arnold Nsimbe had been fouled in the area.

The sides remained on an even keel for much of the second half until a wonder goal from Rick Bettley from thirty yards sent Cuddington flying into the next round of the competition.

Greenalls PSO Reserves and Unicorn Athletic played out an enthralling 4-4 draw on Thursday night that meant the game was decided on penalties. Greenalls won the game 4-1 on pens to book a place in the quarter final against Moore United Reserves.

Middlewich Town beat Litherland Remyca Reserves 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Callum Priestly and Mike Whitehead and they will play Pilkington in the semi final following their win on penalties against local rivals Billinge. The scores were level at half time and Pilkington won the game 4-2 on spot kicks.

Reserve League One

Alex Airey, Tom Scorer and Jason Mellor scored in Whaley Bridge’s 3-0 win over Poynton, before they went on to beat Styal 2-0 at home to return to the top of the table. They now sit a point ahead of Poynton with four games left to play, while Poynton have just one fixture remaining.

Billinge started the week with a 6-2 win at home against Greenalls PSO that saw six different scorers. Anthony Bennett, Neil Hilton, Ryan Platt, Ryan Sephton, Tom Rooney and Josh Lowe all hit the net for Billinge, while Paul Molloy and James Worral scored for Greenalls.

Scott Cheetham, Dan Hugo and Jack Longworth scored for Linotype CHN in their 3-1 win over Grappenhall Sports, while Sam Hood and Ashley Leather scored in their 2-2 draw with Greenalls PSO.

Nathan Gallager was the only scorer in Eagle Sports’ 1-0 win over Sandbach United, while Lee Broome, Connor Glass, Arian Kalantari and Ste Kirby (2) helped Poynton to a 5-1 win over Knutsford A in their last home game of the season.

Garswood United sit in seventh spot following their 6-2 win over Gamesley. Their opponents sit five points clear of safety at the bottom of the table with four games left to play.

Styal were defeated 4-2 at home by Billinge on their penultimate game of the season. Billinge opened the scoring through Ryan Sephton after Styal failed to clear but Styal soon bounced back with a lovely through ball from Sam Cawthra which saw Lee Allen ghost in to slot home for 1-1.

The second half got underway and Styal took the game to Billinge again but once again were caught by some neat football for Sephton to slot home his second of the game to make it 2-1. Styal refused to be beaten and pushed forward in search of the equaliser, this came courtesy of a handball decision, leaving Matt Clarke to finish from the spot, despite the keeper getting a good hand to it.

Billinge's quality started to show through with good possession and passing and it wasn't long before they cut the Styal defence open on the edge of the box to slot home and make it 3-2 and as Styal went in search again, Billinge hit them on the counter to secure the three points.

Reserve Division Cup

Sandbach United progressed to their first Cheshire League final after beating Knutsford A in the semi-final. With the scores level at 1-1 at full time the game went straight to penalties and Sandbach won 5-4 to book a place in the final against Rylands.

Reserve Division Two

Wythenshawe Town finished their season with back to back victories, firstly beating league leaders Rylands 3-1 away through a Carlton Jones hat trick and then going on to slot eight past Malpas with Jones bagging six of them! James Green and Jake Gregory also made the score sheet.

Denton Town moved up to third place with a 2-0 home win over Moore United as Russ Dobson and Jack Worrall hit home.

Second place West Didsbury & Chorlton A beat Rylands 1-0 in their final game of the season but Rylands still have one remaining fixture against Denton Town who sit a point behind them with two games remaining. Rylands need to win to secure the league title but a draw would mean that Denton need to beat Malpas by two clear goals for them to steal the title.