Press Round up 2/4/16

Premier Division

Rylands and Congleton Vale shared the points in an entertaining 0-0 draw, while Malpas drew 1-1 at home against Greenalls PSO. Heavy rain all morning left the pitch wet and sticky, resulting in a poor game as neither side were able to build any good passage of play. As the half went on Malpas had a few good moves but did not take the resulting chances, with the Greenalls central partnership keeping Alex Hughes under wraps. At the other end, Greenalls managed to win some half chances via corners but neither side were able to find the net.

The first goal came in the 58th minute when a push in the box resulting in a penalty for Greenalls, with Rob Ablewhite making no mistake from the spot. Malpas started to put the pressure on and a good run down the right from Mike Gibbs picked out Alex Hughes who slotted in Richard Sadler to make no mistake from close range to level the game.

League One

The only game in this division to survive the weather saw Wythenshawe Town run riot at home against Pilkington to storm to a 10-0 home victory. The home side started at a thunderous pace as they raced into a 2-0 lead after just six minutes after Omar Thompson and Jimmy Green hit home. Pilkington struggled to settle into the game and more goals followed as a result. Remy Williams hit home in the 25th minute, closely followed by a strike from Osebi Abadaki. Niall Rhodes made it five on the half hour mark, with Rhodes grabbing a second soon after. Green added a seventh with six minutes of the first half remaining.

Pilkington looked to lock down their defence at the start of the second half as they looked to pass the ball through the midfield and get into the Wythenshawe half, the home side had other ideas though and disaster struck in the 57th minute when Jamie Dickson headed the ball into his own net to make it 8-0. A minute later Rhodes completed his hat trick to make it nine and Williams got the tenth with a great strike in the 76th minute. Wythenshawe were not done there and continued their attack on the Pilkington goal. In the 85th minute, a late tackle on Abadaki resulted in a penalty but Tom Roach in the Pilkington goal made a superb save to deny Ashley McGrath the glory.

The win pushes Wythenshawe up into second place, five points behind leaders Billinge with three games in hand as the battle for promotion continues.

JA Walton Challenge Cup

In Group B, Cuddington and Grappenhall Sports shared the points in a 2-2 draw to remain in second place, while FC St Helens beat Lostock Gralam 3-0 away to confirm qualification for the knock out stages of the cup. The result means that Lostock must win their remaining group fixture against local rivals Middlewich Town to guarantee their place in the next round.

Altrincham Reserves moved into second in Group D after they beat Moore United 4-2 away from home. Altrincham took the lead with just three minutes on the clock but Moore battled back and equalised in the 16th minute when good work down the left from Arnold & Boden played in Rudge near the corner flag, he drilled a ball across the box that the Altrincham sliced past his own keeper for 1-1. Altrincham now need three points from their remaining two games to secure their spot in the knock out stages.

Altrincham restored their lead in the 35th minute when their striker was left unmarked at a corner and hit home for 2-1 and two minutes later a shot from a tight angle made it 3-1.

Just before the break Rudge floated a ball in to the back post where Sam Chaddock was waiting to rise like a salmon to nod the ball home for 3-2.

With nine minutes remaining Altrincham added a fourth to secure the points.

League Two

AFC Macclesfield moved 12 points clear at the top of the table after beating Halebank 2-1 at home in a close encounter. The match started slowly with both teams feeling their way into the game and reluctant to take any chances. Macclesfield finally started to dominate and with Jack Banister making some darting runs down the left wing, they pushed Halebank back and despite the pressure, Macclesfield couldn’t penetrate the opposition defence and turn their chances into goals.

With half an hour played, the deadlock was broken and Macclesfield got the vital first goal. Greg Mathers played a delightful ball into the path of Scott Wright who cut inside, beating two Halebank defenders and thundered the ball into the top left hand corner of the oppositions net.

Macclesfield sat back and became more compact but a lapse in concentration gave Halebank their first real goal scoring opportunity; a missed placed pass from the back fell kindly to Dan Whalley who went one on one with Macclesfield’s goalkeeper Dom Chell who managed to tip the ball to safety. The last opportunity of the half fell to Macclesfield. Jordan Gregory was fouled 35 yards out from the Halebank goal and up stepped dead ball specialist Jonny Cavanagh whose free kick was inches off from doubling Macclesfield’s lead.

After the break, Halebank started quickly and keen to get back into the game, created the first opportunity of the half. After some neat play around the Macclesfield box, Dan Whalley went through on goal and looked certain to level the game but Sam Williamson’s last ditch tackle cleared the danger and kept Macclesfield in the lead.

In the 50th minute the Halebank pressure finally told and they got their equaliser. After missing two opportunities, Nick Ellis superbly struck the ball to the inside of the post leaving Chell with no chance.

With twenty minutes left on the clock, Macclesfield sprung into life, creating a number of chances but never finding the killer pass to convert. With ten minutes left, Jonny Cavanagh let fly from 30 yards but Matt Gilhooley pulled off a fine save tipping the ball over the bar. From the resulting corner, Jack Banister delivered a deep cross and after a goal line scramble, the ball found Cavanagh unmarked who headed the ball over the line to restore Macclesfield’s lead.

Reserve League One

Greenalls PSO returned to winning form as they beat Grappenhall Sports 3-1 at home to move up into fifth spot.

Daten and Styal remain level on points after finishing 1-1. Styal however sit three places above their opponents with a much better goal difference. Both teams started brightly and looking for the three points, but it was Daten who struck in the third minute after a shot hit the hand of Parker in the penalty area and the home team slotted home the penalty for 1-0.

Styal responded swiftly, when a well worked corner delivered by Kieran McGuire, saw Sam Cooper head home within minutes of the restart. Styal gained in confidence and had the lions share of possession in the first half, however Daten looked dangerous on the break down the flanks and gave the Styal defence a hard time.

The second half was finely balanced with both teams looking dangerous on the break. Styal saw several chances go begging with Tom Pryce breaking through to creating several opportunities. A nice move down the left saw Callan Kinsella pull his shot wide from inside the box. At the other end Daten kept pressing and brought out some fine saves from Alan Osborne in the Styal goal.