Eccleshall FC vs Port Vale FC | Staffordshire Senior Cup

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www.eccleshallfc.co.uk

Admission Adults - £6.00 Concession - £4.00

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Eccleshall Football Club - Season 2021/22 Pershall Park, Chester Road, Eccleshall, Staffordshire. ST21 6NE

Telephone 01785 851351 (match days only) Legal Entity: Company limited by shares - Eccleshall Football Club Limited (c/n 13365015). Subsidiary of Eccleshall FC Sports Foundation Limited (c/n 13359263) - company limited by guarantee.

Club Officials:

Chairman: Neil Washington Vice-Chairman: Antony Johnson Secretary: Jim Tunney Treasurer: David Heelis Programme Editor: Shaun Rogers Clubhouse Management: Bill Grinham Club Welfare Officer: Jim Tunney Commercial Manager: Media Officer: Shaun Rogers

Directors

Neil Washington, Antony Johnson, Paul Cox, David Heelis, Bill Grinham, Richard Marsh, Jim Tunney.

Committee

John Martin, Colin Leese, Sid Kelly, Ernie Jackson, Diane Washington, Harvey Collins, Liz Leese, Andy Gough, Ben Gamble, Liz Leese Fundraising Sub-Committee Neil Washington, Antony Johnson, John Martin, Jim Tunney, Colin Leese First Team Management: Liam Kelly, Nathan Wilkes, Tom Farr, Evans Ofori, Phil Bruce, Harry Pickering Junior Section Chairman: Andy Gough Secretary: Gareth Davies Under 15s Team Manager : Paul Heler Under 13s Team Manager: Dave Hislop Under 13s Team Manager: Jon Edensor Under 12s Team Manager: Andre Parcian Under 9s Team Manager: Kieran Healey Members of the North West Counties League, Midland Junior Premier League, North Staffs Junior Youth League, Mid Staffs Junior League.

Affiliated to Staffordshire FA Eccleshall FC is an England Accredited Club

VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT

Good evening and welcome to Pershall Park for tonight’s mouthwatering Staffordshire Senior Cup tie against Port Vale FC. I’d like to welcome all those associated with Port Vale who are involved in tonight’s game, a warm welcome to Eccleshall FC. Tonight is a great occasion for the club on and off the pitch, so it will be great to see so many of you get behind us. I know my players are extra motivated to cause a cup upset tonight (particularly the Stoke fans like myself) and showcase their ability at the highest level. As exciting as tonight’s occasion is, I have to think logically and realise that league safety is our priority. This means tonight that one or two players with knocks or niggly injuries will be rested for an important home fixture against Ellesmere on Saturday. This gives me chance to utilise the depth in the squad that we have slowly built. I know that none of them will want to miss out which will be the hardest part of tonight.

I hope those in attendance enjoyed our performance on Saturday against Cheadle Town. Our second win in three games and one I thought we deserved nothing less than the three points. Cheadle are a strong side and will hope to be around the plays-offs come to the end of the season, so I’m extremely proud of the lads for their desire to grind out a much-needed result. At times we played some great stuff and if we had taken our chances, we could have been out of sight. We again showed improvements defensively in what I thought was our best team performance since I arrived here.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s game and I look forward to testing ourselves against quality opposition.

Liam Kelly

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MICHAEL WINCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY www.michaelwincottphotography.com

Eccleshall FC Club Honours 1973-74 Mid Staffs Div.3 Cup Winners 1973-74 Mid Staffs Div.3 Runners-up 1975-76 Mid Staffs Div.2 Cup Winners 1980-81 Staffs County (N) League Div.2 Champions 1981-82 Staffs County League (N) Premier Division Champions 1981-82 May Bank Cup Finalists 1982-82 May Bank Cup Winners 1982-83 Mid Staffs Div.2 Cup Winners 1983-84 Staffs County League (N) Premier Division Champions 1983-84 May Bank Cup Winners 1983-84 Staffs FA Vase Finalists 1984-85 Staffs FA Vase Finalists 1986-87 May Bank Cup Finalists 1987-88 Mid Staffs Borough Cup Finalists 1989-90 Staffs Senior League Champions 1999-00 Springbank Vending Midland League Runners-up 1999-00 Staffs County League Champions 2001-02 Springbank Vending Midland League Champions 2002-03 Springbank Vending Midland League Champions 2002-03 Staffs FA Vase Winners 2002-03 Staffs County League Champions 2002-03 Sentinel Cup Winners (under 18s) 2002-03 Sentinel Shield Winners (u/16’s) 2002-03 Leek Cup Finalists 2005-06 Staffs FA Vase Finalists 2017-18 Staffs FA Youth Cup Winners (Under 18s) 2017-18 Potteries Junior Youth Cup Winners (under 18s)

Reformed 1971 Nickname The Eagles Ground Pershall Park Chester Road Eccleshall ST21 6NE Telephone 01785 851351 (Matchdays Only)

Record Attendances: League - 2,011 vs FC United 5.11.05

Cup - 368 vs Wisbech Town FA Vase Rd2 11.91 Previous Leagues Mid Staffs League Staffs County League (N) North Staffs Alliance Midland League (formerly known as Staffs Senior league, Refuge Assurance Springbank Vending)

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Last Time we met Back in the 2007/08 season, Eccleshall was entered by Staffordshire FA into the Staffordshire Senior Cup for the first time in the club’s history. In the first round, we were drawn against Stoke City and a 3-1 victory on the evening in front of a decent crowd put us in the hat for the second-round draw. Unbelievably, the draw threw up another plum tie with Port Vale now being the visitors to Pershall Park.

Since the Stoke game, Eccleshall’s league form had slumped with them picking up only one point out of seven matches, that being from a 0-0 draw away at Padiham. As a result, we had fallen to 16th in Division 2 – not a great build up for this match which took place on Wednesday 28. November 2007.

In his programme notes, manager Mark Askey said:

“Having pulled Stoke City out of the hat for our first venture into the Staffs Senior Cup, the draw for the Quarter Final was once again eagerly awaited by everyone involved with the club. Therefore, to draw the only other League club in the competition at home was music to our ears. As with the Stoke City tie, this will be our first ever competitive game against The Vale and provides our young side with another opportunity to test themselves against full-time players. I have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised with our performance in upsetting the odds in the last round. However, I am expecting a much sterner test tonight against what I expect to be Vale’s reserves and a team of players looking to impress their new boss, Lee Sinnott”.

Our backroom team of manager Askey, assistant manager Steve Bradbury and coaches Dave Dale and Gary Worthington all had strong previous connections with Port Vale as they were all Vale youngsters from the 1970’s.

We are grateful to Chris Travers from the Sentinel for going into the archives and providing the match report, which was as follows:

“A strong Port Vale side were humbled by non-league outfit Eccleshall, who progressed to the semi-finals of the Staffs Senior Cup with a dramatic last-minute winner. Vale twice went ahead in the first half thanks to strikes from Simon Richman and Marc Richards. But Eccleshall refused to lie down and Dwayne Spence’s well taken goal in the 90th minute secured a memorable victory for a team languishing in the bottom three of the Vodkat North West Counties League Division Two.

Richards was joined in the starting line-up by fellow senior players David McGoldrick, Colin Miles, Mark Goodlad and Justin Miller. And, in truth, Vale dominated their hosts for much of the first half, having taken the lead in the fourth minute. Adam Copeland’s long throw on the left found Danny Glover in the penalty area. Off balance, the young striker failed to connect properly with his shot, but the ball rolled to Richman who calmly swept home from 10 yards into the bottom left-hand corner. Richards was proving a constant threat but was guilty of missing a number of chances before Eccleshall equalised in the 37th minute.

Spence chased what looked like a lost cause down the right but running at full throttle, he managed to hook the ball into Vale’s penalty area. The onrushing Robert Adlington beat Miles to the ball and went over the Vale defender’s sliding tackle to earn a disputed penalty. Adlington picked himself up and sent Goodlad the wrong way with his spot kick, caressing the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. Richards restored Vale’s lead a minute before half time with an eight-yard finish after Glover’s good work down the left.

Eccleshall’s confidence grew in the second period and they scored a fortunate equaliser in the 75th minute when Vale conceded a free kick forty yards from goal. Steve Brunt’s setpiece was intended for the far post, but Goodlad could only stand and watch as the ball sailed over his head and into the far left hand corner. And in the dying seconds, Vale’s defence were guilty of ball watching as Spence ghosted into the box to convert Spencer Gunnell’s free kick from twelve yards, sending the Pershall Park crowd delirious.

Vale coach, Andy Porter, said: “We showed a good attitude, but when you are on top of a game like that you have to be knocking the chances in and we didn’t. It was 2-1 to us at half time which gave them a bit of a lifeline. They got a fluke second goal but that is how it goes and their third was down to poor defending”.

The teams from that night were: Eccleshall: Picking, Brunt, Thorley (Johnson, 57), Kerrigan, Mapperson, Gunnell, Mills (Brown, 71), Dematteo, Spence, Adlington, Stevens.

Unused subs: Challinor, Heard, Weston.

Port Vale: Goodlad, Miller (Crompton, 64), Copeland, Edwards, Prosser, Miles, Richman, McGoldrick, Richards (Lawrie, 73), Glover, Chapman.

Unused subs: Dixon, Martin, Pike.

The match provided another bumper crowd of 133 at Pershall Park on the evening and the Eagles looked forward to the semi-final draw after again turning the form book upside down as their Senior Cup journey moved on.

Eccleshall FC There has been football in the town of Eccleshall for over 100 years but very little archive material is available from those early years. However, we do know that Eccleshall Football Club was reformed in 1971 with the team being made up of locals and staff from the Eccleshall Secondary School which also provided training and playing facilities. At that time, the club was called Eccleshall Old Boys Football Club.

In 1974, the team won their first trophies; the Mid-Staffs 3rd Division Cup and were also runners-up in that division, gaining promotion to Division 2.

Old Boys was dropped from the club’s name and in 1979 the first team joined the Staffordshire County League (North) and a third team was formed.

In 1981, with the help of grants, fund raising and a loan, a four-acre field was purchased at Pershall. Then manager, Ted Dickinson, was the driving force behind the fund raising. In the same year, the first team moved into the Premier Division of the Staffordshire County League (North). Work began converting the field into a football ground. In 1982, a building was purchased from British Telecom and, with a lot of hard work over the next couple of years on the building, car park and pitch, Pershall Park, as it was christened, was ready.

In the 1983-84 season, the first team won the Staffordshire County League Premier Division Championship, the Premier Division Cup and the May Bank Cup. During the 1989-90 season, the first team won the Staffordshire Senior League title and the 1990-91 season saw the club entering the FA Vase for the first time.

In 1991-92, the club reached the FA Vase 2nd round having gone through all the preliminary stages but lost at home to Wisbech Town 2-0 in front of a then record crowd of 368.

The first team fared well in the league in the mid to late 90’s, finishing 3rd (97-98), 6th (98-99), 2nd (99-00) and 3rd (00-01). Eccleshall reserves won the Staffordshire County League (North) in 1999-2000 moving to the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One (North) for the start of the following season. In the 2001-2002 season, the first team won the Springbank Vending Midland League Championship.

Eccleshall FC In 2002-2003 Eccleshall’s first team joined the North West Counties Football League after securing both the Springbank Vending Midland League title and Staffordshire FA Vase. In probably the most successful season in the club’s history, our second team were also Staffordshire County League champions and our Under 18s won the Sentinel Cup. For good measure, our Under 16s won the Staffordshire FA County Cup, the Mid-Staffordshire League Cup and the Sentinel Shield. Regarding the Sentinel competitions, the last time a club had won both trophies in the same season had been some twenty five years previously – a great achievement.

The 2012-13 season marked the completion of 10 years in the North West Counties League and saw the club achieve its highest ever placing of sixth in Division 1.

In 2017-18, our Under 17s had a very successful season, winning the Potteries Junior Youth League Cup, Staffordshire FA Youth Cup and finishing runners up in the league.

Over the years since 1981-82, significant work has been undertaken to develop both the ground and the facilities to the required standard of the National League Pyramid which the club now enjoys. This includes enclosing the ground, the installation of floodlights, building a covered seated stand and pitch levelling. In 2019, a new toilet block was installed and previously the clubhouse was refurbished and upgraded with the addition of a treatment room and a security system. Prior to the 2018/19 season, a new kitchen and refreshments bar was added. For the 2021-22 season the team dugouts have been replaced and more spectator improvements made. Further developments to the ground are planned for the future. All of this has been achieved by a strong committee management team behind the scenes, a number of which have given many years of service to Eccleshall FC together with the addition of new members who are helping to take the club forward.

The club has now added a number of junior teams as we look to develop a junior section. Our second pitch has been upgraded and improved to accommodate this.

2021 sees Eccleshall Football Club celebrate its 50th anniversary and, as can be seen from the above, much has been achieved over that time. We look forward to seeing what the future brings. We consider ourselves a friendly club and look forward to welcoming you to Pershall Park in the future and hope you will enjoy the facilities and the football.

Welcome to Port Vale FC Port Vale Football Club was formed in 1876 and took its name from the venue of the inaugural meeting at 'Port Vale House' situated in a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent. Upon moving to Burslem in 1884 the club changed its name to 'Burslem Port Vale' and after several seasons in the Midland League became founder members of the Football League Division Two in 1892.

The first few years, however, were a struggle and in 1896 the club failed to gain re-election and returned to the Midland League. Following an FA Cup victory in 1898 over First Division Sheffield United the club once again returned to the Football League. It was still an uphill battle though, and in 1907 the club were forced to resign due to financial difficulties and almost went into oblivion.

The prefix 'Burslem' was dropped from the name as a new ground in Hanley was acquired in 1913.

In October 1919 after eight seasons in the Central League the club returned in dramatic circumstances to the Football League. Following the expulsion of Leeds City for making illegal payments the club was elected to take over their remaining fixtures and responded by finishing in a creditable 13th place.

In 1928-29 the Club experienced relegation for the first time, but bounced back to win the Third Division (North) Championship and in 1931 went on to finish in 5th place in Division Two which still remains the club's highest ever league position. The club was again relegated in 1936 despite knocking the First Division champions, Sunderland, out of the FA Cup and spent the next 18 years fluctuating between Third Divisions North and South due to its central geographical location.

In 1950 the Club moved to its present home at Vale Park which due to its size and the planned developments became known as 'The Wembley of the North'. 1953-54 saw the best season in the Club's history as it romped to the Third Division (North) Championship, losing only three games and conceding just twenty-one goals, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup only to lose controversially to West Bromwich Albion. The stay in Division Two lasted only three years until 1957, then going straight down to become founder members of the newly formed Fourth Division.

It turned out to be a successful season though as a Club record 110 goals helped to take the title.

The next few seasons saw the FA Cup providing the highlights as the 5th Round was reached in 1960 and 1962 with 4th Round matches in both 1963 and 1964 with a draw at Champions elect Liverpool in the latter campaign. Relegation back to Division Four in 1965 and a barren spell followed with the ignominy of having to seek re-election after being charged with making illegal payments to players in 1968.

Gordon Lee became manager and put together a promotion winning team in 1970 and then after again reaching the 5th Round of the FA Cup in 1977 were relegated the following season. The club continued to sink to its lowest ever position in 1980 and this saw the arrival of John Rudge as coach to manager John McGrath. A promotion campaign was mounted in 1982-83 to revive the club's fortunes but unfortunately a year later relegation saw the club going straight back down with John Rudge taking over the reins as manager for the first time. Promotion was again achieved in 1986 and striker Andy Jones rose to international status with Wales following his 37 goal haul in 1987.

A major turning point in the club's history arrived in January 1988, when a late winner in the FA Cup against non-league Macclesfield Town earned a plum 4th Round home tie against Tottenham Hotspur. When Port Vale won 2-1 to earn national recognition the club's fortunes appeared to take off. In 1988-89 a third place and promotion via the play-offs took the club back to Division Two for the first time in thirty-two years. This rekindled the long awaited local derbies with Stoke City and all went well until midway through the 1991-92 season when a run of eighteen games without a win ended in relegation.

Welcome to Port Vale FC Fortunately the directors stood by John Rudge and in the 1992-93 season after a long battle finished in third place on eighty-nine points, a record total at the time for a team failing to gain promotion. This meant a second participation in the play-offs but it ended in defeat at Wembley against West Bromwich Albion. The previous weekend yielded a never-to-be-forgotten day though, as the Club's first ever Wembley visit ended in victory in the Autoglass Trophy Final backed by over 25,000 supporters to climax a run that included a 1-0 win at holders, Stoke City. Goals by Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven in the final secured a 2-1 victory over Stockport County.

In 1993-94 the club finished second in Division Two to gain automatic promotion and in the 1995-96 season played a record sixty-two games which saw them reach the Anglo-Italian Cup Final at Wembley and the 5th Round of the F.A Cup. In the latter, victory over reigning Cup holders, Everton was rewarded by Sponsors Littlewoods presenting the club with a special 'Giantkillers' award.

Despite being quoted as pre-season relegation favourites in 1996/97, Vale confounded their critics to finish in their highest position since 1934 by finishing 8th.

1997/98 will be best remembered for the last match victory at Huddersfield that saw the club safe from the threat of relegation and the exciting FA Cup games versus eventual double winners Arsenal, where only a penalty shoot out separated the teams.

In 1998/99 the Club again retained their First Division status at the death, this time under new manager, Brian Horton.

The continual struggle against the odds eventually caught up with the club and in May 2000 Vale suffered relegation to the Second Division. Expectations for the new season among supporters were high but the Valiants had a poor first half of the season, which included a first round defeat in the League Cup against Chester City.

Worse was to come in November 2000 when Vale were knocked out of the first round of the FA Cup by non-league Canvey Island. The second half of the season saw a complete turn around in performances and results on the field that saw Vale rise from the depths of the relegation zone to a respectable 11th position. Records for consecutive away wins were equalled which is more amazing when you consider that in the previous two seasons Vale had won just 2 away games. The Valiants remained unbeaten for a total of 16 consecutive games, which was eventually halted by a narrow 1-0 defeat away to league leaders Millwall.

The highlight of the season though, was without a doubt, the victory over Brentford in the LDV Vans Trophy at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 22nd April with a 2-1 over the Bees courtesy of goals from Bridge-Wilkinson and Brooker. Vale's run in the competition started with a 3-0 win over Notts County at Vale Park on 9th January which in itself saw the end of what must be an unwanted record. Vale had failed to win a single cup game of any sort during the previous 53 months. Vale progressed to the final with further wins over Chester City, Darlington, Stoke City and Lincoln City.

The 2002/2003 season was always going to be a struggle, with finances dictating the situation and the club unable to afford a squad large enough to make any headway in Division Two. In December 2002, the club was forced to go into administration and unfortunately, staff cuts duly followed with Assistant Manager Mark Grew and Chief Scout Ray Williams the big name casualties.

Chairman Bill Bell eventually made way for the new owners, Valiant 2001 and on the field of play, Brian Horton's men managed to see off the threat of relegation - but only just!

New Chairman Bill Bratt warned supporters and staff alike that things would not get better over night and the club had a transfer embargo slapped on them to make things even more difficult.

Yet the start of the 2003/2004 season saw expectations rise sharply, as the side started off really well and we were soon sitting pretty at the top of Division Two. Steve McPhee had managed only three goals the previous season, but it was soon evident that the young Scot was about to make a mockery of that derisory total.

Welcome to Port Vale FC The new owners had given the whole place a lift, but their hands were tied, and there was little they could do which would allow Brian Horton to add to the squad.

Vale were still in with a shout of a play off place, when the manager and the club, perhaps a little surprisingly, parted company and the board wasted no time in replacing him with crowd favourite Martin Foyle.

Foyle himself wasted no time in bringing in another former favourite as his assistant, Dean Glover, who had left to join Stone Dominoes the previous season.

In the 2006-2007 season the team got off to a terrific start, winning our opening four league matches, and then following that up by beating Championship outfit Preston North End in the Carling Cup. A drop in form and a larger than expected injury list took its toll, though there was further Carling Cup success as we saw off two more Championship clubs, in QPR and Norwich, before going out of the competition at White Hart Lane. Vale actually took the lead against Tottenham when top scorer Leon Constantine found the net, but the home side came back to force extra time and tired legs saw the Valiants concede a further two goals before returning to the Potteries with heads held high.

Following a poor start to the 2007-2008 season, Manager Martin Foyle left the club by mutual consent and Dean Glover took over the reigns as caretaker manager, until a new man was appointed.

The new manager was Lee Sinnott, who had previously managed Farsley Celtic, where he had successfully guided the club into the Blue Square Premier League. Unfortunately the club continued to struggle and were knocked out of the FA Cup by lowly Chasetown after a replay and at the end of the season suffered relegation.

Lee Sinnott was dismissed after nine games of the following campaign with former player Dean Glover having his second spell in charge. The team struggled to adapt to life in League Two, eventually finishing 18th and Dean Glover left at the end of the season. Micky Adams was then appointed the new manager and set about turning the clubs fortunes around. They defeated two championship sides in the Carling Cup, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday before succumbing to Scunthorpe after extra time. On the league front a late charge almost resulted in a play off place but they were forced to settle for 10th place in the end.

Micky Adams departed for Sheffield United in December 2010 having guided the team to 4th place in the league with Jim Gannon taking charge less than a week later. Jim left the club in March 2011 with Mark Grew taking over as caretaker manager. At the end of the turbulent 2010/11 season, when the team finished 11th, Micky Adams sensationally returned to the club and signed a three year contract.

In the 2011/12 season Vale were on the fringes of a promotion challenge but the club went into administration in March 2012 and the subsequent ten point deduction ended any hopes of a play off place. The team eventually finished in twelfth place.

The club began the 2012/13 season still in administration and under a transfer embargo. Despite that, they made a great start and were second in the table when new owners Paul Wildes and Norman Smurthwaite took over in November 2013. They went on to clinch automatic promotion by finishing third, and were the highest scorers in the country with 87 league goals. They also beat Burton Albion 71, the club’s biggest win since 1960 and Tom Pope was the country’s leading scorer with 33 goals in all competitions.

At the end of what was a great season, Paul Wildes left the club, leaving Norman Smurthwaite in sole charge. In 2013/14 Vale finished 9th in League One but a poor start to the 2014/15 campaign led to manager Micky Adams resigning with Rob Page taking over. He steered the club to safety to finish 18th, but despite finishing 12th in 2015/16 he left for Northampton and the club appointed their first overseas manager in Bruno Ribeiro. Despite a good start, Ribeiro left at Christmas to be replaced by Michael Brown and he was unable to save the club from relegation.

In 2016/17 Vale only avoided relegation to the National League by one point and finished 20th in 2017/18 and 2018/19, their lowest ever placing. In May 2019 Smurthwaite sold the club to Synectics Solutions, owed by fans of the club Carol and Kevin Shanahan, and they are now beginning the climb back to hopefully former glories.

Welcome to Port Vale FC Winners 1897/98 | 1911/12 | 1919/20 | 1946/47 | 1948/49 | 1952/53 | 2000/01

Runners Up

1899/1900 | 1927/28 | 1929/30 | 1947/48 1972/773 | 2009/10 | 2013/14

www.port-vale.co.uk

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3-2 13.11.2021

LAST TIME OUT

ATT :79

EAGLES BACK TO WINNING WAYS

With regular keeper Aaron Woolrich now out for a number of weeks due to an accident at work, manager Liam Kelly fielded new signing Eric Merner in goal and Lewis Doughty made his debut as the Eagles faced promotion chasing Cheadle Town at Pershall Park.

Referee Smith gave notice of his intent when skipper Harvey Collins was booked after two minutes for a foul tackle and the resulting free kick was well held by Merner. Eccleshall were matching their higher placed opponents in the early stages but, after a good Eagles spell, it was Cheadle who took the lead after 28 minutes when Paul Sunderland’s initial shot was well saved by Merner. However, the ball ran loose, and it was Sunderland who rammed home the rebound. Undaunted by this, Eccleshall came back and were level within five minutes through Liam Tomlin. Luke Lewis slipped past a covering defender before laying the ball across to Tomlin and his shot beat Town keeper Elliot Wynne to find the back of the net.

Eagles continued to press and a Jordan Benton free kick into the box had to be fisted away by Wynne and then another shot by Jordan Hall beat Wynne and had to be cleared off the line

by Tom Morris. Cheadle came back and Merner had to make another diving save from a Sunderland shot to prevent Town taking the lead. The home keeper was pressed into action again to save a Sunderland free kick and, with the minutes ticking away in what had been an entertaining first half, Merner collected a cross by Patrick Davin.

HT: Eccleshall 1 Cheadle Town 1 Cheadle’s Andrew Lunt had the first effort of the second half, firing wide of the post before Eccleshall took the lead on 48 minutes. Lewis cut into the box and his pass to the far side found Tomlin, whose rising drive into the top corner gave Wynne and his covering defenders no chance. Town’s Jack McConnell then had a header cleared off the line before Merner was forced into another diving save. Town equalised on 53 minutes when Sunderland’s free kick outside the box left Merner rooted as it found the top corner of the net. Back came Eccleshall and Lewis’s low cross just needed a touch as it flashed across the six-yard box. The striker’s pace was causing problems and he raced clear on goal only to be halted by the offside flag.

Town’s Ryan Usher then blasted the ball over the bar. Another low cross by Tomlin just evaded the incoming Hall and Lewis. Eccleshall continued to press forward and on 79 minutes, took the lead. A teasing Tomlin cross was touched onto the bar by Wynne and Jack Dundas, who replaced Hall a few minutes earlier, was on hand to lash home the rebound.

Lewis again ran through the middle for a one-on-one with Wynne, but the keeper blocked the chance with his legs. Tomlin then weaved his way into the box to bring another save from the Town keeper. Kelly brought on James Redford and Callum Collinson as time ticked down and Town’s Lunt fired wide before the final whistle.

FT: Eccleshall 3 Cheadle Town 2 This was an important three points for the Eagles as they look to get out of the bottom three.

It was a battling, solid performance which was appreciated by the home supporters and debutant keeper Merner took the eye with a number of good saves. Next up is the visit of Port Vale in the Staffordshire Senior Cup on Tuesday evening before going back to league action next Saturday when Ellesmere Rangers are the visitors to Pershall Park.

Eagles: Merner, Tomlin, Taylor, Benton, Rowe, Collins, Lewis, Carr (Collinson), Hall (Dundas), Doughty (Redford), Riley.

Unused subs: Downs, Lovatt.

Referee: Mr Louis Smith Attendance: 79

SATURDAY'S FIXTURES Abbey Hulton United v Brocton Barnton v Alsager Town Cammell Laird 1907 v Wythenshawe Amateurs Cheadle Heath Nomads v New Mills Cheadle Town v Rocester Eccleshall v Ellesmere Rangers Stafford Town v St Martins West Didsbury & Chorlton v Stockport Town FC Isle of Man v Maine Road

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Eccleshall FC | 2021/22 Fixtures and Results

Eccleshall FC | Player Apperances & Goals Players Name

Sub

Goals

6 0 17 1 3 3 0 15 1 1 3 1 15 9 8 14 6 0 3 4 0 2 13 13 0 5 1 3 4 6 1 2 4 0 3 1 7 14 0 0 12 8 0

3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 2 0 3 4 2 0 1 0 3 5 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 2 2 0 0 4 4 1 0 2 1 2 3 0 1 0 0

2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0

* Indicates player is no longer a member of the squad

# Indicates player is awaiting International Clearance

Samir Azam Tyler Barnes * Jordan Benton Conrad Betton (GK) * Ryan Brown (GK) Bradley Carr Ashley Colclough Harvey Collins Callum Collinson Conor Docherty Andrew Dodd Lewis Doughty Louis Downs Jack Dundas Lewis Dunn Callum Feeney Jack Flanaghan Christopher Gilpin Kyle Goodwin Jordan Hall Joshua Hall Kyle Johnson Jake Langdridge Luke Lewis James Lindop Jay Lovatt Eric Merner (GK) Joel Mills Peter Murphy Zak Noble (GK) Callum Parker * James Redford Thomas Riley Liam Robinson Ryan Rowe Louis Sherwin Daniel Taylor Liam Tomlin Thomas Wakefield Andrew Walklate (GK) George Woodroffe Aaron Woolrich (GK) Owen Yewdall

Starts

Libra FMC Ltd is an industry leading supplier situated in Stokeon-Trent, equipping individuals and businesses with the products and services they need.

Joe Collinge, Dayo Ilori Ellis Jones James Plant Festus Chale Rhys Walters Karmani McFarlane Abdi Osman Celaney Filho Durrell Manhertz Tom McDermott John Clarke Eden Bailey Aiden Sharp Cian McIntosh Jack Riley Ben Lomax

Manager : Liam Kelly

Manager : Darrell Clarke

Today's Match Officials Ref: Jonathan Maskrey Asst A: Anthony Roden | Asst B: Ben Robinson

Both Managers will select from the following players

Aaron Woolrich Eric Merner Harvey Collins Callum Feeney Jake Langdridge Liam Tomlin Dan Taylor James Lindop Callum Collinson Jordan Hall Jack Dundas Jordan Benton Kyle Johnson Ash Colclough Ryan Rowe Brad Carr Jack Flanaghan Louis Downs James Redford Jay Lovatt Luke Lewis Lewis Doughty George Woodroffe Tom Wakefield Lewis Dunn Tom Riley