EDITORIAL
11 February 2012 – Old Altrinchamians
Today it is our pleasure to welcome Old Altrichamians, [known as Old Alts as we have difficulty in both spelling and pronouncing their full name correctly] to Brookburn Road for our last home fixture of 2012, Over the past few seasons, since their return to the Manchester League, we have enjoyed several very close contests against our local neighbours based at Crossford Bridge [just across the Mersey] in Sale. Lee Bennett and his squad are having another impressive season and are placed a few places and points ahead of us in 4th place. The first game between us this season resulted in our first away victory when we led 1-0 for a long period only to be pegged back with a few minutes left. Our reaction was immediate and we secured all 3 points with a cracking direct free kick from Tom Waring in the dying seconds of the game.
I would also like to express our thanks to Mike Fryer for providing photographs to the club.
Rob Turley WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
FROM THE DUGOUT… Following our win at Wythenshawe Amateurs we arranged a friendly against Warrington Town; this gave me the chance to let the squad enjoy a good run out. Following this we put in a good shift at training as we prepared for last week’s home game against Walshaw Sports. This turned out to be an anti climax after the Wythenshawe game…how do I summarise my thoughts after the game, difficult really as I really thought we could get something out of the game, but it wasn’t to be. Football has a habit of bringing you down to earth quickly! However, we will carry on working hard and today will be another tough text for us against Old Alts. Andy Nelson
THE INJURY/MISSING PERSONS LIST The physios have had a lot to deal with this season and the injured list of first team regulars has been really unfortunate and caused us real difficulties as we’ve struggled to get a settled side. Luke Lundy has been sidelined since October, Mike Kennedy has been in and out with various knocks, Tom Waring is recovering from an operation, Lee Hendley has missed most of the season since last September, Tommy Walsh has been out of regular action since mid October, and the loss of our strikers in particular has been a big blow. In addition when you add up some of last season’s squad, Neil Logan, Dave Kilbride, Paul Lewis, Chris Matts, Ian Taylor and Gavin Ellison, who are no longer at the club. We’ve also lost Callum Jones to an unfortunate suspension until March and Joe Warmington to study commitments. Contending with all these upheavals has been difficult but it is credit to Andy and the squad that we have been able to regroup and add to the squad and that we are still in the top half of the table. We must keep positive, look forward [not back] and make the most our 11 remaining league games.
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
First Team - Fixtures and Results Date AUGUST Sat 6 Sat 13 Wed 17 Sat 20 Tues 23 Sat 27 Wed 31 SEPTEMBER
Opponent
H/A
Comp
Result
Rochdale Sacred Heart Prestwich Heys Walshaw Sports Manchester Gregorians AVRO Springhead Old Alts
H A A H H A A
Cup L L L L L L
7–2 3–0 0–5 2–1 0–5 1–3 2–1
Sat 3
Wyre Villa
A
Sat 10 Sat 17 Sat 24
Prestwich Heys Wythenshawe Amateurs Ashville FC
H H A
LFA Cup L L FA Vase
2–2 (4-5 pens) 3-0 0-1 0-2
A H H A H
L L L L L
2-1 2-2 1-0 2-0 0-3
A H A A
L L L Cup
0–2 1-4 1-4 1-3
H
L
1-1
A H
L L
4-3 0-3
H H
L L
H A A H
L L L L
A A
L L
OCTOBER Sat 1 Manchester Gregorians Sat 8 Stockport Georgians Sat 15 AFC Bury Sat 22 AFC Monton Sat 29 Hindsford NOVEMBER Sat 5 Dukinfield Town Sat 12 Royton Town Sat 19 AFC Bury Sat 26 Walshaw Sports DECEMBER Sat 3 AFC Monton 2012 JANUARY Sat 7 Wythenshawe Amateurs Sat 14 Walshaw Sports FEBRUARY Sat 11 Old Alts Sat 25 Dukinfield Town MARCH Sat 3 Springhead Sat 10 AVRO Sat 24 East Manchester Sat 31 Heywood St James APRIL Sat 7 Stockport Gregorians Sat 21 Heywood St James
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
First team action‌ WEST 0 Walshaw Sports 3 [HT 0-2], Sat 14th Jan 2012 The first home game of the New Year saw us host 4th placed Walshaw Sports who arrived at Brookburn Road ready to do business right from the kick off. Maybe it was the sudden drop in temperatures but West was a pale shadow of the side which had played with such tempo and confidence at Wythenshawe the week before and quite frankly just never got going. The opening exchanges saw both defenses on top with the only glimmer of a half chance for West coming when the visitors keeper fumbled and lost a cross but we had no-one on hand to take advantage. Walshaw went ahead after about 10 minutes when they were awarded a free kick close to the touchline on their left. West switched off and when the ball was played square the Walshaw player had time to take a couple of touches before lining up a cracking drive which flew straight and true into the top corner of our net. Worse was to follow soon after when we failed to clear a high ball hoisted into our penalty area and Walshaw increased their advantage with another cracker form about 25 yards. This double whammy affected our confidence and our usually excellent ball retention as we conceded possession too easily, failed to pass with real accuracy and made no impression of the visitors back four. We had a good spell just before the interval but didn’t have the cutting edge to create opportunities. The second half we were somewhat better as we tried to get back in the game but it was Walshaw who again looked the more likely to score. As we pushed forward we got caught out when the visitors forward got goal side of Alex Baird and from the resultant challenge the referee pointed to the spot. The penalty was converted calmly giving Ben Simpson no chance and Walshaw had a couple more chances which they squandered and one when Simpson made a fantastic reaction save at the foot of the post from a close range header which was then ruled offside. West nearly got one back towards the end when after 85 minutes Lee Shillito hit a cracking drive from right to left across their keeper only to see the ball rebound off the post before it was hacked clear. Apart from that we created few clear cut chances in front of goal and at times were far too intricate in our build up play when a more direct approach might have produced more reward. That was what Walshaw did and they were worthy winners on a day when we again were made to pay and heavily punished for mistakes and lapses in concentration.
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
OUR SPONSORS We would like to express our sincere thanks to our current sponsors for their support. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
Results & fixtures - Reserves Date AUGUST Sat 20 Thurs 25 Sat 27 SEPTEMBER Thurs 1 Sat 3 Sat 10 Sat 17 Sat 24 OCTOBER Sat 1 Sat 15 Sat 22 Sat 29 NOVEMBER Sat 5 Sat 19 Sat 26 DECEMBER Sat 3 JANUARY 2012 Sat 7 Sat 21 Sat 28 FEBRUARY Sat 11 Sat 18 Sat 25 March Sat 3 Sat 10 Sat 24 APRIL Sat 7
Opponent
H/A
Comp
Result
Stockport Gregorians Res Wythenshawe Amateurs Res Rochdale Sacred Heart Res
A H H
L L L
3–4 2–3 4–0
Old Alts Res AVRO Res Walshaw Sports Res East Manchester Res Old Alts Res
H H A A A
L L L L L
2–3 0–1 0-7 2–2 3-0
Elton Vale Res Prestwich Heys Manchester Gregorians Res Dukinfield Town Res
A A H A
L L L L
3–3 6-2 2-0 3-1
Leigh Amateurs Res East Manchester Res Beechfield United Res
H H A
L L Cup
3-4 2–2 4-0
Wythenshawe Ams Res
A
L
1-5
Springhead Res Leigh Ath Res Prestwich Heys Res
A A H
Cup L L
3–4 3-2 4-2
AVRO Res AFC Monton Res AFC Monton Res
A H A
L L L
Rochdale Sacred Heart Res Walshaw Sports Res Stockport Gregorians Res
A H H
L L L
Elton Vale Res
H
L
Our first game since the Christmas break was a cup game away to Springhead who are currently unbeaten at the top of the third division. Again fielding a slightly under strength side West started very sluggish on a very heavy pitch and were 2-0 down in the first 15 minutes. We pulled one back from a throw-in from Rob Jones who threw the ball to Stephen Madden who flicked the ball over the defenders head and volleyed it into the net. Unfortunately Springhead increased their lead to 3-1 virtually from the kick off. After half time West finally got into their stride and started playing football like we know we can. We had Springhead on the back foot for long periods and eventually we got our rewards when Bobby Ashcroft was brought down in the box and Stephen Madden scored from the resultant penalty. The equaliser eventually came through Jordan Casey who latched onto a loose ball in the box to score his third goal in as many appearances. West again went in search of a winner which should have been the only outcome, this looked to have been achieved when Miguel Garcia scored when he ran into the box to head the ball past the keeper only for the referee to rule offside. Springhead however went on a rare attack and got a dubious free kick on the edge of our box, Daniel Mclaughlin in goal made a very good save only for a Springhead forward to tap in the rebound, West went out of the cup 4-3 after a very good second half performance. Robert Madden
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
A Team After a long gap we finally got back to playing a game of football! Our first outing in 2012 resulted in a good 2-1 win against Royton Town A at home.. We sit mid table with games in hand so we look forward to positive progression towards the top end in 2012. Chris Argent Date Opponent SEPTEMBER Sat 17 Prestwich Heys A Sat 24 Dukinfield Town A OCTOBER Sat 1 Springhead A Sat 8 Stockport Georgians A Sat 15 Walshaw SC A Sat 22 Leigh Athletic A Sat 29 Atherton Town A NOVEMBER Sat 5 Hollinwood A Sat 12 Dukinfield Town A Sat 19 Royton Town A Sat 26 Springhead A 2012 JANUARY Sat 14 Royton Town A Sat 28 Stockport Gregorians A FEBRUARY Sat 11 Hollinwood A Sat 18 Prestwich Heys A Sat 25 Walshaw SC A
H/A
Comp
Result
H H
L L
1-4 5-0
H H H H H
L L L L L
4-7 3-2 4-3 1-1 6-2
A A A A
L L L L
1-2 3–2 2-0 1-2
H A
L L
2-1 0–3
H A A
L L L
KIT MANAGER WANTED… We have a vacancy for a volunteer kit man to take overall charge of playing kit and equipment and be available to attend first team games home and away. If you would like more information on what this involves then please contact: Rob Turley on 07891 298441
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
How our teams stand… Manchester League – Premier Division
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Hindsford East Manchester Walshaw Sports AVRO Old Alts Springhead Stockport Georgians Wythenshawe Ams West Didsbury & Chorlton Royton Town Manchester Gregorians AFC Monton Dukinfield Town AFC Bury Heywood St James Prestwich Heys
P 22 20 21 17 18 21 18 20 19 17 22 19 17 21 18 18
W 15 14 11 11 9 7 8 7 8 7 7 5 6 3 4 3
D 5 2 3 2 3 8 4 6 2 3 1 6 1 7 1 4
L 2 4 7 4 6 6 6 7 9 7 14 8 10 11 13 11
GD 32 25 20 23 -2 5 -2 3 -14 2 -12 -5 -5 -17 -28 -25
PTS 50 44 36 35 30 29 28 27 26 24 22 21 16 * 16 13 12 *
W 11 11 9 8 9 9 8 7 6 7 6 5 2 2
D 3 3 3 5 1 1 2 3 3 0 3 4 4 3
L 4 3 3 5 5 5 7 8 10 12 8 9 11 10
GD 23 18 18 11 8 2 0 -1 -8 -12 -13 -3 -26 -17
PTS 36 36 30 29 28 28 26 24 21 21 21 18 * 10 9
*Adjustment made
Manchester League – Division 2 (Reserves) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Wythenshawe Ams Res Stockport G Res Walshaw Res Manchester Gregorians Res AVRO Res Old Alts Reserves AFC Monton Res West Didsbury & Chorlton Res E Manchester Res Dukinfied Town Res Leigh Ath Res Prestwich Heys Res Elton Vale Res Rochdale SH Res *Adjustment made www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
P 18 17 15 18 15 15 17 18 19 19 17 18 17 15
Manchester League – Division 4 (‘A’ Teams) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Springhead A Stockport Geo A Royton Town A Hollinwood A West Didsbury & Chorlton A Leigh Ath A Prestwich Heys A Dukinfield Town A Walshaw SC A Atherton Town A
P 14 16 13 11 13 13 11 14 13 14
W 13 8 8 7 7 4 3 4 3 1
D L 1 0 3 5 2 3 1 3 1 5 2 7 3 5 0 10 2 8 1 12
GD 25 14 23 16 4 0 -6 -13 -14 -49
PTS 40 27 26 22 22 14 12 12 11 4
Cheshire Veterans Football League – Premier Division 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Flint Town West Didsbury & Chorlton Bollington Grappenhall Sports Sale Town Cheadle Star Old Boys Bedians Hursts
P 8 6 7 6 5 7 6 7
W 6 4 3 2 2 2 2 1
D 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0
L 1 1 3 2 2 4 3 6
GD 17 7 1 3 1 -5 -5 -19
PTS 19 13 10 8 7 7 7 3
Cheshire Veterans Football League – Division 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
P 7 6 7 7 8 4 7
Moore United Barnstoneworth United Grappenhall Sports B West Didsbury & Chorlton B MCYA Burtonwood Albion Old Boys Stepping Hill Presidents XI
W 5 4 4 3 3 0 0
D 1 1 1 1 1 2 1
L 1 1 2 3 4 2 6
GD 22 9 2 1 -4 -5 -25
PTS 16 13 13 10 10 2 1
Altrincham Youth Football League 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Wythenshawe Amts Cleavleys Cheadle & Gatley Athletic NJ Wythenshawe FC West Didsbury & Chorlton Medlock Rangers Leigh Genesis FC Flixton Juniors FC Lostock Rangers FC Broadheath Central
P 10 8 12 8 10 9 7 11 10 11
W 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 0
D 1 2 2 2 1 2 0 2 0 0
L 2 0 4 1 4 3 3 6 8 11
GD 30 21 15 47 0 0 -2 -10 -66 -35
PTS 22 20 20 17 16 14 12 11 6 0
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
Youth Team … The Youth team made a welcome return to action having not played since November 20th due to a combination of no fixtures and bad weather. The game resulted in a comfortable 9 – 2 win against Lostock Rangers. We are now looking forward to the rest of the season and moving up the table. Mike Lewandowski Date SEPTEMBER Sun 25 OCTOBER Sun 2 Sun 9 Sun 16 Sun 30 NOVEMBER Sun 6 Sun 13 Sun 20 JANUARY 2012 Sun 15 Sun 22 Sun 29 FEBRUARY Sun 5 Sun 19 APRIL Sun 1
Opponent
H/A
Comp
Result
Medlock Rangers FC
H
L
1-1
Lostock Rangers FC Cheadle & Gatley Athletic Flixton Juniors Cleavleys JFC
A H H A
L L L L
2-4 1-3 5-3 0-4
Broadheath Central Leigh Genesis Medlock Rangers FC
H A A
L L L
1-0 1-5 4-3
Lostock Rangers FC Cheadle & Gatley Athletic Cleavleys JFC
H A H
L L L
9-2
Broadheath Central Leigh Genesis
A H
L L
N. J. Wythenshawe FC
A
This month the 200 Club winners are: £100 James Harris £60 D Scanlon £40 Ashley Farlow
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
Results and Fixtures - Vets and Vets B Vets return to action with a 5-0 Cup win over Mobberley… Good to return to winning ways after a lengthy break, and this takes us through to the quarter-finals no less. A comfortable enough win in the end, albeit after a ropey opening 20 mins when we mostly played as tho we'd never been introduced to each other let alone such things as 'passing', 'control' or the notion of 'shooting somewhere near the goal'. Still, once we managed to get some bodies in the box we did get a couple of goals from close range before the break, the first from Marvin before Andy belted one in off a defender who chivalrously admitted to having deflected it in and then out of the dodgy nets - both courtesy of assists from the ever-industrious Castree. It was solid one-way traffic in the second-half, even after Suthy tried to tee-up their striker and nearly get Jim sent off in the process. Sam Hickey Cheshire Veterans League – Premier Division 4th Sept 11th Sept 25th Sept 9th Oct 30th Oct 13th Nov 27th Nov 15th Jan 22nd Jan 29th Jan 26th Feb 4th March 11th March 25th March
Hursts (h) Grappenhall Sports (a) Bedians (h) Flint Town (h) Cheadle Star Old Boys (a) Burtonwood Albion Old Boys (h) CUP Flint Town (a) Mobberley (h) CUP Bollington (h) Bollington (a) Hursts (a) Sale Town (h) Bedians (a) Timperley (a) CUP
6-0 1-0 4-2 2-2 3-2 9-2 1–3 5-0 8–2 2–2
Cheshire Veterans League – Division 3 4th Sept 11th Sept 25th Sept 16th Oct 30th Oct 13th Nov 22nd Jan 29th Jan 26th Feb
MCYA (a) 1-3 Stepping Hill President’s XI (h) 4-0 Barnstoneworth United (a) 1-2 Burtonwood Albion Old Boys (a) 4-2 Grappenhall Sports B (h) 2-1 Mossley Hill Athletic Wanderers (a) CUP 2 – 4 Moore United (h) 2–5 Stepping Hill President’s XI (a) 2–2 MCYA WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
OUR SPONSORS We would like to express our sincere thanks to our current sponsors for their support. Without you we wouldn’t be where we are today.
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
Our Visitors – Old Alts Old Alts AFC fields five teams in open age football every Saturday. Players of all abilities are welcome and we are always looking for people to help out in supporting roles. We have excellent facilities at Crossford Bridge, where we work closely with our partners, Sale Harriers and Sale United, in the Crossford Bridge Management Association. The last two seasons have been amongst the most successful in the Club’s history. In fact in 2009/10 by finishing third the first XI achieved it’s highest ever position in the Manchester Premier League. By comparison the 2010/11 season has been somewhat disappointing. This seems strange to say when for only the second time in the Club’s history; the 1st XI reached the final of the Cheshire Amateur Cup. However, unlike in 1975 when Alts won this prestigious trophy, the team went down narrowly 2-1 to Ashville from the West Cheshire League. The final was played at Rochdale Linnets FC and we were tremendously encouraged by the large number of supporters who turned up on the night. They witnessed some good football from both teams and when Alts drew level at 1-1, it looked as though victory could be achieved. What was disappointing for the 1st XI was their inexplicable loss of league form, which occurred from mid season onwards. Nevertheless great credit goes to our manager, Lee Bennett and his assistant, Andy Maclean for their leadership and achieving such a successful cup run. The 2nd XI manager, Pat Kelly, in his second season with the Club, has continued to make steady improvements. The team has consolidated its position in the second division of the Manchester League finishing in 10th place, after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. They also managed to make further progress in the Stockport Senior Cup, this season by reaching the semi final, where they met local rivals, Stockport Georgians. After going 3-0 down, the Reserves battled back to 3-3 in the 2nd half only to go down to virtually the last kick of the match. Our other two ‘social’ teams continue to play in the East Cheshire League and both managed to improve on last year’s performances.
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com
THANK YOU SARAH … Our physiotherapist Sarah Robert has unfortunately has to resign from her match day duties with the team as a result of other work commitments. Sarah has been a great asset to the club having first started with us as ‘apprentice’ to Ron Cook a couple of seasons back before returning as club physio in her own right at the start of this season. Last week was her last game when Sarah also wrote to say … ‘I regret to inform you that from the end of January I will no longer be able to work alongside the team due to my work commitments. I want to thank you and the team for the experience and opportunities the club has provided and wish you all the best of luck for the rest of the season. Hopefully I can work alongside the team again in the future. Thanks again, Kind regards, Sarah We are very grateful for all the time and effort Sarah has put into helping injured players get going again as well as dealing with match day incidents and emergencies. We are sure the increasing amount of repeat injuries and the arrival of an attractive female physio were purely coincidental but nevertheless we will miss seeing Sarah’s smiling face on match days. We wish her well for the future .
WINSTON … We are fortunate that Winston Luke has stepped into the breach caused by Sarah’s departure and will be continuing with us both on match days and training evenings. Winston is also a fully qualified physio and is completing a masters degree at Manchester. He has given us a lot of his time since he first joined us at the FA Vase game in September, both on match days when he can and also at training sessions. We look forward to his continuing role with the club. Wishing West Didsbury and Chorlton AFC a successful season Parrs Wood High School and 6th Form Proud printers of the Match Programme
WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC
Manchester Football League – Premier Division Saturday 11th February 2012
Today’s Teams West Didsbury & Chorlton Ben Simpson Mike Kennedy Scott Jones Mike Byrne Dave Conlon (Capt) Alex Baird Josh Ford Andy Levendis Chris Pattison Danny Summers Tom Waring Tommy Walsh Dean Thurston Lee Shilito Matt Eckersley Ashley Farlow Lewis Childs
Manager: Andy Nelson Assistant: Dave Conlon
Old Alts S Nahill S Goldrick D Cook J Bennett D Brown (Capt) A Maclean D Queeley A McGrath M Payne M Hughes C Howard A Dolan R King J Mitten M Salmon R Stewart A Walker M Warburton K Whitehead T B Willis J Yarwood Manager: Lee Bennett Assistant: Andy Maclean
OFFICIALS: Referee: Joseph Perselli Assistant Referees: Andrew Ross, Alan Ryder NEXT HOME GAME:
WEST Res v AFC Monton Res Saturday, 28th January 2012 – Kick-off: 2.00pm Please check the club website weekly at www.westdidsburychorltonfc.com and www.manchester-league.co.uk as fixtures will change.
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