It’s been a busy week in the SportsReach League with teams squeezing previously postponed games into their schedules in time for the season’s final round of league fixtures tomorrow (22nd April) and the league presentation evening next Friday (28th). Credit must go to all managers and players who have ‘played catch-up’ after a very wet winter and I’m glad to say that we’re now on schedule ahead of the final weekend of the season.
Saturday 15 April
Last Saturday saw Quernmore face Longton in a double header; two matches of 60 minutes each. Both proved to be tight competitive games with Quernmore winning the first 2-1 thanks to a brilliant long-range shot from Will Fielding. Longton took all three points in the second encounter through a late header from Stephen Farrington.
Elsewhere, a resurgent Loko recorded their biggest win of the season with a 10-2 triumph over Fulwood. Nine of the goals were shared by just two players; Tom Atkinson with five and John Cowell with four.
Quernmore 2-1 Longton (60 minute match)
Rob Fox 21, Will Fielding 27 // Tom Cobham 14
Quernmore 2-3 Longton (60 minute match)
Josh Atkinson 19, Tom Kelsall 24 // Ayman Fazeli 5, Phil Awde 12, Stephen Farrington 56
Loko 10-2 Fulwood
Tom Atkinson 5, John Cowell 4, Dave Jarvis // Jack Burrows 2
(Goal Times TBC)
Tuesday 18 April
On Tuesday evening, Loko maintained their excellent recent form with a comprehensive 5-0 win over an out-of-sorts Longton. Loko’s top scorer Tom Atkinson rounded off the victory with an excellent volley.
Elsewhere, League Trophy finalists Wray enjoyed a 6-3 win over Quernmore thanks to a hat-trick from George Whitaker which took him into double figures for goals scored this season.
Longton 0-5 Loko
Chris Gardner 14, Jordan Moore 26, Rob Edmondson 38, Brad Rodwell pen 65, Tom Atkinson 80
Wray 6-3 Quernmore
Mark Ellershaw 48, George Whitaker 53, 55, 90 Martin Huddleston 57, Jake Fawcett 65 // Kyran Hardwood 40, 42 James Rossendale 68
Thursday 20 April
Last night, the top two were in action as Lancaster took on Fulwood and Great Ecc played a Loko side lining up for their third match in five days.
It proved to be one hurdle too far for Loko with Great Ecc demonstrating just why they are the newly crowned champions with a 7-2 victory. The league’s top scorer, Dan Ball, was once again amongst the goals notching a hat-trick.
Breathing down Dan’s neck in the race for the Golden Boot is Lancaster striker Tom Luxton who was also on target again last night. It wasn’t enough to secure victory for Lancaster with Fulwood securing a 1-1 draw through Calum Alexander’s first half strike.
Dan Ball now leads the Golden Boot chase by five goals going into the final round of fixtures – Dan has 24 league goals, Tom Luxton (Lancaster) has 19 and Jack Sharples (Great Ecc) has 18.
Fulwood 1-1 Lancaster
Calum Alexander 24 // Tom Luxton 67
Great Ecc 7-2 Loko
Toby Parker 1, own goal 4, Sam Hogarth 26, Dan Ball 30, 52, 89, Dennis Pulford 62 pen
Final league fixtures on Saturday 22nd April:
Longton vs Wray
Great Ecc vs Fulwood
Lancaster vs Loko
