Coming off the back of a near-perfect August, September was a little more rocky for West – but still provided many happy memories as the quest for promotions continues apace.

The most noteworthy game was perhaps the first: a special night in Chorlton was only slightly damped by the result as over 500 packed into Brookburn Road to see Stalybridge Celtic get the odd goal in 5 to send West out of the FA Cup. A proud performance wasn’t quite enough, but a vociferous home support had an evening few are to forget, and more than a few West fans had begun to let themselves dream as Brad Cooke’s side twice pulled level before finally succumbing.

In our only other cup game, West travelled to NWCFL Premier Division promotion hopefuls in the FA Vase. Captain Kris Holt was credited with the winner, but in truth it was a divot in the pitch that did the damage – expertly lifting the ball over the Town keeper as he dived to make what would’ve been a regulation save. The 1-0 upset means West travel to Shildon in the next round, on October 12th.

Our 4 league fixtures yielded fewer points than it perhaps would’ve been hoped for: a strong Stone Old Alleynians performance meant West tasted league defeat for the first time midway through the month, a disappointment compounded by a 3-3 draw away at New Mills a few days later. That game was arguably the bigger gut punch: clawing back a two goal deficit with minutes left to play, a last minute penalty robbed West of 2 points against a team who were second bottom of the league at the time, despite their major rebuilding efforts in the last few weeks.

Those games were bookended by a stunning 5-0 win over Abbey Hulton United, and a somewhat more scratchy victory away at promotion rivals Cammell Laird 1907 to end the month.

West finish the month 3rd in the league, with a point more and game in hand on 5th placed Abbey Hey – with 4 places going up this season, increasing that buffer will surely be the primary aim before trying to reel in Oswestry Town and Vauxhall Motors above us.

September – Goalscorers

James Cottee (3)
Ben Steer (2)
Chris Middleton (2)
Lee Grimshaw (2)
Matty Boland
Joshua Tinker
Kris Holt
Dylan Moloney

September – Player of the Match awards

Ben Steer x 2 (vs Abbey Hulton United, vs New Mills)
Dylan Moloney x 2 (vs Runcorn Town, vs Stone Old Alleynians)
Lee Grimshaw x 2 (vs Stalybridge Celtic, vs Cammell Laird)

September Results