Saturday 27th July 2024
NWCFL Premier Division
Matchday 2
Stockport Town 1
Edos Oni 56
West Didsbury & Chorlton 1
Cole 15
Attendance: 414
West line-up:
1 Martin, 2 Kenny, 3 Sutton, 4 Moore (c), 5 Cole, 6 Rowney, 7 Darkwah (15 Lescott 61), 8 Jones (16 Holt 61), 9 Grimshaw (12 Abadaki 55), 10 Lazenbury, 11 Matthews (17 Webb 71). Subs not used: 14 McGonigle.
Stockport Sports Village was the destination for West’s first away trip of the season on Monday night as they were held to a 1-1 draw by newly promoted Stockport Town. It was a largely forgettable evening for the travelling West supporters, although it was one that was lit up by a sensational goal from West centre-back Gabriel Cole.
Both sides came into the match having won their opening league fixture. New West manager Paul Marshall made only one personnel change following Saturday’s 3-0 win over Glossop, as Jake Parker made way for Max Sutton following a serious injury that he picked up in that match. This enforced change saw the versatile Adam Jones move from right-back into the centre of midfield, with Jake Kenny switching full-back positions to accommodate Sutton on the left-hand side of the back 4.
A win for West would have been the first time in three years that they had taken maximum points from their opening two games, and coincidentally it was away at Stockport Town that West achieved this feat during the opening fortnight of their 2021/22 promotion season. West’s large following in SK6 this time around were optimistic that a repeat could be on the cards in the opening stages, particularly when a close range shot from Billy Matthews after five minutes was tipped on to the post before being agonisingly hooked off the goal-line by a recovering defender.
West continued to attack in numbers, but the opening goal after a quarter of an hour came via a moment of magic from one of the unlikeliest of sources. West centre-half Gabriel Cole had not yet scored a competitive goal in English football when West were awarded a free kick just inside their own half - but when Cole placed the ball down to restart play he was perhaps the only person inside the Stockport Sports Village who saw Town ‘keeper Cian O’Shea some way off his goal line. Cole then seized the opportunity to go for glory and, despite the back-peddling O’Shea’s best efforts to flail an outstretched arm towards a ball that was destined to loop over his head, he could not get near it as Cole’s free-kick dropped into the net in front of a disbelieving and delirious away end.
While West controlled the remainder of the first half, they did not carve out any clear-cut openings and a one-goal lead was a fair scoreline going into the break. Stockport however did come out the stronger after the restart and, ten minutes into the second half, their own #5 scored a goal that Town’s own fans will certainly remember when he rifled a volley into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area. As soon as the ball hit the net, West’s super-sub Victor Abadaki was introduced in place of Lee Grimshaw. The chaos that Abadaki has introduced from the bench has been a recurring theme in recent weeks, but he struggled to get any change out of former West centre-back Markell Foulds and he found his opportunities to influence the game to be limited. Both sides were restricted to a small number of half-chances thereafter in a frustrating period of football where a 1-1 draw seemed increasingly inevitable.
Abadaki himself had the best chance to steal the points in the 89th minute, but he was only able to poke wide after stretching to reach Max Sutton’s ambitious through ball. When the final whistle sounded it was the West players who looked the more dejected, although few who were present on the night could have legitimately argued that their side deserved more than they came away with. Paul Marshall was evidently disappointed with the performance and stated that, with the quality West have, it was a game that should have yielded three points. It was a night that could perhaps be described best as a ‘reality check’ following the emphatic nature of the Glossop win, and it was a night that West will learn from going into the weeks ahead.
Listen to Paul Marshall's post-match thoughts here:
Your Burton Road Brewing Co Supporter of the Match was Steve and his Player of the Match was Jordan Lazenbury.
Photos by Nathan Ashmall and Chris Michell.
Midweek results
NWCFL Premier Division
Tuesday 30th July 2024
Burscough 4 Squires Gate 2
Colne 1 Barnoldswick Town 4
Glossop 2 Chadderton 3
Irlam 1 FC Isle of Man 3
Longridge 0 Charnock Richard 4
Padiham 1 Bury 5
Prestwich 0 AFC Liverpool 1
Ramsbottom 3 Abbey Hey 0
Wednesday 31st July 2024
Cheadle Town 1 FC St Helens 3
Litherland 0 Pilkington 1
South Liverpool 0 Lower Breck 0
