South Liverpool (A)
NWCFL Premier Division
Matchday 26
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Preview
West travel to South on Saturday for the first of three matches over the festive period. It follows a sensational 5-1 FA Vase win last weekend against Silsden, but West will know that they need to start putting league points on the board after losing four of their last five Premier Division matches.
That said, this is the first league match in some time where manager Paul Marshall will have a near-full strength team to choose from, with a number of key individuals returning from injury or suspension. New signing Finlay Holyoak will also be available for selection after the highly-rated 18 year old joined West from Radcliffe in midweek.
Saturday's meeting does represent a chance for West to complete a league double over South Liverpool and maintain their 100% winning record in this fixture. That said, it is only the second time that the sides have met and it will be West's first ever trip to Jericho Lane. South sit 19th in the table and only Prestwich Heys have won fewer home games than they have this season. They are also yet to pick up a league win this season against any of the sides currently sat in the top half of the division, although they did recently manage an impressive 2-0 win over league leaders Chadderton in the FA Vase.
West's travelling fans will be all too aware that none of this indicates that Saturday will be an easy ride. West have an indifferent record against the sides that arguably look the most beatable on paper - with just 4 wins in the 11 meetings they have had so far against the division's bottom ten.
In addition to this, much has been said about West's results on artificial surfaces recently, and their record on plastic since promotion has now been stretched to 2 wins in 15 following the recent defeat at Burscough. It is certainly something that West will need to correct quickly going into the second half of the season - particularly given the setups of those currently sat in the playoff places.
West currently sit five points outside the playoffs with two games in hand. With four of the division's top five playing each other this weekend, points above will be dropped and West will need a win to keep themselves in the conversation ahead of a tough run of fixtures.
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Form Guide
South Liverpool
Position: 21st
Form position: 18th
Last six overall: LLWLLW
Home position: 21st
Last six home: LWLWWW
West
Position: 10th
Form position: 9th
Last six overall: WLWWLL
Away position: 13th
Last six away: LWLLWW
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South Liverpool at a glance
Home colours: White / black / red
Change colours: Red & black / red / black
Pitch surface: Artificial
2023/24 position: 5th, NWCFL D1 North (PO winners)
2024/25 average attendance: 144
Travelling distance: 35 miles
West away season round trip: 1,126 miles
This is South's first season at step 5 of the non-league pyramid, following the reformation of the club in 1991. They have been managed by Martin Ryman since 2001 and, prior to that, he played for the club between 1992 and 2000. Jimmy Case and John Aldridge are notable former players of the club in its original guise. The club's Jericho Lane complex is two miles from their former home at Holly Park, which was lost in 1989 to the development of Liverpool South Parkway railway station.
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Head to Head
South's visit to Brookburn Road earlier this season is the clubs' only meeting. West won 4-1 that night thanks to goals from Jordan Lazenbury, Billy Matthews and Cameron Darkwah. Our report from that match is HERE.
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Browse through our wonderful match galleries, from club photographers:
Nathan Ashmall, Chris Michell, Jack Todd and Christina Bowett.
