Ellesmere Rangers	3-2	West Didsbury & Chorlton
Jack Briscoe (25) Jack Briscoe (55p) Brendon Price (60)	HT: 1-0 Att: 110	James Cottee (70p) Matthew Eckersley (85)
Starting XI		Starting XI
Ashley Spithelhouse	1	Andrew Jones
Sam Carpenter	2	Matthew Cook
Connor Courtney	3	Zachary Cooper
Conor Hughes	4	Joshua Tinker
Owen Lloyd	5	Jamie Forbes
George Taylor	6	Matthew Eckersley
Joshua Brown	7	Matthew Argent-Barnes
Seth Ellis	8	Kristian Holt
Karl Bailey	9	James Cottee
Jack Briscoe	10	Lee Grimshaw
Brendon Price	11	George Blackwell
Substitutes		Substitutes
Emmanuel Williams	S1	Christopher Middleton
Jay Stoker	S2	Callum Jones
Christopher Worrall	S3	Ashley Woods
	S4
	S5

In what turned out to be manager Brad Cooke and assistant Rob Sadler’s final game, West were unable to overpower bottom side Ellesmere Rangers.

The opening period was marked by little ambition from either side, with Matt Cook perhaps having the best of the half-chances as his header could only find the bar. However, before the half-hour mark the deadlock was broken – the home side countering, with goalkeeper Andrew Jones unable to keep the rebound out having saved the initial effort – with scores remaining the same until the interval.

Within 3 minutes of the restart, things went from bad to worse for the travelling side, with Rangers winning a penalty that was ably despatched. The vociferous travelling support attempted to inject some energy into West legs – Josh Tinker stinging the palms of the Ellesmere number 1 – but the home side put more daylight between the two sides with an effort on the 54th minute.

With 25 minutes to go, West were gifted a route back into the game through their own penalty, which James Cottee tucked away, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way in the process. For a brief moment, it looked as though the game might end with West returning to Chorlton with more than just memories: Matt Eckersley’s head found the end of an Argent-Barnes corner – but even with heavy west pressure, an equaliser never looked close. A difficult game, with all three points rightfully claimed by the hosts.