Saturday 13th October 2018, NWCFL Premier Division
West 0
Congleton Town 5 (Warburton 23, Hasler-Cregg 42, Burey 65, Adegbenro 68, Fletcher 90+3)
Att: 346
West endured a miserable Non-League Day as Congleton completed a comprehensive early-season double.
Steve Settle’s side will be glad to see the back of the Bears after this latest hammering, four weeks after Congleton won 4-1 at Booth Street, as Dean Warburton, William Hasler-Cregg, Bevan Burey, Emini Adegbenro and Declan Fletcher all helped themselves to goals. Congleton keeper Craig Ellison was barely required to be on the pitch at all as West turned in their weakest performance of the season.
High winds surrounding Brookburn Road made for a scrappy opening, and the only incident of note in the first 20 minutes saw Josh Tinker pick up an early yellow card for a late challenge on a Bears midfielder. But Congleton took the initiative with the first moment of action, after 23 minutes – Warburton took aim from outside the box and caught out Marcus Burgess, as his shot bounced over the West keeper’s dive.
West spluttered into life without seriously threatening an equaliser – Tinker fired over from a tight angle following Saul Henderson’s cut-back, and Henderson almost won a penalty when he was felled on the edge of the area. But Congleton scored a decisive second goal on the stroke of half-time as West failed to deal with a cross from the left and Hasler-Cregg had the simple task of nodding into the net at the near post.
Ben Woods, who hit the woodwork twice in last week’s defeat to Droylsden, was unlucky again just after the restart when his shot from the corner of the box cannoned off the crossbar. But that was as good as it got for West as any faint hopes of a comeback were snuffed out. Burey ended the match as a contest halfway through the second period when he latched onto a defence-splitting pass and lifted the ball over Burgess, before Adegbenro added a fourth moments later when given the freedom of the penalty area to convert a deep cross.
West’s misery was completed in the third minute of stoppage time as Fletcher shrugged off Saul Brew-Butler and rolled the ball into the net.
West: Burgess, Tinker, Pearson (Crowther 55), Roberts (Langford 76), Brew-Butler, Eckersley, Tsegay (McLaughlin 55), Andrews, Henderson, S. Mason, Woods. Not used: Thompson, Pickering.
