By Liam Price
It’s the biggest game of the season so far for the Dabbers on Saturday (3pm kick-off) as we host Vauxhall Motors at the Swansway Stadium.
Vaux Hunting
Vauxhall’s very good start to the season has been sustained since our last meeting. They were top for a while before being replaced by Widnes. However, they are currently on a run of 3 straight defeats and 4 in their last 5 games that has put their longstanding 2nd place in the table under threat, from the Dabbers and others.
Those 3 losses have all been away from home, at Kidsgrove, Atherton and Runcorn (in the Cheshire Senior Cup) in midweek. 4 away games in a row does stack the odds against you but they will still have wanted more from those games.
They are the only team left in the NPL West who are yet to draw a game, with 12 wins and 7 defeats in 19 games. Before those 3 away defeats, they had won their previous 8 in a row on the road, so should definitely not be taken for granted.
Last Time We Met
It’ll be the first time Nantwich and Vauxhall have ever played each other at the Swansway/Weaver Stadium. That’s because the home game last season was played at Leek Town as our artificial pitch was finished off.
By Saturday it’ll be almost exactly 2 months since we played in Ellesmere Port in the reverse fixture. The Dabbers secured a great 2-1 victory courtesy of first half goals by Nathan Sandison and Paddy Kennedy. Highlights below.
Players to Watch
We highlighted him before the reverse fixture but he then didn’t play, it’s the evergreen Kevin Ellison. He’s their top scorer on 10 goals for the season, the first time he’s got to double figures since the 2017/18 season for Morecambe in League 2.
Close behind is fellow forward Nick Rushton on 9. He scores multiple goals in games more often than he scores single goals this season, including 2 in the defeat to Atherton at the end of November.
It’s also worth mentioning the three very recent former Dabbers who are regulars for the Motormen in Paddy Kay, Connor Rankin and Jake Kirby-Reed, who scored in the reverse game.
Match Information
Tickets for this one are available online HERE, or via cash or card on the gate. You can also get Half Season Tickets for the remaining Dabbers home games by clicking HERE.
Please try to use the onsite parking including the overflow car park. If you have to use on-street parking then please be respectful of local residents. Dogs are allowed as long as they’re kept on a lead.
There’s a couple of things going on around the game other than the football. At 2pm in the Atherton Lounge is a talk by author Giles Goford, who managed to ‘do the 92’ of visiting all Football League grounds in the 1980s and has recently published a book, ‘Head for the Floodlights’ telling the story of that trip with his late father. All are welcome to watch.
Saturday also marks the day of our annual Christmas Hamper Draw. As always, there’s been great work put into this by the NTISA and supporters with their donations of food. There are 6 hampers to play for, and all you have to do is buy the raffle tickets at £1 a strip from the 50/50 draw hut near the entrance, with the money going back into the supporters association. Good luck!