By Liam Price, photo by Jonathan White
After the dramatic win in the FA Cup on Tuesday night, the Dabbers now turn to the FA Trophy and a trip to Yorkshire to face Ossett United.
Lemon Ossett
Ossett United play in the NPL East, so the same tier as the Dabbers but a different league. Last season they finished 15th out of 22 in that league. The club was formed in 2018 after a merger between Ossett Town and Ossett Albion.
This season they have made a bit of a slow start. They are currently 17th in the NPL East, with 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses from their 6 league games. For comparison, they are 2 places above Bishop Auckland, who Nantwich narrowly beat in the Trophy last season, and a place below Silsden, who last weekend took Bootle to a replay in the FA Cup, with Bootle winning the replay at home on Tuesday.
But only 2 of the 7 games they’ve played in all competitions this season have been at home at Ingfield, and they haven’t lost either of them. They beat Brighouse Town 3-0 and salvaged a draw late on on Tuesday night against Bridlington Town, with the game finishing 1-1. They’ve also had to already travel to 2 of the bigger names in that league in Matlock and Bradford (Park Avenue).
They are managed by James Walshaw, who took over last season initially as player-manager and led them to safety from relegation. He announced his retirement from playing in April, after a long career that saw him play for clubs like Bradford (PA), Scarborough, Harrogate Town and Guiseley, as well as Ossett.
Last Time We Met
Nantwich have never played against Ossett United, but there is history with one of their predecessors in Ossett Town. They played in the same stadium as United still do, Ingfield. Between 2008 and 2011 the Dabbers and Ossett Town were both in the NPL Premier, so met 6 times. In those 6 games, the Dabbers won 5 with Ossett Town winning the other 1.
The last meeting came in April 2011, when Nantwich travelled to Yorkshire and won 5-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Michael Lennon, plus one each for Glynn Blackhurst and Sam Aspinwall. At the time this was something of a relegation 6-pointer, with the Dabbers ending up staying up and Ossett Town going down. No Ossett team has been back to Step 3 since.
Players to Watch
Forward Joe Crosby was Ossett’s top scorer last season with 11, and is off the mark this season as well. Fellow forward Callum Petch scored the late equaliser against Bridlington on Tuesday.
A couple of their other scorers this season have been Luca Bolino and Basile Zottos. They signed Jean-Claude Makiessi before their last game.
Match Information
The club are running a supporter’s coach to and from Ossett. Tickets are just £15 each, and available HERE. The coach departs from the Swansway at 10.45am on Saturday.
If you’re making your own way, it is roughly a 2 hour drive from Nantwich. The M6 (to Jct 21A), M62 (to Jct 12), M60 (keep right) then M62 again (to Jct 28) appears to be the quickest route.
Tickets for the game are £10 for adults, £7 for concessions and £2.50 for U16s. They can be bought online HERE.
Before the game, there will be a minute’s applause in memory of Tim Asbury, a co-founder of Ossett Town Juniors and an important figure at the club in the 1990s and 2000s.