By Liam Price, photo by Jonathan White
After a weekend off, the Dabbers are back in action on Tuesday night (7.45pm kick-off) with a trip to Vauxhall Motors.
New Motor-vation
NPL West watchers were blindsided by the news early in the summer that Vauxhall manager Danny Holmes had left after a successful spell in charge and some early moves in the transfer window.
Chris Herbert joined from 1874 Northwich after getting them promoted into the NPL West and has made a good start, losing just 1 of their 5 games in all competitions so far which was to title favourites Stafford.
Since the Stafford loss, they beat Mossley 2-1 with a stoppage time winner last Tuesday and beat Thackley 3-2 in the FA Cup at the weekend, progressing through to the First Qualifying Round where they’ll play Dunston at home. Saturday was the first win of any kind Vauxhall have had in the FA Cup for 13 years.
Last Time We Met
An 8-goal thriller in Vauxhall’s favour in December at the Swansway, where the Dabbers went 1-0 up only to find themselves 4-1 down at half-time, eventually losing 5-3.
Players to Watch
Finlay Heath will be suspended for Vauxhall after being sent off in the win over Mossley, in which he also scored.
The man in form is Ste Milne, who scored all 3 in the FA Cup win at the weekend. Other scorers have included Sam Turner, Jacson Coppack and Michael Burkey, who got the late winner against Mossley.
Centre back Adam Rooney joined Vauxhall in the summer after making 13 Nantwich appearances at the end of last season. The headline signing was Dale Jennings, once of Bayern Munich but most recently of 1874 Northwich, who was one of a few that Herbert has brought with him to Ellesmere Port.
And while the evergreen Kevin Ellison is still very much a part of their squad, he was forced off early against Mossley and didn’t feature at all at the weekend, presumably through injury.
Match Information
Tickets are £10 for adults, £7 for concession and £2 for U16s. They are available online HERE or on the gate.
There is ample car parking at the Premier Jet Stadium which is just off the M53 between junctions 6 and 7.