By Liam Price
The non-stop Nantwich schedule continues on Tuesday (7.45pm) with a trip to Ellesmere Port to face Vauxhall Motors.
Get Your Motors Runnin’
Vauxhall look to be in good shape again this season. They have lost just 1 of their last 8 matches, that one being to Bootle. After a 5-2 win away to Clitheroe, they have drawn their last 3 on the bounce, away to Congleton then at home to Witton and Bury. They were ahead 3 times on Bury before being pegged back for the third time in the 88th minute on Saturday.
It’s a good record they have at home too, with 3 wins and 3 draws from their 7 games at the VanEupen Arena. They also very much know where the net is, with 27 goals in 13 games only league leaders Lower Breck have scored more. By that metric the Dabbers may have to score at least twice to have a chance of taking something back to south Cheshire.
The Motormen are 8th in the NPL West, 2 points and 2 places above the Dabbers, but they have played 2 games more.
Last Time We Met
At the Swansway in December, Vauxhall took a second half lead before Tom Pratt levelled with 6 minutes to go for a 1-1 draw. Highlights below.
Players to Watch
Vauxhall’s number 9 is likely to be a familiar face in that of Joe Malkin. Malkin scored 27 goals in 98 appearances for the Dabbers between 2018 and 2022 before leaving for Welsh football and Connah’s Quay Nomads. He played for them and Bala before returning to the English pyramid with Vauxhall in the summer, where he’s scored 3 times so far.
But it’s Nick Rushton who will pose the greatest goal threat with his current form. He’s scored 5 goals in October alone.
Jawad Jebrin scored in that December meeting and has 2 so far this time.
Finlay Heath spent a month on loan at Nantwich from Southport in early 2024. Having been released from them in the summer he is now at Vauxhall and has scored 4 times.
And in case you were wondering, yes the evergreen Kevin Ellison is still going strong with 2 goals to his name this season. So as we said, there’s a lot of goals in this team.
Match Information
Tickets for this one are available online HERE at £10 for adults, £7 for concessions, and £2 for U16s. They’ll also be available on the gate.