By Liam Price, photos by Jonathan White
Nantwich Town made it 4 straight home wins with a 2-0 victory over City of Liverpool at the Swansway Stadium.
James Melhado was suspended for the Dabbers so Courtney Meppen-Walters came in, while Joel Connolly was back in the Dabbers squad for the first time since the win over Hanley in late August after coming back from injury.
Kelvin Mellor volleyed over the bar after being found with a header by Paddy Kennedy.
Nick Michalski made a great save from point blank range to deny Kai Evans on 9 minutes after Byron Harrison found him with a square ball.
City of Liverpool’s (CoL’s) first real attack ended with Danny Mitchley firing over the bar.
The Dabbers took the lead in the 19th minute. Tom Pratt played the ball through to Nathan Sandison on the left hand side. After a couple of feints and cuts inside, he let fly an excellent curling finish. Through a crowd of bodies, it was precision personified.
Michael Howard dragged a shot wide as the currently managerless Purps tried to get back into it.
There was a rare slip up from Ben Garratt as he mishandled a corner but CoL couldn’t force it towards goal.
Ali Hayder hit straight at Michalski as he tried to open his account in a Dabbers shirt. That half chance presented itself after some great battling play in midfield by Tom Pratt, who sadly injured himself in the process and was forced off before the break.
It was Michael Howard again who came close for CoL before half time, doing everything right in dinking over the onrushing Garratt but was unlucky to see it drop past the post. He’s certainly recovered well from that grilling he got from Jeremy Paxman in 1997.
In the very first minute of the second half, CoL had half a chance in the box but blasted it over the bar. Another blitz of attacking saw a number of blocks from Dabbers defenders.
But it was a bitty second half, and it was Sandison again who was trying the break through the still pattern of the game, lobbing wide from a very similar position to Howard. That was his last action as he was subbed off for Connolly to make his long awaited return.
Meppen-Walters saw a header cleared off the line as Nantwich tried to double the lead. It was a typically dominant Courtney moment but the defending was up to the task.
Mitchley hit easily at Garratt to sum up their struggles in front of goal. Their top scorer Elliot Morris was quiet and that highlighted a lack of bite up top.
Eventually the Dabbers got the second goal they’d been craving to seal the win. Kelvin Mellor poked in a rebound in the box 2 minutes from time from a corner to continue a remarkable run in front of goal. That’s now 4 in 8 games for the defender playing in holding midfield.
It got better for Mellor after the game as he found out he’d won October’s Arena Sports Bar Player of the Month for the Dabbers, voted for by the members of the NTISA.
There was a scare late on as City of Liverpool struck the post but it was the Dabbers who saw it out with a clean sheet to return to winning ways.
Teams
Nantwich Town: Ben Garratt, Kelvin Mellor, Perry Bircumshaw, Troy Bourne (C), Courtney Meppen-Walters, Paddy Kennedy, Ali Hayder (Daz Thornton, 90+2), Tom Pratt (Joe Robbins, 42), Byron Harrison, Nathan Sandison (Joel Connolly, 69), Kai Evans (Callum Saunders, 81)
Sub not used: Eric Merner
Goals: Sandison (19), Mellor (88)
City of Liverpool: Nick Michalski, Michael Simpson, Adam Morris, Adam Rooney, Jack Hont, Simon Wills (Patrick Farkas, 80), Elliot Morris, Tom Reilly (Astley Mulholland, 74), Danny Mitchley (C), Callum Schorah, Michael Howard (Arthur Lomax-Jones, 64)
Subs not used: Ibrahim Conteh, Eden Bailey
Attendance: 516