All photos by Jonathan White
Nantwich claimed the Eddie Morris Memorial Trophy with a 2-1 win over Whitchurch Alport in their first pre-season friendly at the KMJ Mortgages Stadium.
Whilst the rest of Europe was baking and suffering from a great heatwave, that seemed to have passed Whitchurch by, as the conditions were that of a great downpour from before kick-off to after the match had finished.
But what we got in between, for the first pre-season game of the new season, was something that should give manager Paul Carden great hope in the following games.
With Paul absent from the game, it was left to new coach Darren Moss to take charge.
With a mixture of trialists and new signings, from the start of the game Nantwich looked to impose themselves on their hosts.
Ollie Holden, a player from the youth team making his first senior appearance, had the first shot on goal of the game, but his shot was comfortably saved by the home goalkeeper.
What happened just a few minutes later, in the twelfth minute, was very special indeed, after a period of sustained possession by the visitors, the ball reached Perry Bircumshaw, who saw his opportunity to cut in from the touchline, and he curled a shot that arrowed perfectly into the top corner of the net, it was a fantastic way to start pre-season.
From there, that seemed to galvanise Nantwich, and Perry in particular, as he soon after, looked to have almost set up the second goal of the game, as he put in a wonderful delivery, that Saunders almost tapped in to make it two, but he just couldn’t quite make the contact required, in what was fast becoming a match in which who could handle the conditions.
Even with all of this possession that Nantwich were having, Whitchurch were not totally out of the game, and indeed they were creating chances of their own, which the trialist who we had in goal was doing well to repel them, and to keep them at bay.
But that was not possible, when after thirty eight minutes, after a mistake at the back, Hughes for the home side slotted home to equalise, it was against the run of play at the time, but it shows that you can’t take it easy at any point in a game.
Half time came soon after, with neither side able to add to their respective totals.
Just before the second half started, the Dabbers made some substitutions, which saw Cockerline, Hughes, and Sherratt come on to get some game time.
This is when the game turned into a bit of an offside one, as both teams saw opportunities come to nothing, due to being flagged for going too early, including a great finish by Dan Cockerline, who seemed to time his run just about right, and execute a perfect lob, only for it to be ruled out.
With about twenty minutes left in the game, there was a moment of brilliance from that man again, Bircumshaw, who evaded his marker on the wing, then cut inside, into the penalty box, only for him to be brought down, and as such, a penalty was correctly awarded.
Byron Harrison stepped up to take it, and he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, to give the visitors the lead once again.
This seemed to once more spur Nantwich into a bit more urgency as after a lovely flick by Joel Connolly, Cockerline was very unfortunate to not see his effort result in a goal.
After that brief moment of excitement, the home side had a few chances, and the Nantwich backline seemed a bit nervy, and there were a few chances that Whitchurch may look back on and wonder how they didn’t manage to find a second equalising goal.
But after that, the conditions played their part, and both sides seemed to play out for the final whistle, and get inside to dry off, as the game finished with a win, 2-1 for the Dabbers, in a game that was played for the Eddie Morris Memorial Trophy, which was presented to captain Troy Bourne at the end.
Nantwich are next in action away to Rocester on Tuesday 18th July.
Teams
Whitchurch Alport: Sheward, Carpenter, Campbell, Ashbrook, Care, Sutton, Trialist A, Trialist B, Hughes, Trialist C, Yeardley
Subs: Pope, Flory, Annikey, Jukes, Mason, Trialist D, Trialist E
Nantwich Town: Trialist A, Connolly, Bircumshaw (Edwards, 76), Okome, Bourne ©, Thompson, Trialist B (Hughes, 45), Hewitt, Harrison, Saunders (Cockerline, 45), Holden (Sherratt, 45)