Eccleshall 1-2 Cheadle Town

Cheadle did end up checking out of 2006 in style as they grabbed their first league away win of the season and consigned Eccleshall to their first home defeat of the season at the same time. The game was played in treacherous conditions and on an absolute gluepot of a pitch. Polardin and I reckoned that the match wouldn't last the full 90 minutes; how thankful we are that it actually did!

The first real chance of the match came to Eccleshall after 7 minutes when a curling shot went wide. However, it was Cheadle who engineered the more clear cut chances throughout the whole match. The first of which came after 20 minutes when McDonagh - playing a more upfront role - was one-on-one with the 'keeper, only to see his shot saved. Seven minutes later Flanagan and Lindon both failed to connect with a cross that was zipped across the increasingly-greasy surface. Eccleshall saw a similar chance go begging just before the break. Half-time, 0-0.

Cheadle didn't get out of the traps quick enough for the second half as they found themselves a goal down within two minutes of the restart: Eccleshall being awarded a penalty which was converted.

The manner in which Cheadle then hauled themselves back into this game will go down as one of our away-day highlights of the season. After 56 minutes McDonagh was rewarded for his stint upfront as he gathered a left-wing cross in the penalty box, dug the ball out of the mud and slotted home.

On 69 minutes, the moment that proved to be a turning point. Eccleshall fashioned a chance in the penalty box and somehow...somehow the ball didn't go into the net as it cannoned off the inside of Mellor's post. After that it was always going to be Cheadle's day.

And so it proved with about a quarter-of-an-hour to go. A cross was sent in from the left and Lindon volleyed an absolute screamer into the top corner of the net. It was one of those that was a goal the minute it left his foot. Goal of the bloody season!

Cheadle could have buttoned the match up in the final period of the game as Lindon struck the post with another spectacular effort on 84 minutes, Matty Smith shot over from close range when the ball spun to his feet and Scott Flanagan - who worked tirelessly all day - just couldn't shape his body to connect with a cross when the goal was gaping.

And to think that the day started off so bad for us, with everything pointing to an absolute disaster: the traffic on the M6, the heavy rain, Polardin's car skidding round the car park out of control...all's well that ends well, they say, as on the way home the traffic had cleared and the rain had stopped. This was a superb performance from the team against a decent Eccleshall side and in extremely difficult conditions.

This blog is a happy blog tonight. Happy New Year!

TEAM: Mellor, A Roberts, McDonagh (Stewart), Cotterill, Kempton, Smith, Heath (B Roberts), Lindon, Flanagan, Hussain (Brocklehurst), Riley. SUBS: B Roberts, Brocklehurst, Stewart