Holker Away-Day Video

For the away-day to Holker at the beginning of last month I took the camcorder in the hope of eventually creating a masterpiece containing lots of background and lead-up to the match, interviews with the players at the Whitewater Hotel stop-off, topped off with loads of match footage from a pulsating game containing a hatful of Cheadle goals.

I was, of course, to be ultimately disappointed on the goals and interviews front. Rather than let the footage I had go to waste I dumped it all into Final Cut Express, did a bit of messing about, swore a bit because I haven't used FCE before and it was doing things I didn't want it to do and eventually came up with this.

It's not much in terms of content, but you'll only lose seven minutes of your life watching it. Enjoy.

Holker Old Boys 1-0 Cheadle Town

Cheadle Town's woeful record at Rakesmoor Lane continued with this 0-1 reversal in an utterly dire match.

In a period of ninety minutes where goal-bound chances are at a premium, it's usually a defensive error that breaks the stale deadlock. And so it proved today as - three minutes after the restart - Cheadle were the unlucky creditors as two of our defenders got in each others' way to a through ball, allowing a Holker forward with the easy task of popping the ball into the net.

Without that one abberation from our defence this game would have got the scoreline it deserved. Holker didn't really have any clear-cut chances apart from their goal and Cheadle - despite carving out some really attractive passages of play at times - didn't have a shot on target all match.

There really isn't much else to say about the match, so I'll move on to other matters. For the second time in succession we were treated to glorious weather for our longest journey of the season (it makes the 200-mile drive that little bit easier!) and Holker were gracious and friendly hosts once again. To the Holker fan who has left a comment on the previous post, we might just stick around for a bit longer post-match next season!

One more thing...and it proved to be the football-related highlight of the day. Cheadle Town's traditional colours of white-black-black may be making a comeback for next season. Watch this space.

Scrub this one from the memory banks. Onto next Saturday and the League Challenge Cup Quarter-Final versus Maine Road....

Photos from the day can be seen by clicking here

TEAM: Mellor, Heath, Hussain, Cotterill, Fellows, Brocklehurst, Riley, MacDonald, Flanagan (Brokenbrow), Martin, Lindon. Subs: Myers, Brokenbrow.

Saturday's Opponents: Holker Old Boys

Pa-pa-pa-paa-pa-pa-paaaaah! Cue drum roll and big fanfare - it's the trip to the South Lakes for the away trip to Holker Old Boys.

No setting off at 2.00pm for us this Saturday. The desire to leave nothing to chance where the traffic is concerned allied with a sick cupidity to "make a day of it" means an 11.00am departure from Manchester with a nice little stop-off at the Whitewater Hotel in Backbarrow on the way, hopefully to rendezvous with the squad.

Away from the logistics of the 200-mile round trip, Cheadle could do with an away league win - something they have only managed once this season (at Daisy Hill).

Last season this match ended up with a 2-4 defeat despite Cheadle dominating play for most of the game. If this match would have been played before the turn of the new year then I'd have said that a repeat result was impossible as Holker couldn't buy a win for love nor money.

But things have changed. Holker have started to get their act together and face us only six points behind and with three wins and two draws to their name...and as our brace of home victories in the league match and the Division Two Trophy (where they took us to extra-time) proved, they are a bugger to beat.

I might as well tell you all now that the match report for this might not appear on here until Sunday (I can't be arsed writing a match report after a two-and-a-half hour drive), and if you're a regular reader of this blog, there'll eventually be something else for you to set your eyes on as a result of this away day. Watch this space.

Come on Cheadle!

Cheadle Town 3-1 Holker Old Boys (aet)

It took two goals in extra-time of a mostly dreadful match for Cheadle to see off Holker Old Boys and - eventually - make their way into the quarter-finals of the Division Two Trophy.

Things looked promising as Cheadle dominated the opening passages of play, with Scott Clarke forcing the Holker 'keeper into an early stop and Andy Lindon striking just over the bar after 13 minutes. When Deano just clipped his shot wide after being put through on 17 minutes you got the feeling that a Cheadle goal was surely to come soon.

Then it went awfully stale. This was only punctuated by Carl Buchanan slashing wildly at a right-wing cross just before half-time, which quite rightly saw both teams going in goalless.

The utter boredom was broken in style after 62 minutes when Cheadle took the lead. Carl Buchanan was put through and, after having his initial shot blocked and falling to the floor, got back up off his feet to slide home into an empty net. With his protests that Carl handled the ball before netting, Holker's irksome, motormouth 'keeper added to the yellow card he received some five minutes earlier with a straight red, leaving his teammates to face the remainder of the match a man short.

Cheadle laid siege to the net but couldn't get a shot on target. When they finally did manage to get their aim right in the last ten minutes of the match, they found Holker's stand-in 'keeper every bit equal to their efforts. On the 80 minute mark, Deano saw his first-time shot from an Arron Riley cross superbly beaten away and was thwarted again with just three minutes to go.

Just as we all thought we could go home and thaw our toes, Holker made sure that we would have to endure 30 more minutes of this tie. With just two minutes of the match remaining, a cross in from the right was headed home with Mellor stranded. Extra-time...deep joy.

In fact we needn't have worried as Cheadle dominated extra-time and finally put this tie out of Holker's reach. On the brink of the end of the first-half of extra-time, Mac's surging run and through ball was poked home by Deano. Two minutes after the re-start substitute Scott 'The Wasp' Flanagan was on the end of a right-wing cross to lash home easily from six yards out.
In the remaining time Cheadle contrived to hit the woodwork twice - Mike Myers' shot cannoning off the crossbar was the last kick of the game - thus lending a seemingly very simple end to what seemed like a very long day.

They could have won this at a canter. Not that our still-frozen toes would know....

Photos from the day can be seen by clicking here

TEAM: Mellor, Clarke, B Roberts, Fallows, A Roberts, Brocklehurst, Riley (Flanagan), MacDonald, Buchanan (Myers), Martin (Brokenbrow), Lindon. Subs: Flanagan, Myers, Brokenbrow, Cotterill

Saturday's Opponents: Holker Old Boys

First of all, apologies for the lack of activity on here since Monday. I've been working on a few new features that will enhance the Cheadle Town FC Blog experience that little bit further in the new year. Watch this space.

Right, onto Saturday and a Division Two Trophy Second Round match at home to Holker Old Boys. I was hoping to waffle the usual banal crap about them "being our bogey side" but after our 2-1 home victory in the league back in October, that doesn't apply any more and I'm rather stuck for something else to say.

What hasn't changed since then is Holker's form. They are now seven points adrift at the foot of the Div 2 table and still without a win. A victory on Saturday would probably do them the world of good and re-instate their "bogey" status.

However, as mentioned in the match report following our 2-0 home win over Padiham, Cheadle's rollercoaster is on the up at the moment and - with the utmost respect paid to Holker - this is a gilt-edged opportunity to make cup progress once more and reach the last eight of this particular tournament.

Come on Cheadle!

Cheadle Town 2-1 Holker Old Boys

Two goals in the last ten minutes were enough to ensure a richly-deserved first league win of the season and the banishment of the Holker hoodoo.

Given the number of chances Cheadle had throughout the match they should have been out of sight but, as they say, better late than never. Cheadle topped-and-tailed the first 45 minutes as the team on top and almost went ahead after just 2 minutes when Andy Lindon was put through only to blast two shots against the 'keeper's legs and then chest.

On 10 minutes Andy Lindon was instrumental in another Cheadle chance as he headed across the Holker net; with the goal virtually gaping Johnny Hussain was just inches away from making contact with his own forehead. In the same 60-second space Mac side-footed a lob over the bar when put through. The chances were already starting to go missing, a goal wasn't far away, to be sure....

...and sure enough, true to hoodoo form, Holker Old Boys got it on the 16th minute. Heathy sold John Hills a short backpass leaving a Holker striker in one-on-one. Perhaps expecting the chip, Hills shaped himself accordingly only to see a tamely-scuffed shot squirm under his legs and into the net. For the record, that was to be the only decent chance Holker had all day.

And that was that until the 40th minute as Cheadle went cold and the game entered a scrappy phase. Arron Riley's blazed shot wide would mark the second period of decent Cheadle play in the first half. On the stroke of half-time the Holker 'keeper managed to brilliantly claw a Johnny Hussain side-foot shot out of the air. Half-time, 0-1....it looked like Holker were going to mug us again.

Cheadle laid siege to the Holker net in the second half but that equalising goal just wouldn't come. Brocky put a shot just wide on 50 minutes, Andy Lindon flashed a header wide five minutes later and Johnny Hussain missed a sitter of a header on 61 minutes.

They left it late, but the goals that we assured ourselves "would eventually come" did so in the space of two minutes. Mac side-footed across the face of the goal and into the net on 80 minutes and then slid Deano through to finish coolly and give Cheadle the lead their perseverance deserved.

At last a victory over Holker, but more importantly, three league points on the board....

Photos (and there's plenty of them - I went a bit mad with the camera today) can be seen by clicking here

TEAM: Hills, Clarke, B Roberts (James), Heath, A Roberts, Brocklehurst, Riley (Myers), MacDonald, Lindon, Martin, Hussain. Subs: Flanagan, James, Myers

Saturday's Opponents: Holker Old Boys

After what seems like an eternity, Cheadle Town return to the (much-needed) bread-and-butter of league action.

Of all the matches-in-hand that we could have had sorted out this weekend, the league have brought forward our home match with Holker Old Boys from it's original berth in March. Yes, they are rooted at the bottom of the league and yes, they have lost every single league match this season, but they are Cheadle's bogey team par excellence. In all the years I have kept a lookout for CTFC's results in the paper a victory against Holker has always been as rare as hen's teeth.

The feeling that Cheadle would lose against this lot if we fielded 30 players against just their goalkeeper was experienced in the flesh by Polardin and I last season as Holker ran away 4-2 winners in Cumbria after Cheadle played them off the park and then came away with a point after a 3-3 draw at Park Road.

Given Holker's current form, this is the best opportunity for Cheadle to bury this hoodoo and, more importantly, start getting some serious league points on the board.

Surely this time. Surely. Come on Cheadle!

Cheadle Town 3-3 Holker Old Boys

The Holker Old Boys came into town and what a game it turned out to be! I'd just watched a terrible game involving the 2nd and 3rd best teams currently in the Premiership where back passes went astray and free kicks were played out like Laurel & Hardy moments.

Here we had another six goal thriller. No match report from me as such (The Pole wasn't at the match), but what a game. An early penalty for a clear handball from Cheadle set up a storming game; we bundled in an equaliser and shortly afterwards Deano was sent off, so an uphill struggle for Cheadle was on the cards. An we were on our flat pitch, not their slope!

Anyway we had to equalise again for 2-2 and edged ahead at 3-2 - we were looking good and set for the perfect answer to our 4-2 defeat at their place. Alas it wasn't to be with a late equaliser from the old boys who actually look like young boys to this ageing football supporter.

Great game. Maggie and my mate Ian (a new boy to these depths) enjoyed it to. His neutral call was that we are a decent team. Thanks Ian; hope to see you back in Cheadle again soon!

[And I was watching a miserable Man City getting the 0-3 hiding they deserved whilst missing another 3-3 classic at Park Road! Not happy! - The Pole]

Tomorrow's Opponents: Holker Old Boys

Saturday 21st October - was it that long ago? - the date of an away deafeat that still rankles in these quarters. Cheadle dominate the match and come away at the wrong end of a 4-2 defeat and yet again succumb to their bogey side, Holker Old Boys.

Such a shame that such a good day out was ruined by a game racked with controversy. Hopefully there won't be a repeat of any nonsense this Saturday as Cheadle aim to extend their micro-run of two matches unbeaten.

I'm not at this one due to Premiership season ticket committments, so it's up to Polardin to cheer the boys on. Come on Cheadle!

Holker Old Boys 4-2 Cheadle Town

If Wednesday's game had entertainment all the way, then this match equalled it with controversy.

And it all started off so peacefully. For the first 40 minutes Cheadle - playing uphill - absolutely battered Holker and should have been out of sight. But as that 40th minute ticked over, the roof caved in and it turned into a match that Polardin and I still can't make sense of. Holker converted a penalty that looked like it wasn't and then three minutes later went 2-0 up, in a game they deserved bugger all from, with a goal that looked, and probably was, a mile offside. Just to put the crust on the sh1t pie of a game that was being served, Cheadle's discipline went completely out of the window at the end of the half. At the break, Holker were 2-0 up in a game they deserved absolutely nothing from.

Not that the second half was then any better. For the second time this week, Mellor was sold an underhit backpass allowing a Holker forward to sneak in and make it 3-0 just before the hour mark. Playing the better football...in fact, the only team playing "football", Cheadle kept going and got the goal they bloody deserved on 64 minutes; Macca storming through and seeing his shot parried up into the air by the 'keeper - Arron Riley lashing it into the unguarded net.

Then came the moments that will put this match down in this blog's infamous history. First of all, a blatant dive by a Holker forward (that's you, the No.11) which the referee fell for. Brian (Andy Lindon's dad) said what he thought about the player, prompting the referee to stop the game and come over to have a word with him, threatening to have Brian thrown out of the ground if he spoke like that to the players again. Brian was speechless. Since when has it been the referee's business to tell the spectators off? Whilst all that was going on, Polardin was remonstrating with the offending Holker forward who verbally admitted that he had dived. Polardin will expand on this matter in a post later on this week.

With four minutes to go, Holker had a shot over the bar but then - for a reason that will be unknown as long as man exists on this planet - had a free-kick awarded to them. The resulting set-play was curled around the wall and into the net for a frankly laughable 4-1 scoreline to Holker. Cheadle's brand of football ensured that they got another chance and so it came on the 90th minute, Arron Riley getting his second of the game as he was put clean through.

I'm normally quite fair in my match reports. If the other team deserved to win, then I'll say it. But for yesterday's match, I'll make an exception.

Team: Mellor, Heath, Flanagan, McDonagh, Roberts, Brocklehurst, A Riley, Lindon, R Martin ("Housey"), Hussain, Stewart (W Riley). Subs: W Riley, "Housey", Brockenbrow

Our heartfelt thanks to CTFC's Terry Musgrave who paid for our breakfast as we met up with the squad at the Whitewater Hotel on the A590. It was great to share an hour in the company of the players.

Photos: a bit of a bumper collection. Start here and then use the boxes on the right (underneath where it says "Nine Below Zero's Photostream") to work your way through them. You'll suss it out.

Tomorrow's Opponents: Holker Old Boys

It's the epic journey for us two (and the Cheadle team!) tomorrow as we make the 200+ miles round-trip to Barrow-in-Furness for the Holker Old Boys away match.

Holker have been around as a club since 1936, getting their "Old Boys" moniker from the fact that their team was made up of alumni from Holker Central Secondary School. They have been members of the NWCFL since their acceptance for the 1991/92 season. Two seasons later they finished third and were promoted to Division One as then second-placed Haslingden's ground wasn't good enough to meet Division One standards.

Holker enjoyed five seasons in Division One, although their fifth will be one to forget for them: they lost every single match as they went tumbling back into Division Two. The club now proudly boasts three open-age sides and a junior section of nine sides that goes down to an Under-8s team.

Holker are winless in the league thus far and currently sit second-from-bottom in the league with just three points and three goals to their name. However, Holker have been Cheadle's 'bogey side' of recent seasons and have their tails up after beating Runcorn 2-1 in last week's Challenge Cup match. Cheadle are without Dean Martin tomorrow, but another performance like that on Wednesday night should see them come away with something from the South Lakes. Come on Cheadle!