CHADDERTON PREVIEW
And then there were 11! The fight for promotion continues as we finally welcome Chadderton to the HWRS for the first of two games against the east Manchester side amongst the remaining fixtures and the chance to cut the lead to a single point.
MATCH: Ramsbottom United vs Chadderton
VENUE: Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, Ramsbottom, BL0 0BS
COMPETITION: North West Counties Premier Division
DATE: Tuesday 11th February 2025
KICK-OFF: 7:45pm
ADMISSION: Adults – £9, Concessions – £5, U12 – £1 (with paying adult) – CASH ONLY
PARKING:
Please note that due to the commencement of works on the old Mondi mill site off Bridge Street there’ll be no parking on Acre Bottom Lane on the approach to the cricket and football clubs. Please make use of alternative parking and be mindful of residents and restrictions.
OVERVIEW:
Some have said that this is one of the most awaited fixtures for some time. Postponed from mid January due to the snow and ice, we welcome fourth placed Chadderton to the HWRS, playing them for the first time this season.
They have been in the mix most of the season, even taking top spot on occasions as well. But they have dropped off of late, suffering five defeats in the space of six games prior to holding the slide with a 1-1 draw against Padiham and a needed 2-1 victory over Burscough on Saturday.
With ten games left to play – two of them against the Rams of course, including the scheduled penultimate games of the season on 12 April – they know that victories are the only currency if they are to maintain their challenge for the title or, indeed, maintaining their place in the play-off quartet as they sit just three points clear of Irlam in sixth and six ahead of Padiham in seventh who have games in hand.
The situation for the Rams is supposedly simpler, although nothing is simple in non-league football. This is the game in hand that Rams have over Bury, who are four points clear with ten to go. The Rams are five clear of Lower Breck in third. Winning, like with Chadderton, is the only currently on offer.
The Rams did hit back from the disappointment of the draw with Longridge Town with a comprehensive 3-0 success at AFC Liverpool and embark on four home games in a row (and six of the next seven – five of them in the league) knowing the importance of maintaining their impressive recent league record of one defeat in the last 23 games – half of the seasons worth!
There is a lot of thrills and spills to come and it’s terrific fun but this will be a sizable challenge against one of the serious competitors of the NWCFL season.
HISTORY:
The history between outselves and Chadderton comes in two parts but the overall record is equal – four wins each.
Chadderton completed the double over the Rams last season, winning 3-2 at the HWRS (pictured above) having led 2-0 after ten minutes and adding a third before Kuda Chingwaro’s quickfire double made it interesting and it was Chingwaro again who levelled the scores at Andrew Street in March but that was to prove fruitless as Connor J Hughes hit twice either side of the break to seal a 2-1 victory.
But that was the first time we had met in the lead since 1998 when we played in NWCFL Division 1 with the Rams recording 5-3 and 1-0 wins.
Many will be hoping that the game on Saturday isn’t a re-run of the first ever meeting in the FA Vase preliminary round on 10 September 1997 when the Rams’ goals from Paul Cuddy, Martin Hulme, Mark Keegan and Mel Burke were not enough to see them through to the next round, going down at The Riverside 5-4!
STEVE WILKES SAYS:
“It was a really good performance on Saturday and I thought we dominated from the first minute.
“Great to see Oumar on the scoresheet, he has worked hard and got his rewards. And I was also pleased with the clean sheet too, our first in five games, and I thought Andre gave us a lot of confidence which spread through the team.
“But now we prepare for a tough game on Tuesday night at home to Chadderton. We know this game will be a hard one but we go into it with some confidence.”
