LONGRIDGE TOWN PREVIEW

13 games to go.  Three months of action.  And all very much still to play for.  However, lurking in the shadows are one of the four teams to defeat the Rams this year, Longridge Town, our next opponents as February dawns.

MATCH: Ramsbottom United vs Longridge Town
VENUE: Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, Ramsbottom, BL0 0BS
COMPETITION: North West Counties Premier Division
DATE: Saturday 1st February 2025
KICK-OFF: 3:00pm
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:
And so, here we are, at the start of February and the Rams are still at the top of the table, a point clear having lost just four of our 33 games played.  It has been quite a season so far but there is still 13 games to play and there are plenty of twists and turns to come.

The reason for the holding back on the optimism is, well, we are playing against Longridge Town.  Anyone who took the trip to the Recycling Lives Ground at the back end of August will remember all too well that, like the game with Lower Breck, it was just one of those days as the hosts struck three times in the second half to inflict a 3-1 reverse on a Rams side that had bounced back from losing to Colne with back-to-back wins.

Here we are now, playing Longridge Town again having bounced back from losing at Lower Breck with back-to-back wins.  Lets hope that lightning doesn’t strike twice.

The Preston-based visitors come into this match having won one of their last 19 league games, the victory coming just a couple of weeks ago at home to Squires Gate 3-2.  But you have to go all the way back to mid-September to find their previous league success – their win over the Rams had started a run of four wins in six.

Sitting down in 19th place on 33 points, they are 11 points clear of the drop zone with games in hand over those below but the Rams know they must be firmly on their guard given what happened previously.

Meanwhile, the Rams have found their goalscoring boots again with six in the last two games but “have shipped seven in three games so they will slip” said one correspondant, a supporter of the second placed team, not noticing their side had also shipped seven in their previous three!

There is plenty of fun still to have over the next three months – let’s get right behind the Rammy lads as those pre-season hopes of promotion are edging ever closer.

HISTORY:
This is just the fourth match between Rammy and Longridge Town and the record stands at one win each and a draw.

Last season saw the Rams win 2-1 in the away game thanks to Harvey Whyte’s strike and Johnny Black in the 99th minute before the reverse fixture was also sealed by a late goal, this time Luke Sephton’s 96th minutes equaliser, coupled with Matthew Dudley’s 92nd minute hit hauled the Rams from 3-1 down for a share of the spoils.

And then there was August! 

STEVE WILKES SAYS:
“We know exactly how tough playing against Longridge Town is.  You only have to look at the previous games between us and the sting from the game at theirs earlier in the season.

“So looking at their recent run of scores means nothing to us as we will put in a positive showing, as we have in the last two games.  We have 13 games left to playand each one is very important.”