Woodley Sports v Warrington Town - updated !

It's took a bit of time this one - apologies !!

It was a silly old day anyway - got the txt at 1400 to say Mossley v Flixton was OFF, so started planning times/route to Woodley. Then on the way home from work I get the txt "Game back on again !" However by the time I got back to Mossley it was chucking it down again, and sure enough a phone call at 1830 confirmed it was off again -so back to the Woodley option. I know they play on "plastic" (well 3G FieldTurf actually !) but you need to check - just in case. Nowt on their website - the two phone numbers on the Unibond site equated to a fax machine and a "no answer" - is it any wonder they struggle to get three-figure gates - especially on a night when both Hyde and Mossley fans were looking for alternatives.

Got the 1857 train into Ashton and then over the road to the Bus Station to get the 1915 bus, arriving in Woodley with time to spare.



Gosh - a bus ticket !!

A couple of early chances went the way of Warrington, but it didn't take Woodley long to start stamping their authority on the game. Despite the obvious superiority however, Woodley were unable to convert any of their numerous chances - admittedly, nothing clear-cut though. Adam Morning cut in from the wing a couple of times to fire it in, but the Warrington 'keeper was more than equal to the task. Towards the end of the first half, Warrington pushed on a bit and created a few half-chances of their own, but it remained 0-0 at half-time.



An early Woodley chance goes begging ...

Met a couple of Chorley fans in the bar at half-time who obviously had their "Woodley hats" on for the evening. The crowd was a dismal 109 - and it could have been a lot worse. In addition to a good few from Warrington, there were fans from Mossley, Ashton United, Hyde and Altrincham (plus a Radcliffe Boro coat I found out later !), so the "floaters" probably made up about 25% of the crowd ! (when I got to work this morning, I was informed that the "magic advert board" near the Lowes Arms was still advertising the Stockport Ladies v Arsenal Ladies FA Cup game from Sunday - so, coupled with the lack of phone/website info - how the hell do they expect to attract people if they don't make the effort ?)



Another Woodley chance in the second half.

In the second half, Warrington again started the brighter, but it pretty much mirrored the first half after that. Woodley tried the double sub routine bringing on Daniel and Flanagan (?), but were still unable to breach a resilient Warrington defence. Then with about 15 minutes to go, Warrington were awarded a free kick which was driven in hard and low. The Wododley keeper managed to spill the ball and it fell to John Bluck to put the visitors ahead. This acted as the "wake up" call for Woodley who began to attack in numbers, with an effort from Flanagan just clearing the bar. A couple of minutes later it was Woodley who had the free-kick which was cleared only as far as Douglas-Pringle who steadied himself before rifling home a deserved equaliser. The last few minutes saw more chances for Woodley - none of which were converted though - and the game finished 1-1, with Warrington obviously the happier with that result.




Warrington defend a late corner.

I managed to get a lift back to Stalybridge with Dave and young Bax (he of the Ashton United drum) and repaired to the Buffet Bar to await the 2241 back to Mossley - however there was a signal failure at Ashton, and it was looking like waiting for a Rail Replacement Bus, when at about 2310 a totally empty four-car set appeared and we (me plus Phil and Alison from the Britannia who'd been out in 'Bridge for the night) had it to ourselves. Taking advantage of this meeting, I sneaked into the Brit for a very late one (hence no blog last night !!)

This weekend should - and I do say should - see the mighty AFC Telford in Mossley for a league game (now that will more than double the gate !) - however the weather forecast is not promising - there's always Stalybridge v Kettering in the FA Trophy - and they always seem to cope with the daft weather (he says having done the Droylsden and Moor Green games in recent weeks).

We shall see ....