Garswood started the match playing against the wind, and re-shuffled the pack to start with a five man midfield, looking to keep things tight and hit the hosts on the counter attack. Ten minutes in Cameron Davies held the ball up well in the centre circle before playing in Ryan Eden who had made a fine overlapping run down the right wing.

Ryan collected the ball at pace before beating two defenders and firing in a low cross from the touch line that the hosts centre half could only deflect into his own net. Both sides continued to attack in an entertaining match, but half time soon arrived with the visitors 1-0 up.

Garswood made 3 changes at the break, and reverted to two up front, as they now had the initiative with the winds at their backs. They only had to wait ten minutes into the 2nd half before they extended their lead as Mattias Lokuta thumped the post from a tight angle before the ball ended up at Cameron Davies feet and the striker slotted home with great confidence from 10 yards out.

Five minutes later, Cameron McCall launched a long kick up field which cleared Appleton’s back line and found Cameron Davies who steadied himself before slotting the ball underneath the keepers despairing dive. Appleton kept pressing forward with some menace and only some solid defending and excellent saves from the Cat kept the hosts at bay.

Garswood then wrapped up the win after some excellent play from Liam Hilton in the middle of the park; he held the ball up superbly and played in Cameron Davies who chipped the keeper from 20 yards to complete a fabulous hat trick. The lads deserve a massive pat on the back, as Appleton is never an easy place to come and win; every member of the squad dug in and played their part in a great win.

Team: C McCall, M Marsh, L Dixon, C Guerin, B Wilson, M Lokuta, R Eden, J Haswell, N Moore, J A Williams, C Davies. Subs: O Roberts, L Hilton, J Aspey
Scorer’s – C Davies (3), Own Goal

Man of the Match: Cameron “the Cat” McCall –The Cat made a couple of fantastic stops and was as brave as a lion when throwing himself in front of the Appleton centre forward near the end of the match; improving week in week out.

The home side started slowly on a difficult playing service, but midway through the 1st half Mattias Lokuta scored with a screamer from the corner of the box that whistled into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. Garswood increased the tempo and were unlucky not to increase their lead after a scramble when the ball was poked goalwards and looked a yard over the line, but the referee waved play on after a clearance from a retreating Newton defender.

Chances in the second half were few and far between for both sides but massive credit must go out to Newton who battled until the final whistle with only 10 players, and Garswood had to battle for every ball to ensure they finished with the three points in the bag.

Team – C McCall, O Roberts, B Wilson, C Guerin, C Ashurst, L Dixon, N Moore (capt), M Lokuta, J Haswell, L Hilton, C Davies – Subs – J Aspey, M Marsh, J A Williams,
Scorer – M Lokuta
Man of the Match – B Wilson – Dominant display in a physical encounter from a player who is improving week in, week out.

The home side started with a quick tempo and took the the lead ten minutes in, but Garswood battled back bravely in tough conditions with a thunderbolt of a strike from James Haswell midway through the first half. Just before the break a goal mouth scramble led to the hosts increasing their lead, and in added on time the referee raised eyebrow’s on the vsitors line as he awarded a dubious penalty to give the home side a 3-1 advantage.

Garswood made a number of changes in the second half and kept battling away but ten minutes in Cameron McCall was beaten from 20 yards after a low shot took a vicious bounce. Three late scrappy goals gave the hosts a deserved win but the margin of defeat was tough on the visitors; good luck to Warrington in the cup, they are a really good team and played some great stuff at times.

Team – C McCall, L Dixon, O Roberts, C Guerin, B Wilson, M Lokuta, N Moore (capt), J Haswell, R Eden, L Hilton, C Davies – Subs – M Marsh, J Aspey, B Berry, C Ashurst, J A Williams
Scorers – J Haswell
Man of the Match – N Moore – Real captains display, lead the team by example and never let his head go down.

Ten minutes in, Nathan Moore set off on one of his trademark runs and beat three men before firing low with his right foot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, and all seemed to be going to plan. Eagle however increased their tempo and made a number of sorties down their right hand side, Cameron McCall having to produce a couple of great saves to prevent the equaliser. On the counter attack, Liam Hilton then scored with a well taken finish against the run of play to send the hosts into the interval 2-0 up.

Garswood made a number of changes at half time and Ryan Eden scored with a fine finish a couple of minutes in as Garswood extended their lead, however Eagle were still in the match, and with the wind in their favour it took some stout defending from the hosts to keep the visitors at bay. Ten minutes into the 2nd half Nathan Moore slid a delightfull ball through for James Haswell to apply a fine first time finish past the keeper. Again Eagle came back, and got the goal that their display deserved 10 minutes before the end, but there was still time for Garswood to wrap up the win after a fine passing move from right to left saw Cameron Davies slot home with a cool finish. Massive credit must go out to both sets of players as the conditions made this a really tough match to play in.

Team – C McCall, B Berry, B Wilson, C Guerin, C Ashurst, J Aspey, N Moore (capt), M Marsh, R Eden, L Hilton, C Davies – Subs – O Roberts, M Lokuta, J Haswell, L Dixon
Scorers – N Moore, L Hilton, R Eden, J Haswell, C Davies
Man of the Match – B Wilson – Confident display at the back in conditions that made the game tricky for a centre half.

P.S. Thanks to all of the kids and parents who turned up on Friday night for their “dads v lads” game. We wont disclose the result on the world wide web but there was a few of the oldies limping today? It was a great game and we helped to raise a pot of money for worthy causes so thanks again for your valued support.

On a sadder note RIP Gary Speed; a true gentleman and great player and manager who will be sorely missed by all football fans.

The second half saw the away side looking to gain the initiative, and it wasn’t long before James Haswell beat the offside trap and was brought down by the keeper as he was about to stear the ball into an empty net. James saw his penalty well saved by the keeper but followed up and made no mistake with the rebound. Cameron Davies then chased a fantastic through ball from Nathan Moore and somehow managed to toe poke the ball past the opposition keeper to make it 3-1 to the visitors. To be fair to Parkdale Sidac they came back strongly and reduced the deficit 5 minutes from time, but Garswood held on (despite some nervous glances at the watches) to claim an important 3 points against a strong and determined home team.

Team – C McCall, B Wilson, C Guerin, J Aspey, M Marsh, M Lokuta, N Moore (capt), J Haswell, R Eden, C Ashurst, C Davies – Subs – O Roberts, L Hilton, L Dixon, J A Williams, B Berry
Scorers – R Eden, J Haswell, C Davies.
Man of the Match – C Ashurst – Excellent display on the right hand side of midfield and improving every week.

p.s. a goal was awarded to Connor Guerin a few weeks ago which was actually scored by Matias Lokuta, sorry Matias and family, the goal scoring charts have been amended and Connor why did you run off with your hand in the air, I’m sure you got a free hot chocolate after the game (only joking)??