Nantwich Town (H) .. Northern Premier League - West

[Del]

Tuesday 26 December 2023 .. kick-off 1500hrs

We extend a warm welcome to first-time visitors and away fans, here's what you need to know about Keys Park.

https://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/stadium

Local weather forecasts can be found here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2653883
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weat ... /gcqe9zm6y

Admission Prices:
£11 Adults
£8 Concessions – (students, disabled and over 60’s)
£3 Under 16’s
£3 Parking
£2.50 Award-winning programme.

TODAY`S MATCH SPONSORS : THE LITTLER FAMILY

[Perton Pitman]

A must win game...

...even though it is a league fixture

[Del]

A must win game...

...even though it is a league fixture

Too much of a rush this morning!!

[PitmanKeith]

A must win game...

...even though it is a league fixture

Del trying to find his way home in Paignton
this morning

[Del]

A must win game...

...even though it is a league fixture

Del trying to find his way home in Paignton
this morning

: Sarcasm .. VAR not required.

[Del]

PITMEN (1) 3 - 2 (2) NANTWICH TOWN

: Gyasi, Kelly, Endall

Official : 795

[Perton Pitman]

A thrilling game which we looked out of at half-time. Nantwich are clearly in a false position as they bossed much of the first half giving our shaky back line a torrid time on occasions . They are a big mobile side and looked like they had plenty of goals in them when they went in 2-1 up at half-time. Gyasi kept us in it with a fine solo goal. Both he and Verma are a threat and we will score goals from now on.

The problems in midfield and defence persist, but Harris was savvy enough to throw Thompson on and stick him up front. This gave us some presence and Nantwich seemed content to sit on their lead. I felt this was a strange move on their part as we were now even shorter in midfield, but we managed to build up momentum without creating too much. You always felt that we would need a flash of brilliance to bring us back into the game and luckily in Verma we possess such a player. A trademark goal - this time a rasping left foot shot which beat the keeper at his near post for pace.

We continued to press and the ref bravely awarded us a penalty after Sutton (or Endall) was wrestled down to the ground. Thorley - who had another quiet game - was even braver as he stepped up to take a penalty which was pivotal to both the game and our season. His cool head won the day and we picked up a massive three points.

We now have hope going into 2024 - Newcastle continue to plummet and they should be in our sights soon on this showing.

Well done to 800 in the ground today - not a local derby , but the fans really got behind the team in the second half and at the end it was great to see fans and players applauding each other.

A memorable afternoon and a great win against a team that should be in the top half.

[Lee K]

Harry will know that there is still so much to work on and it was the desire and commitment of the players that got the win more than anything else. Great goals from Gyasi and Verma though which shows things are getting better in attack. I also think Joe Thompson is a better player up front than he is in midfield. And the final word for me goes to Michael Williams, who at 35 years old and playing out of position, was absolutely brilliant up and down the right all game.

[pitmanpipe]

Echo the thoughts on Michael Williams. I think hes been our best player over the past 3/4 weeks and I think a much better option at RB than Yeomans

Verma and Gyasi are a class act and look to cause danger whenever they get the ball, and whilst Mellors-Blair offers us something more than Boothe and Brown, I’m not 100% sure he’s what we need. A more physical, taller option seems to suit this league, which proved when Joe Thompson came on.

I’m really hoping this changes our season and we can build
On this win and gain some momentum to lift us out of the relegation zone. Good thing today is that we were the only team in the bottom 5 to win, and I think outside the top 3/4 teams anyone can beat anyone else, so there plenty of hope if we can start to play better, starting with a massive game on NYD against Chaetown

UTP

[PitmanKeith]

Well my personal opinion was that was a lucky win but hey look you sometimes need those when your backs are against the wall. We huffed and puffed for a lot of the game but the determination that has been instilled into the side, coupled with a total lack of discipline and shape from Nantwich in the last fifteen saw us edge through.
Two great goals from Verma and Gyasi kept us in the hunt and as PP says a cool penalty from TT won the day, bravely given by the ref who by the way I thought was outstanding yesterday.
As others have said H and Hinksy still have a lot of work to do on this team especially the defence, first half the visitors were just walking through it at will. But in saying that two players in it gave decent performances.
Firstly Endall, who incidentally is a much more complete player, physically and tacticly, than he was in his previous spell with us even though his high pressing does worry me at times and leaves gaps when we lose possession. Williams also had a good game showing his maturity and strength.
McQuikin was my man of the match a true Mr reliable and he is one of the reasons we now look much more threatening going forward.
The word is getting around with Verma and lots of teams are now doubling up on him and restricting his effectiveness but the lad still has it in him to produce flashes of brilliance at important moments in the game, a great thing for any team to have. I sometimes wonder if playing him through the middle with his pace and trickery would be an option.
Unlike others I thought Gyasi was poor yesterday hardly beat his full back all game and when he loses the ball he doesn't attempt to track back, but in saying that his wonderful strike helped to make up for that.
Mellors-Blair and Carvell were also quiet yesterday but I would think they will both need time to integrate into the team and system.
At the end of the day an important result giving us back to back home victories and the hope that we can gain some vitally needed consistency at this important stage of the season.

[Glyn]

[Perton Pitman]

Well my personal opinion was that was a lucky win but hey look you sometimes need those when your backs are against the wall. We huffed and puffed for a lot of the game but the determination that has been instilled into the side, coupled with a total lack of discipline and shape from Nantwich in the last fifteen saw us edge through.
Two great goals from Verma and Gyasi kept us in the hunt and as PP says a cool penalty from TT won the day, bravely given by the ref who by the way I thought was outstanding yesterday.
As others have said H and Hinksy still have a lot of work to do on this team especially the defence, first half the visitors were just walking through it at will. But in saying that two players in it gave decent performances.
Firstly Endall, who incidentally is a much more complete player, physically and tacticly, than he was in his previous spell with us even though his high pressing does worry me at times and leaves gaps when we lose possession. Williams also had a good game showing his maturity and strength.
McQuikin was my man of the match a true Mr reliable and he is one of the reasons we now look much more threatening going forward.
The word is getting around with Verma and lots of teams are now doubling up on him and restricting his effectiveness but the lad still has it in him to produce flashes of brilliance at important moments in the game, a great thing for any team to have. I sometimes wonder if playing him through the middle with his pace and trickery would be an option.
Unlike others I thought Gyasi was poor yesterday hardly beat his full back all game and when he loses the ball he doesn't attempt to track back, but in saying that his wonderful strike helped to make up for that.
Mellors-Blair and Carvell were also quiet yesterday but I would think they will both need time to integrate into the team and system.
At the end of the day an important result giving us back to back home victories and the hope that we can gain some vitally needed consistency at this important stage of the season.

I'll take a lucky win all day long. We've dropped many points this season through a mix of ill-discipline and bad fortune and we were well overdue the kind of win we had yesterday. All teams have them at some point and we aren't going to stay up playing pretty football - it will take determination and a willingness to grind results out (we could have done with that at Trafford).

I think Gyasi is an improvement on everything else we've had on the right side of midfield over the past 3 years. With Verma on the other flank we have a threat on both wings, but I take the point about possibly playing him through the middle at times. It's not very often you see a player at this level able to go on both the outside and inside of his full-back and still score with powerful shots as we've seen in the the last two home games.

[PitmanKeith]

Well my personal opinion was that was a lucky win but hey look you sometimes need those when your backs are against the wall. We huffed and puffed for a lot of the game but the determination that has been instilled into the side, coupled with a total lack of discipline and shape from Nantwich in the last fifteen saw us edge through.
Two great goals from Verma and Gyasi kept us in the hunt and as PP says a cool penalty from TT won the day, bravely given by the ref who by the way I thought was outstanding yesterday.
As others have said H and Hinksy still have a lot of work to do on this team especially the defence, first half the visitors were just walking through it at will. But in saying that two players in it gave decent performances.
Firstly Endall, who incidentally is a much more complete player, physically and tacticly, than he was in his previous spell with us even though his high pressing does worry me at times and leaves gaps when we lose possession. Williams also had a good game showing his maturity and strength.
McQuikin was my man of the match a true Mr reliable and he is one of the reasons we now look much more threatening going forward.
The word is getting around with Verma and lots of teams are now doubling up on him and restricting his effectiveness but the lad still has it in him to produce flashes of brilliance at important moments in the game, a great thing for any team to have. I sometimes wonder if playing him through the middle with his pace and trickery would be an option.
Unlike others I thought Gyasi was poor yesterday hardly beat his full back all game and when he loses the ball he doesn't attempt to track back, but in saying that his wonderful strike helped to make up for that.
Mellors-Blair and Carvell were also quiet yesterday but I would think they will both need time to integrate into the team and system.
At the end of the day an important result giving us back to back home victories and the hope that we can gain some vitally needed consistency at this important stage of the season.

I'll take a lucky win all day long. We've dropped many points this season through a mix of ill-discipline and bad fortune and we were well overdue the kind of win we had yesterday. All teams have them at some point and we aren't going to stay up playing pretty football - it will take determination and a willingness to grind results out (we could have done with that at Trafford).

I think Gyasi is an improvement on everything else we've had on the right side of midfield over the past 3 years. With Verma on the other flank we have a threat on both wings, but I take the point about possibly playing him through the middle at times. It's not very often you see a player at this level able to go on both the outside and inside of his full-back and still score with powerful shots as we've seen in the the last two home games.

No I agree with you mate it wasn't meant as a criticism.

I thought the attendance was excellent yesterday considering it wasn't a "local derby" as such but it is interesting to note it was only the sixth highest in the division which really surprised me.
I also thought the pitch invasion following the penalty was ridiculous and unnecessary and will likely go in the referees report which could cause the club some grief.

[Lee K]

A poor Dan Gyasi is still better than Joe Morley and apart from the missed penalty he was our biggest threat at Trafford as he skinned the left back every time. I agree he wasn’t at his best at all yesterday but he’s still the best we’ve got in that position.

[Perton Pitman]

I think most other games in the league were true local derbies with the exception of games at Clitheroe and Hanley. We definitely suffer from not being in the Midland division, but if we can avoid relegation then we might be shunted into it next season if Congleton come up and Strangers are relegated (obviously a lot can change).
Northwich and Witton is an old rivalry for example, Prescot and Runcorn are pushing for the title and only a few miles separate Mossley and Stalybridge so these games would have bought out the floating fans.
We'll see many of these on Monday afternoon when the fickle folk of Burntwood come out to support 'their' team.
We were bottom of the league at 3pm yesterday and there can't be many clubs at step 3 or 4 who will be attracting the that we are getting if they were in our situation.

[Glyn]

Match Report:

https://www.hednesfordtownfc.com/2023/1 ... Wa0ioN9HiQ

[Arrows87]

[Perton Pitman]

I wouldn't say it was a cast iron penalty for us at the end, but we are due some good fortune.

[stonnall pitman]

Two excellent goals from open play a well taken penalty(Thornley ) with all the pressure of previously missed penalties and three points at stake to lift the team from bottom of the league a great result.

[Lee K]

The referee was always likely to give a penalty for something though such was his liking for his whistle throughout the game. And I hate it when they point to the changing room after showing a red card. Players know what a red card means!
But to end on a positive, love the absolute shithousery of James McQuilkin, ignoring all the pandemonium of the celebrations by picking the ball up after the penalty had gone in and kicking it away towards the opposite corner flag

[Perton Pitman]

The referee was always likely to give a penalty for something though such was his liking for his whistle throughout the game. And I hate it when they point to the changing room after showing a red card. Players know what a red card means!
But to end on a positive, love the absolute shithousery of James McQuilkin, ignoring all the pandemonium of the celebrations by picking the ball up after the penalty had gone in and kicking it away towards the opposite corner flag

The shithousery went to another level when broke out towards the end of added time. The ball was getting knocked around the pitch whilst the officials were distracted with most of our players taking it in turns, which then resulted in Nantwich players rushing to retrieve it. It had a bit of a panto feel to it.

[PitmanKeith]

Love the home comments.
After Nantwich 2nd " what are you doing".
After our Penalty winner " It ay over yet".

[Glyn]

.. and as Gyasi contested to receive the ball before scoring, "you've got to do better Daniel..."

Good job the ref then blocked the square pass option, otherwise he might have passed it rather than scoring...