18 Ramsbottom United v Salford City

rammynewsV SALFORD CITY26.12.13

TONY CUNNINGHAM AND THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL

President: J SmithChairman: H WilliamsSecretary: G ShuttleworthTreasurers: H Williams, C WoolfallCommittee: C Woolfall, A Edmundson, G Lay, DWolfenden, K ToppingLife Members: FA Rothwell, L Read, A Whalley, F Rothwell,J Wolfenden, P McSherry, A McleodProgramme Editor: R MossHospitality Manager: I McCoolCatering Manager: S FletcherTeam Managers: A Johnson, B MorleyFirst XI Coaches: J Hunter, G Moses, D GreenPhysio: K BrooksRecent Honours: NWCFL Champions 2011/12Premier Runners Up 2010/112nd Div Champions 96/972nd Div Trophy 95/96Bolton Hospital Cup Winners2005/06. 2006/07, 2007/08The Harry Williams Riverside, Acre Bottom, Ramsbottom, LancashireTel: 01706 822799www.rammyunited.co.uk

Welcome to the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium, and may I wisheach and every one of you “Season’s Greetings”, and a hope that Christ-mas Day was an enjoyable event.This afternoon it’s back to the football and we welcome everyonewho has made the journey up the A56 from Salford City.The Ammies are long-standing rivals of ours and it’s a pleasure towelcome them back here for what will hopefully prove to be an enter-taining encounter.DÉJÀ VUThose who ventured up to Barrow earlier in the season witnessed adreadful piece of officiating which saw us concede a penalty and a redcard for Andy Dawson, which was ultimately proven to be an incorrectdecision by the referee. We appealed, and the sending off was retracted,or at least as far as a ban was concerned. Amazingly, it still remains onAndy’s record and that of the club. I shall return to this at a later dateto prove that natural justice and the F.A. do not appear in the same sen-tence.However, whilst the decision at Barrow did not affect the game (wewent from 2-0 down to 3-0 down), a similar decision last Saturday atBamber Bridge certainly did affect the match, and deprived us of a hard-earned point.Billy Priestley’s tackle was superb, and perfectly legal. I had an excel-lent view of it, yet the match official, a certain John Walton, from a mat-ter of yards away was unable to differentiate between a perfectly timedtackle and a foul.If that is the case, what on earth is he doing on a football pitch!Dreadful decision that could prove costly at the end of the season.Our players get yellow and red cards for mistakes. What do the refereesreceive?What was that about natural justice and the F.A.?ON A PERSONAL NOTE….….Many of you will remember my son, Phil, who had learning diffi-culties. For years he used to accompany me as we watched the Rams,before he moved to north Wales with my ex-wife.Sadly, just before Christmas, he passed away, suddenly, at the age ofjust 38. Despite my best efforts to persuade him to support Air-bus UK, he latched on to Chester, and followed them re-ligiously during his latter years.Whenever I had the chance, I ventured over there, andwherever possible took him to the Airfield in the hope ofswitching his allegiance, but I also took him to the Devaon a number of occasions and joined in with his passion.His limited ability seemed to focus on music, whichhe loved, and football, for which he had an ency-clopaedic knowledge. Every week we would discuss thelatest games featuring both Chester and RamsbottomUnited, although I have to state he wasn’t too impressedwith his side’s form so far this season!He is sadly no longer with us, but I am proud of the factthat football played such an important part in his life, andthat a part of that involved the pleasure ofsupporting the Rams.

Enjoy your non-league football!

Welcome to the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium for whatwill hopefully be a festive cracker I hope you have all had agreat Christmas so far and let’s see if we can make it a greatBoxing Day as well. It’s always a great time of the year to beinvolved with football and personally I really look forward tothe Boxing Day clash every year.This time out we find ourselves pitting our wits against a Sal-ford side that of late have had a upturn in ther fortunes, sowe could expect a tough encounter anyway; but throw intothe mix the fact it’s a local derby and it’s all set up for a tastyclash.Last time out we come away from Bamber Bridge empty

handed and feeling a little hard done by after conceeding alate, late penalty which, if I said was a touch harsh, would bean understatement. But if we’re honest, we felt that we didn’tdo ourselves justice, and on balance we perhaps didn’t doenough to take all 3 points.The great thing about the Christmas period is that we get

the chance to put it right straight away with the games com-ing thick and fast.This is the first of two important home games and we'll be

doing our utmost to get the results required.Please get behind the lads as is the norm now and we hop

you enjoy the game.Coyr - Glenn

today’s visitorssalford city

The club was formed in 1940 as Salford Central. We progressed steadily throughlocal leagues until, in 1963, we stepped up to the Manchester League and changedthe name to Salford Amateurs. Nicknamed “The Ammies” the club became a realforce in the 1970s winning the Lancashire Amateur Cup in ‘73,’75 and ’77. All theManchester County Cups and the League title came our way and in one season ofnote seven major trophies sat with pride in our trophy cabinet. The ultimate prize–Champion of Champions – was secured in 1977.In 1979, after a decade of success,we took our first major step towards securing our status in non-league football.The players and committee took on the task of restoring our present Moor Lane

ground. The pitch was in poor condition, the main stand roofless and derelict.Working all hours the challenge was met head on and Moor Lane was passed asacceptable for entry to the Cheshire League in 1980.When the North West Coun-ties League was formed in 1982 with the amalgamation of the Lancashire Combi-nation and the Cheshire League the foresight of upgrading the ground bore fruitand Salford seized the opportunity of joining football’s non-league pyramid. Thetransition hasn’t always been easy but with the re-organisation into two divisionswe eventually took our place in Division One.Salford appeared in the Manchester County Premier Cup Final at Old Trafford in1989 and the same season saw floodlights installed at Moor Lane and the drop-ping of our Amateurs tag to become Salford City. In 1990 we celebrated our fiftiethyear by entering the F.A.Cup for the first time and received national exposure onBBC Television’s Grandstand’s “Road to Wembley “ feature. Unfortunately relega-tion followed the same season. With League restructuring in 1992 we regainedour place in Division One and with ex Manchester United starlet Billy Garton incharge we finished ninth, our highest league position. The following years haveseen improvement on this and under Andy Brown we finished third (on goal dif-ference) missing out on promotion only in the last few games as well as againreaching the final of the Premier Cup. The last few seasons, under manager GaryFellows, saw the club establish itself as one of the dominant sides in the VodkatNorth West Counties League having won the League Challenge Cup in 2006 andjust missing out on promotion in 2007 with virtually an all local squad.At the end of season 2007-08 the club’s immediate ambition of stepping up to

the Unibond League was finally achieved when a second promotion spot from theVodkat League became available. Unfortunately early results were poor and AshBerry took over as manager in late October. In turn, his reign at the club was briefand Salford entered the second half of the season with Paul Wright and Neil Hallin the hot seat. It took until the last game of the season for Salford to secure an-other season in the Unibond League. During the following seasons Salford’s place in the fourth level of the English

non-league game was consolidated with chairman Darren Quick, Rhodri Giggs,Darren Sheridan & Andy Heald having spells in the Moor Lane managerial hot-seat. During the 2012-2013 season early form was good under ex-professionalSheridan but he left the club in January and a disappointing second half of thecampaign finished with Salford occupying sixteenth place in the league. There wassome excitement in the knock-out competitions with FC United of Manchesteredging a five-goal thriller at Moor Lane with over 1300 fans in attendance for theFA Cup tie. Under the guidance of Andy Heald Salford also reached the final ofthe Manchester Premier Cup but a stirring comeback against Mossley at Stock-port’s Edgelely Park ground was not enough as the Lilywhites triumphed in apenalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw.At the end of the 2012-2013 campaign the club appointed local lads Barry Mas-

say and Phil Power as joint managers and Salford based businesswoman KarenBaird took over as chairman from the long-serving Quick. Hopes are high for thenew season, with a play-off place the target as the Ammies seek to climb anotherlevel within the pyramid of non-league football.Salford is the largest city in England without a professional football club. Living

under the shadow of Manchester’s two senior clubs does not make our task anyeasier but everyone at the club can see the huge potential for a successful semi-professional team in an area steeped in a love of football and proud of their localheritage.

EDITORIAL - FROM THE DUGOUTAfter a testing few games littered with players missing through injury,

car trouble and suspensions we are looking to being back at home fortodays game against Salford City. Our game against Bamber Bridge was,yet again, a poor result for us which we feel was caused by a disap-pointing decision by the referee who awarded a penalty against BillyPriestley for, what wedeemed, was a clean andfair tackle. Regardless ofthis we are moving on-wards and upwards andare feeling positive fortoday’s game against Sal-ford and hope to getstraight back to winningsways and back on thepush for promotion.

At the Bamber Bridgegame we were without JonRobinson who was com-pleting the last game ofhis 2 match suspension for10 yellow cards; he is eligi-ble for selection for todaysgame. We will still be with-out Jordan Hulme who hasone match of his ban, forthe straight red he pickedup against Kendal, to seeout. Apart from the suspensions everyone else was fit for selection against

Bamber Bridge and we are still in the same position for today’s fixture. Lee Gaskell, who was substituted during the Bamber Bridge game had

a tight tendon behind his knee following the game but it should notaffect his ability to be selected for todays game.I'm going to take this opportunity to have a quick recap on the season

so far. I found it interesting reading in the Bamber Bridge programmethat at this time last season we were in the same league positionbut worse off by 2 points. This after a terrible start to the season

and some significant players being injured, like Andy Dawson,along with numerous, lengthy suspensions. I feel that this isa positive position to be in and our squad of players is asstrong as it has ever been, with some key signings alongwith a set of players who are in good physical shape andnot carrying any knocks or injuries.I hope that we will continue to work hard and progress

up the league in a bid to better our finished league po-sition from last season.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and I wishyou all a very happy new year. Come on you Rams!!- Katy

Straining at the leash - Jon Robinson

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1 John Coleman recently took over at Southport. Who hashe appointed as his assistant?2 In which League do Staines Town play?3 What is Guiseley’s nick-name?4 Darren Edmundson recently took over the vacant man-agerial post at Barrow. From which club did he move?5 In which country do Cefn Druids play?6 What is the name of Leek Town’s ground?7 Which Leicestershire club known as the Knitters, werewound up in October?8 Former Crystal Palace Chairman Mark Goldberg is cur-rently in charge of which Kent-based non-league side?9 Which Skrill North club plays at Northolme?10. For which team does Phil Jeavons currently play?

On a cold and windy afternoon at the rain-lashed Harry WilliamsRiverside Stadium, Ramsbottom United made heavy weather ofseeing off their struggling Yorkshire opponents.In a game ruined by the conditions, the Rams had to wait untilthe 90th minute before ensuring that their points tally from thelast twelve unbeaten league games topped the 30 mark.The visitors offered very little, yet somehow the home siderarely moved out of second gear.They should have opened the scoring after just seven minuteswhen Dominic Smalley’s pin-point cross saw the unmarked LeeGaskell slide in at the far post, but somehow he failed to find thetouch needed to convert with no Wakefield defender in sight.Kelvin Lomax saw a close range header from a corner fumbledby make-shift Wakefield keeper Adam Hayton, and the custodiandid well to deny Phil Dean, as he raced goalwards in acres of spaceonly to find his effort blocked.The home side did nudge in front, and it was new-comer DarrenGreen who found himself in the right spot. With the visitors ap-pealing for a foul on full-back Jamie Allsop as Smalley pushedpast him, the winger then delivered what appeared to be a dis-appointing cross into the area. However, the defenders somehowmissed the ball and it reached Green at the far post for him tohammer home his first goal for the club just 22 minutes into hisdebut.Ferdinand Annor tried his luck from 20 yards as the visitorslooked to overcome the deficit, whilst a good run forwards bytheir captain Ryan Donoghue set up Harrison Blakey, but his shotwas off-target.Gaskell had another chance to score when he weaved his waypast the offside trap, but as he took the ball wide in the area, hecouldn’t find the angle to beat the keeper.Against the run of play, Wakefield managed an equaliser justbefore the break. Slack marking allowed Annor all the time andspace he needed to nod home from a right-wing corner.The visitors almost grabbed a shock lead eight minutes intothe second half, when Grant Shenton in the home goal had tochange direction to keep out a free-kick that took a wicked de-flection.On the hour mark, the hosts re-took the lead, thanks to a GrantSpencer penalty. Gary Stopforth raced into the area from the left,and was adjudged to have been brought down by Jason Mycoe.Spencer confidently stroked home the spot-kick to give the Ramsthe advantage.With little goalmouth action to keep the crowd warm on a mis-erable day, Lomax came to the rescue as Wakefield came close toan equaliser with minutes to go. Tom Marsden found himself inspace in the box, and as he struck the ball, Lomax did enough toblock it and send it out for a corner, from which Ryan Grant side-footed the ball the wrong side of the post.Anthony Johnson came on as a substitute and should havesealed the points on 87 minutes. A low ball in from Dean foundthe player-manager, but as he slid in, he only succeeded in slidingthe ball wide from six yards out.Any fears that such a miss could prove costly were soon for-gotten as the ninety minute mark arrived.Keeper Hayton failed to collect an innocent looking back-pass,and the predatory Tom Brooks was on hand to place the looseball into the empty net from the edge of the box.Moments later the referee called a halt to proceedings, leavingeveryone to dash off for the shelter of the changing rooms.Another three points but a game that will not last long in thememory.

debut goal

3 - 1Harry Williams Riverside Stadium14th December 2013Att: 181Rammy Goals: Green (22), Spencer (61), Brooks (90)Wakefield Goals: Annor (44)

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Dan Warrender heads Rammy’s equaliser

An eagerly awaited contest be-tween two of the league’s formteams ultimately produced a matchlacking in the usual fluency and en-tertainment expected from thesetwo sides.Both sides gave the oppositionlittle time on the ball resulting in ahurried error-strewn contest whichappeared to be heading for a de-served draw until a late interven-tion from referee John Walton.With just seven minutes to go,and the scores level at one apieceBilly Priestley beat a Brig forward tothe ball in the area, and slid it awayas his opponent’s momentum sawhim go to ground. The officialpointed to the spot, with the Rams’defenders rightly incensed. Hisblunder offered substitute JeromeWatt the opportunity to gleefullystroke the spot kick home andclinch the three points that neitherside deserved on the day.Even the home side’s first goalwas contentious.On 26 minutes, a corner from theright ricocheted around the six yardbox, before the linesman signalledthat at some point it had crossedthe line. After consultation with MrWalton, the goal was given.Up to that point the game hadbeen rather scrappy, and it neverreally recovered over the wholeninety minutes, due in part to aheavy surface and the windy con-ditions.Two minutes after the goal, theRams were almost level when Do-minic Smalley headed over anOwen Roberts corner, but threeminutes later, parity was restored.A perfectly flighted cross fromthe left by Darren Green fell invit-ingly for Danny Warrender and hedived low to power a header inside

the left hand post to make it 1-1.A well-struck Roberts’ free-kickwas well held by Steve James in thehome goal, whilst one of the fewfluent moves, involving Smalleyand Lee Gaskell, saw Grant Spencerunable to direct his header goal-wards.Grant Shenton, in the visitorsgoal was almost left red-faced earlyin the second half, when his poorclearance was instantly returnedwith the keeper out of position,but, luckily for him, it sailed justwide of the post.Shenton was almost caught outagain when Matt Lawlor beat himto a free-kick, but saw his headerclear the bar.A cross-cum-shot from Smalleyjust cleared the bar, before Gaskellwas denied when his free-kick washeld by the foot of the post by thediving James.At the other end, a fine crossfrom Brig winger Chris Marlow wasnodded inches wide by TomWilliams, but clear-cut chanceswere hard to come by as both sidesappeared to cancel one anotherout.Then, with the clock ticking downcame the moment of controversywhich handed the points to thehome side.It was to prove to be an unluckythirteen for the Rams as theirtwelve match unbeaten league runcame to an end in unfortunate cir-cumstances, made worse by thefact that Warrender was sent off inthe dying minutes for a second yel-low card.After such an encouraging run,it’s down to the team to shake offthis disappointment and set off onanother charge towards the play-offs.

2 - 1Irongate21st December 2013Att: 248Rammy Goals: Warrender (31)Bamber Bridge Goals: Williams (26), Watt (83)

DATE OPPOSITION RES ATT STARTING ELEVENSat 17th Aug H CURZON ASHTON 1-3 254 Shenton Warrender Pilkington Stopforth + Dawson HulmeTues 20th Aug A Ossett Town 0-2 100 Shenton Warrender Pilkington * Drew Dawson HulmeSat 24th Aug A Warrington Town 0-1 192 Shenton Warrender Pilkington * Drew + Dawson HulmeMon 26th Aug H PADIHAM 1-2 309 Shenton Warrender Pilkington Drew + Dawson Spencer *Sat 31st Aug H AFC Liverpool - FA Cup 5-0 238 Shenton Warrender Roberts * Stopforth + Dawson RobinsonSat 7th Sept H NORTHWICH VICTORIA 2-2 212 Shenton Warrender Roberts * 1 Pilkington Dawson RobinsonTues 10th Sept A Ossett Albion 2-1 73 Shenton Warrender Pilkington Morley + Dawson RobinsonSat 14th Sept A Stocksbridge - FA Cup 2-2 129 Shenton Warrender Pilkington Stopforth Dawson Robinson *Tues 17th Sept H Stocksbridge - FA Cup 3-0 127 Shenton Warrender 1 Pilkington Stopforth Dawson + RobinsonSat 21st Sept A Mossley 4-3 173 Shenton Warrender Pilkington Stopforth Robinson Flannery #Tues 24th Sept H DARLINGTON 1883 3-0 396 Shenton Warrender # Roberts Stopforth Priestley Flannery +Sat 28th Sept A Barrow - FA Cup 0-3 677 Shenton Hulme + Roberts Stopforth # Dawson WarrenderTues 1st Oct A Radcliffe Borough 1-1 241 Shenton Warrender Roberts Stopforth Dawson PriestleySat 5th Oct A Warrington Town FA Trophy 2-1 103 Shenton Warrender Roberts Stopforth Dawson * PriestleyTues 8 th Oct H LANCASTER CITY 6-0 241 Shenton Hulme 1 Roberts Stopforth # Warrender PriestleySat 12th Oct A Wakefield 3-2 64 Shenton Hulme Roberts Gaskell 1 Warrender PriestleyWeds 16th Oct H ATHERTON LR Lancs Trophy 3-1 69 Shenton Hulme Roberts Stopforth # Dawson * WarburtonSat 19th Oct H WORKSOP FA Trophy 1Q 7-2 355 Shenton Warrender Roberts Stopforth # Dawson PriestleySat 26th Oct A Harrogate Railway Athletic 4-0 124 Shenton Lomax Pilkington Stopforth Warrender PriestleySat 2nd Nov A Blyth Spartans FA Trophy 1-0 298 Shenton Lomax Pilkington Stopforth Warrender 1 PriestleyWed 6th Nov A Darlington 1883 1-0 899 Shenton Lomax Hulme Stopforth Warrender PriestleySat 9th Nov H NEW MILLS 1-1 292 Shenton Lomax Hulme Stopforth Warrender 1 PriestleyTues 12th Nov H FC UNITED Doodson cup 1-2 464 Shenton Lomax + Roberts Pilkington Warrender Priestley 1Sun 17th Nov A Worcester City FA Trophy 0-3 341 Shenton Lomax Roberts Stopforth Warrender PriestleyTues 19th Nov H Padiham Lancs Trophy 4-1 106 Chadwick Toth Roberts Stopforth # Warburton * PriestleySat 23rd Nov H BURSCOUGH 7-1 229 Shenton Lomax Roberts Stopforth Warrender 2 PriestleyTues 26th Nov H CLITHEROE 4-1 192 Shenton Dean Roberts Stopforth # Warrender PriestleySat 30th Nov A Kendal Town 3-2 167 Shenton Dean Roberts Stopforth Lomax PriestleySat 7th Dec A Curzon Ashton 2-2 233 Shenton Lomax Roberts Stopforth Warrender # PriestleyTues 10th Dec A Chorley Lancs Trophy 0-2 301 Shenton Toth Roberts Stopforth Edghill + PriestleySat 14th Dec H WAKEFIELD 3-1 181 Shenton Lomax Pilkington Stopforth Toth PriestleySat 21st Dec A Bamber Bridge 1-2 248 Shenton Lomax Roberts Stopforth Warrender 1 PriestleyThurs 26th Dec H SALFORD CITYSat 28th Dec H FARSLEYWed 1st Jan A PadihamSat 4th Jan A Northwich VictoriaSat 11th Jan H MOSSLEYSat 18th Jan H RADCLIFFE BOROUGHSat 25th Jan A ClitheroeTues 28th Jan H Prescot CablesSat 1st Feb A Cammell LairdTues 4th Feb H OSSETT ALBIONSat 8th Feb A Lancaster CitySat 15th Feb H HARROGATE RAILWAYSat 1st Mar A Prescot CablesSat 8th Mar H CAMMELL LAIRDSat 15th Mar A New MillsSat 29th Mar A BurscoughSat 5th Apr H KENDAL TOWNSat 12th Apr A FarsleySat 19th Apr H WARRINGTON TOWNMon 21st Apr A Salford City Sat 26th Apr H BAMBER BRIDGE

SUBSTITUTESMorning * Spencer Robinson # Brooks 1 Dean Drew + Smalley * Gaskell # Toth BradburyMorning + Spencer Robinson Brooks # Dean Warburton Smalley * Gaskell # Toth Bradbury +Smalley Stopforth Robinson Gaskell # Dean Warburton * Brooks # Spencer + Toth BradburySmalley Stopforth Robinson Gaskell Dean # Edghill * Morley Johnson + Brooks 1 # RobertsSmalley Spencer Gaskell 2 Brooks # 1 Dean 1 Pilkington * Bradbury # 1 Edghill + Drew Toth WarburtonSmalley Spencer Gaskell Hulme Dean 1 Bradbury Edghill Prickett Toth * MorleySmalley Spencer # Gaskell 2 Hulme Dean * Toth * Prickett Johnson Bradbury # Warburton +Smalley 1 + Spencer Gaskell Hulme # Dean 1 Roberts + Flannery * Brooks # Morley Toth PrickettSmalley # Spencer Gaskell 1 Roberts * 1 Dean Flannery # Morley Prickett Brooks * Toth+ HulmeSmalley Spencer Gaskell Roberts Dean 1* Hulme # + Brooks * 2 Toth + Prickett EdghillSmalley Spencer Gaskell Robinson * 3 Dean Pilkington + Brooks * Toth Dawson # EdghillSmalley * Spencer Gaskell Robinson Dean Edghill + Brooks * Toth # Morley JohnsonSmalley Spencer Gaskell * Robinson + Dean Brooks * 1 Hulme + Toth Morley EdghillSmalley Spencer Hulme Brooks Dean + Edghill + Gaskell * Toth Morley PilkingtonSmalley 1 Spencer * Robinson 1 + Brooks 2 Dean Edghill * Gaskell + Toth # Morley WarburtonSmalley Spencer Robinson 1 + Brooks * Dean 1 Edghill + Pilkington * Toth Morley DawsonPrickett Toth Smith 2 Brooks 1 Gaskell + Dean Smalley + Priestley * Spencer # RobinsonSmalley 1 Spencer Robinson 1+ Brooks 2 * Dean 2 Hulme 1 + Pilkington Toth # Gaskell * ChadwickSmalley 1 Spencer # Robinson 1 + Brooks * Dean 2 Toth * Gaskell + Prickett # Chadwick JohnsonSmalley Spencer Robinson + Gaskell * Dean Toth Brooks * Hulme + Morley JohnsonSmalley Spencer Robinson Gaskell Dean 1 Toth Johnson Brooks Warburton SmithSmalley Spencer + Brooks * Gaskell Dean # Toth Robinson * Pilkington + Chadwick Roberts #Toth Hulme # Robinson Brooks Dean * Smalley * Spencer # Gaskell + Chadwick StopforthSmalley Spencer Robinson * Gaskell + Pilkington Toth Hulme * Brooks + Warburton BradburySmalley Pilkington Brooks + Hulme 3 Spencer Warrender *1 Gaskell + Smith # Bradbury EdghillSmalley Pilkington 1 + Gaskell 1 * Hulme # Spencer 2 Toth Robinson * Brooks + Dean 1 # ChadwickSmalley Robinson 2 + Gaskell 1 Hulme * Spencer 1 Toth # Pilkington + Brooks * Warburton BradburySmalley Robinson + Gaskell 1 Hulme 2 Spencer # Toth # Pilkington + Brooks Johnson MorleySmalley 1 Spencer Gaskell 1 Pilkington Dean + Toth Brooks Robinson + Hulme # EdghillSmalley Spencer Brooks * Hulme # Dean Warburton + Bradbury Smith # Gaskell * ChadwickSmalley Spencer * 1 Gaskell + Green # 1 Dean Warrender Edghill * Brooks + 1 Johnson # ChadwickSmalley Spencer + Gaskell * Green Dean Toth Pilkington + Edghill Brooks * Johnson

66/7: Parks Cup Runners-Up67/8:Parks Cup Runners-Up67/8: Kenyon Cup Winners71/2: Cornall Cup Winners72/3: Bolton Combination Div One Champions74/5: Bolton Hospital Cup Winners76/7: Bolton Combination Premier Division Champions76/7: Bolton Combination Open Cup Winners79/80: Bolton Combination Jackson Cup Winners81/2: Bolton Combination Jackson Cup Runners-Up82/3: Bolton Combination Second Division Cup Runners-Up82/3: Bolton Combination Second Division Runners-Up83/4: Bolton Combination Open Cup Winners84/5: Bolton Combination First Division Runners-Up84/5: Bolton Boys Federation Under-16’s League Champions85/6: Bolton Combination Jackson Cup Runners-Up85/6: Bolton Boys Federation U18’s League Runners-Up85/6: Bolton Boys Federation U18’s Jubilee Cup Winners86/7: Lancashire FA Under-18’s Cup Winners86/7: Bolton Boys Federation U18’s Jubilee Cup Winners86/7: Bolton Boys Federation Under-18’s League Champions87/8: Bolton Combination Open Cup Runners-Up90/1: Manchester League Division One Cup Winners

90/1: Manchester League Division One Champions93/4: Yorkshire Cup Runners-Up93/4: Bury & Radcliffe Junior Under-16’s Cup Winners93/4: Bury & Radcliffe Junior Under-16’s Champions94/5: Gylchrist Cup Winners94/5: Manchester Festival of Football Runners-Up94/5: Manchester County FA Youth Cup Winners94/5: Bolton Boys Federation Jubilee Cup Winners94/5: Bolton Boys Federation Cup Winners94/5: Bolton Boys Federation Premier League Champions95/6: North West Counties Division Two Cup Winners96/7: North West Counties Division Two Champions97/8: North West Counties Reserve Division Cup Winners98/9: Bolton Hospital Cup Winners98/9: North West Counties Reserve North Champions2000/01: Bolton Bys Federation Jubilee Cup Runners-Up01/2: Bolton Boys Federation Premier League Champions01/2; Bolton Hospital Cup Runners-Up05/6: Bolton Hospital Cup Winners06/7: Bolton Hospital Cup Winners07/8: Bolton Hospital Cup Winners10/11: North West Counties Division One Runners-Up11/12: North West Counties Division One Championsrammy club honours

On a wet and miserable afternoon in east Lan-cashire, the Rams treated their large following toa Festive cracker as they demolished the high-fly-ing hosts.The 3-1 scoreline barely does justice to thecomplete dominance the visitors had on thehome side.Indeed, the Ramsbottom intention was evidentas early as 20 seconds in, as Grant Spencer foundspace in the area, only to see his shot bounceback into play off the inside of the post.In the third minute Lee Gaskell saw his effortblocked, and minutes later he saw another effortsafely dealt with by Burton in the home goal.A rare attack by Clitheroe saw Simin Nanglehammer a 30 yard effort which Grant Shenton didwell to stop, but most of the play was takingplace in the home half, as wave after wave of at-tacks descended on the home goal.However, it appeared to be a case of trying towalk the ball in rather than first time efforts thatallowed the Clitheroe defenders time to repel theonslaught.Gaskell had another attempt blocked, beforeDominic Smalley played in Jon Robinson, but hefired straight at the keeper. A free-kick fromSpencer then clipped the top of the crossbar.At the other end, the home side should havetaken the lead when the Rams defence seemedto part leaving Mark Buchan in acres of space. Hisheader from a corner fell inches the wrong sideof the post, before normal service was resumed.Robinson and Gaskell linked up superbly on theleft before putting through a ball for the un-marked Danny Warrender. The defender, in un-usual territory, also dallied too long, and his closerange shot took a deflection onto the bar andover for a corner.Gaskell then fired in a fierce cross from the leftwhich was inches away from being converted byRobinson, as the incessant charge on the homegoal continued.The Rams were then made to pay for theirprofligacy in front of goal, as totally against therun of play, Clitheroe took the lead on 34 min-utes.An attack that seemed to be going nowhereon the right suddenly turned into a fine longcross which found the unmarked Nangle racingin to bury the ball at the far post.Instead of inspiring the home side, it merelyensured that the Rams continued in the samevein.A Spencer free-kick was headed over by MarkAyres, before a fine run down the left by PhilDean saw his driven cross bounce off Robinsonfor a goal-kick. Robinson again had the chanceto equalise when put through by Jordan Hulme,but his effort was off target.So the Ramsbottom players trooped off at half-time wondering just how they had managed tofire so many blanks during a 45 minute spell that

they had totally dominated.It took just eight minutes of the second half toremedy the situation.Robinson cleverly lofted the ball over a de-fender and into the path of Gaskell, and his firsttime volley brought the scores level.This seemed to wake up the home side, forthey produced their best football of the game inthe following ten minutes.Andy Dawson scrambled the ball off the line,then Shenton had to dash off his line to throw hisbody into the path of the ball as Clitheroe lookedto regain the lead. Substitute Daley Woods fireda snap shot wide as play, for the first time in thegame, took place mostly in the Rams’ half.Gaskell then had two tremendous chances togive the Rams the lead within the space of twominutes. For both, Dean was the provider, firstlypicking out the club’s leading scorer with a finecross that Gaskell headed disappointingly wide.Moments later a perfectly laid low cross foundGaskell first to the ball before a defender andkeeper, but again he squirmed the ball widewhen it looked a certain goal.Rams substitute Glodi Kuba-Kuba fired in a ter-rific drive from 25 yards which the keeper fum-bled before another raid by the home sideneeded a desperate tackle from Joel Pilkingtonto snuff out the danger. Hulme then had to pro-duce another goal-line save as the game hadturned into a much more even contest.However, it was the visitors who would even-tually turn the game in their favour.On 79 minutes, Spencer somehow won whatlooked like a lost ball and marched down to theby-line before sending over an inch-perfect crossfor the unmarked Gaskell, This time he gleefullynodded home from six yards, and the travellingcontingent breathed a collective sigh of relief asthe domination at last paid dividends.Gaskell almost added a third with a cheeky 35yard chip, but on 88 minutes he did clinch hishat-trick, and with it a more convincing scoreline.New signing Kristian Evans, cleverly timed hisrun to perfection as a ball was played into theClitheroe half. He raced forward before laying onthe perfect through ball for Gaskell who un-leashed an unstoppable shot past Burton to com-plete the scoring.In reality, it should not have taken until twominutes from time to wrap up the points.Despite a more spirited performance from thehome side in the second half, this was a well-de-served win – an amazing eighth away victory al-ready this season – and Clitheroe could not havecomplained if the Rams had doubled their tally.On a difficult pitch both sides produced athrilling game for the bumper crowd of 357.Well-contested by both sides and sensibly refer-eed, this was an excellent advert for non-leaguefootball, and ultimately another fine three pointsfor the League’s newcomers.

this time last season

1 - 3Shawbridge26th December 2012Att: 357 Rammy Goals: Gaskell (52, 76, 86)Clitheroe Goals: Nangle (34)

THIS WEEK’S MATCHESThursday 26th DecemberClitheroe v PadihamDarlington v WakefieldHarrogate v FarsleyLancaster v KendalMossley v Bamber BridgeNew Mills v Curzon AshtonNorthwich v Cammell LairdOssett Albion v Ossett TownPrescot v WarringtonRadcliffe v BurscoughRammy v SalfordSaturday 28th DecemberClitheroe v WarringtonDarlington v SalfordHarrogate v KendalLancaster v Ossett TownMossley v BurscoughNew Mills v Bamber Bridge

Northwich v WakefieldOssett Albion v Curzon AshtonPrescot v PadihamRadcliffe v Cammell LairdRammy v FarsleyWednesday 1st JanuaryBamber Bridge v ClitheroeBurscough v LancasterCammell Laird v PrescotCurzon Ashton v MossleyFarsley v Ossett AlbionKendal v DarlingtonOssett Town v New MillsPadiham v RammySalford v RadcliffeWakefield v HarrogateWarrington v NorthwichAll games kick off at 3pm

LEAGUE NEWSDarlington have signed a landmark legal agreement that could see

the fan-run club return home after two years in exile.Delighted officials at the First Division North’s Quakers announced

on Friday that they’d signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ withDarlington Rugby Football Club to share the rugby club’s BlackwellMeadows site from next season.The Quakers currently groundshare at Bishop Auckland’s Heritage

Park and officials also warned fans that they still facing significant fi-nancial challenges and need to raise thousands of pounds for the returnto Darlington to go ahead. Details of the exact amounts needed andthe timescales are expected to be announced by the club early nextweek. A fans’ forum is also being organised for early January at theirproposed new home to provide supporters with more details.A Darlington spokesman said: "The Board of Darlington Football Club

is pleased to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding has beensigned with Darlington Rugby Football Club which paves the way forthe football club to share the facilities at Blackwell Meadows from the2014-15 season onwards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ex-Chorley and Skelmersdale United striker Porya "Rio" Ahmadi has

signed for Salford City.Iranian Born Rio started his footballing career with Sheffield United's

youth academy before moving into non-league football with Chorley.A move to Skelmersdale United followed but a lack of first team op-portunities prompted him to consider a move. Joining him at Salford in the last couple of weeks are Warren Gaskin

from Droylsden, Damasa Kiwanda from Hyde and Troy Pennycooke-Morgan from Ytterhogdal IK in Sweden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gary Flitcroft’s Chorley hardly need a lift as the club fights for honours

on four fronts but they got one anyway last weekend when the Magpiescollected their Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Club of the Month ac-colade. The second placed Magpies are celebrating winning the accolade for

the second successive month after enjoying a sensational November,winning all eight of their outings in four different competitions. Flit-croft’s troops took maximum points in the league after winning threeout of three outings and reached the FA Trophy’s Second Round witha 2-1 win over First Division North Curzon Ashton. They also progressedin both the Doodson Sport Cup and Lancashire FA Trophy with victoriesover Kendal and Rammy respectively.Chorley were named as the latest Club of the Month winners along-

side Bamber Bridge and Scarborough Athletic in First Division Northand South respectively.Bamber Bridge reached third in the league after manager Neil Crowe

guided them to five wins from five in league action in November. TheBrig, who also knocked Conference outfit Barrow out of the LancashireFA Trophy in a penalty shoot-out and beat Lancaster City in the Dood-son Sport Cup, were also honoured last Saturday.

RAMMY IN EXILE - RICHARD ISAACSGood afternoon everyone - hope you have all had your suitable fill ofturkey, sprouts, spuds and Quality Street (other selections of chocolatesare available, of course!).All down here in the deep south is well - I won't be in evidence todayas there is a lot of cricket going on around the world so will be tied tothe computer looking up various stats and records about the Ashes,Graeme Swann, South Africa v India and Perth Hurricanes against theMelbourne Renegades in the Big Bash t20 in Australia. It's all go, I tellyou!I am going to write a letter of complaint to airline company FlyBe. Dothey not know that people want to watch Rammy play on a Saturdayafternoon rather than flying back to Southampton at 3.35pm? That iswhy I was upin the areaon Fridayand also onS a t u r d a ymorning but,rather thanh e a d i n gnorth toB a m b e rBridge, I washeading tothe airport tofly homeahead of my cricket club's annual Christmas draw night (which was rub-bish, by the way). The latest flight back south took off at nearly half-time so I missed quite a lot of the 'action' but as soon as we toucheddown, I was looking and we were 2-1 down - we were 1-1 when wetook off!But the Isaacs family Christmas was filled with various northern de-lights from my short and thoroughly enjoyable trip to the north, includ-ing many items from Bury's ... ahem ... "World Famous" (?!?!? -really?????) market and some assorted presents and gifts from Os-waldtwistle Mills, which has become a bit of a regular haunt of mine asthey do a great selection of 'Slimmers Choice' food items so my bagswere somewhat heavy and they all survived the flight. But it still doesn'tdetract that the fact that I missed another game.It was disappointing that our great unbeaten run came to an end atBamber Bridge - courtesy of an ill wind it seems after reading Tony'sreport - but all good things come to an end, as they say. So its time toback on the horse and start another good run of form. It is one game,one loss and our first one since September. Can we go toMarch before we lose again? Today's game will be quite achallenge against a Salford City side who are no pushoverand sit just a couple of points behind us in the table and helped them-selves to a 2-0 home win over Prescot Cables on Saturday.We all remember the great FA Cup day here and the topsy-turvy 3-2 win at Salford last season when Robbo scored twiceand then turned his hand to goalkeeping when Shents was in-jured!Right then, I had better get off to the Old Farmhouse for thepub quiz - its a biggie tonight, you can win a whole £50 bartab. However, our team is normally made up of about 10 peo-ple so it means next to nothing really!!!!Hope you all enjoyed your free mince pie if you got hereearly enough, by the way.C'MON RAMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Coach Glenn Moses

Joint Manager and midfielder Bernard Morley

Joint Manager and striker Anthony Johnson

Physio Katy Richardson

Coach Darren Green

rammysquad

Centre-back Dan Warrender

Left-back Owen Roberts

Right-back Kelvin Lomax

Centre-Back Billy Priestley

Goalkeeper Grant Shenton

Centre-back and Captain Andy Dawson

Midfielder Phil Edghill

Midfield Joel Pilkington

Right-wing Dom Smalley

Midfielder Grant Spencer

Midfielder Gary Stopforth

Midfield Tom Toth

Striker Lee Gaskell

Striker Jordan Hulme

Striker Tom Brookes

Striker Jon Robinson

Left-wing Phil Dean

Striker Darren Green

EDITORIAL - SUPPORTERS CLUBHappy 80th birthday Jack! I hope you’re not too mortified to be grac-ing the front cover of our Boxing Day programme. I reckon this issuewill be worth a few bob in years to come - real Rammy collectors items!We had a whip-round at Bamber Bridge, and I saw some notes in there,so you might just end up with a life-time’s supply of Quality Street - oreven a new fishing net! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I’m really looking forward to today’s game. I don’t know what it isabout Salford City but I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for them. Perhaps it’ssomething to do with their similar progression from the Northwestcounties, or perhaps it’s their cheeky co-manager Barry Massay whojust about everyone in non-league football is quite intimately aware -particularly midfielders who’ve seen his little cheeky smile after he’s hityou with a crunching mid-thigh tackle. He’s a fella who reminds me alittle of Jonno - he’s always put his heart and soul into the game, evenwhen his knees were utterly knackered and he could only play for tenminutes without looking like he was about to snuff it! I watched himturn out for Atherton Collieries and fondly remember him applaudingthe crowd because it was freezing cold and there were only a handfulof us who’d suffered a woeful performance.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I reckon we need a bit of singing at Rammy. We’ve had little murmur-ings at the last few matches and it’s starting to gather pace. Me andDon had a little go behind the goal at Bamber Bridge, and a good num-ber dusted off the vocal chords at Curzon Ashton in little spurts. Withour assorted league supporting backgrounds we’re all more than ca-pable of a bit of vocal support, and when we’re forced to huddle undereither of the stands at the Riverside, I reckon it’s time to give it a go. It’sthe one thing that we’re missing at the moment, and it’s always a bitweird as a sober, grown adult, but bring it on! And besides, we’ll all bea little bit sozzled this afternoon, so if we can’t manage it today, in alocal-ish derby, then heaven help us.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tony didn’t beat about the bush with his condemnation of the refer-eeing decision on Saturday, where we picked up our first defeat in ages,and although I was right down the other end of the pitch I could seethe utter bewilderment on the face of Billy Priestley. It’s a real shame asthe aging and slightly tubby looking officials had put in a pretty goodperformance up to that point. Dan Warrender’s dismissal shortly after-wards was another strange decision as he and the striker tussled in arace for the ball - he booked both, which meant Warrender was off, andthen gave a free kick to Bamber Bridge on the edge of the box. On theface of it the decision seemed a bit surreal, but I wonder if he bookedWarrender for offending first, waved play-on and then pulled it backafter their fella had swung his handbag on achieving no advantage.Maybe that one was fair enough. I think that Jonno and Bernard deserve some credit for resistingthe urge to run onto the pitch and lamp the referee. A full-timehandshake looked to be withheld, but they managed (somehow)to contain their passion at the time of the incident, which is reallycommendable and a sign that the lads are properly growing intotheir roles. Getting robbed by stupid decisions is all part andparcel of the game, and something that sadly we all need to livewith.I have a feeling that today’s dug-outs will be the scene of somereally entertaining and passionate banter, so book your ring-sidepositions early!

Happy Christmas, and let’s hope today’s game is a good un!

Managers: Anthony JOHNSONBernard MORLEY

Managers: Barry MASSEYPhil POWER

Grant SHENTONKelvin LOMAX

Danny WARRENDEROwen ROBERTSBilly PRIESTLEY

Gary STOPFORTHDominic SMALLEY

Grant SPENCERJon ROBINSON

Phil DEANLee GASKELLTom BROOKSPhil EDGHILL

Joel PILKINGTONJordan HULME

Tom TOTHDarren GREENAndy DAWSON

Kieran O’BOYLERichard SMITHJames MOSSAaron WALTERSOtis GORMANWarren GASKINLee HODGKINSONMatthew PURCELLRio AHMADIMark BATTERSBYDanny BROWNEWes BANCROFTThomas WALKERJosh MESSERDamase KIWANDADave CHADWICK

Referee: Helen ByrneAssistants: James Madine, Michael Herzon

Next home game: Saturday 28th December 3pm, Rammy v Farsley