20 Ramsbottom United v Mossley

rammynewsV MOSSLEY11.01.14

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 HWRS for this afternoon’s clash with Mossley.For me, personally, it’s always a pleasure to welcome the Lilywhites. I spent 15 happyyears, initially supporting then latterly on the Committee at Seel Park from 1975 to 1990,and I have to state that, despite the huge problems engulfing the club at the time, Ithoroughly enjoyed my involvement with them, and always look forward to renewingold acquaintances.Our performance over in Tameside in September was, let’s be kind, disappointing,and we deserved to get nothing from the game, although we very nearly did grab apoint! Since then we have been on a terrific run with just one defeat (and a debatable oneat that) in the last sixteen league games.Mossley, on the other hand, must have been mightily relieved last Saturday whentheir 3-1 win over Radcliffe Borough ended a run of eight consecutive league defeats.So on current form, this must be a home banker.Right?Er, no! This is football, and if such predictions always came true, why bother going outonto the pitch in the first place.Mossley came here and beat us last year, and I think on that occasion they had DickTurpin playing up front!So we owe them for that robbery and also to put the record straight this campaign.Let’s hope for another entertaining afternoon, and win, lose or draw, I shall wish myold colleagues all the best for the remainder of the season.SECOND CHOICEI’ve noticed of late, quite a number of Bury supporters turning up to watch the Rams.And not just for home matches. At Curzon Ashton and Northwich Victoria, quite afew familiar faces from my trips to the JD stadium were in sight, along with a number ofBury FC coats.OK, so Bury have had a couple of lousy seasons, but things are starting to look some-what brighter under Flicker’s stewardship, and I’m sure the future is a lot more appealingthan the recent past.Nevertheless, I have always enjoyed having a second team to support.As a youngster, whenever I could, I ventured down to Heys Road to see PrestwichHeys play. They were a major player in the old F.A. Amateur Cup days, and whilstGrimshaws was never one of the best non-league venues, I always enjoyed my alternativeview of football, as opposed to supporting the Shakers at a professional level.When I opened my first business in east Manchester, thanks to one of my customerswho happened to support the club, I made my first visit to Seel Park, and enjoyed it somuch that I became a supporter and ultimately a committee man, as Mossley becamemy second team.Next stop was a brief (although not brief enough!) spell at Rossendale United. Didnot enjoy the experience one bit, and despite being vice-Chairman, left after just eight-een months for a number of reasons.This was around the time that Gigg lane was being rebuilt, and thatin itself was a fascinating experience for a football grounds enthu-siast like myself.But I soon missed having a “second club”, and fortunately around1995, little old Manchester League side, Ramsbottom United, decidedto make the move up to the North West Counties League. Being justa couple of miles from where I lived, I decided to take a look, and be-fore I knew it, the void was filled.Over the years, my support and involvement here has increasedno end, although I am still, after over 50 years, a season ticket holderat Bury, and manage to attend as many games at the JD as possible.I’ve found that having two clubs to support gives me double theenjoyment (and on certain weekends, double the pain!), so should anysupporter of the Shakers decide to follow my path, and adopt the Ramsas their “second team”, then I can assure them it’ll be a worthwhile exer-cise. Not only that, your additional support will be bothwelcome and appreciated here at the Riverside, as we,as a club, look to make further progress up the foot-ball pyramid.

Enjoy your non-league football!

treme

ndous support

I must start by wishing all of our tremen-dous supporters a belated Happy New Year.I hope you all had a very merry Christmasand haven't put too many extra pounds onlike I have.In the end it was a quiet festive period in

terms of game action with the matchesagainst Farsley (home) and Padiham (away)being postponed due to these non stop tor-rential downpours. We did however manageto squeeze a match in against Salford onBoxing Day at the HWRS. It was a terrificgame of football with both teams showingsigns of great forward play. I was quite im-pressed with them going forward as theyasked us a few questions. We played at ahigh tempo which is a hallmark of the team;both Bernard and I have been happy withhow the lads have started to play higher upthe pitch asking constant questions in theopposition’s half. To score five at any time isalways pleasing so to do it in front of an-other good crowd makes it even more satis-fying. The Northwich game was no different with

both teams taking the game to each other.We were simply outstanding for 40 minutesof the first half, moving the ball around atease and creating plenty of scoring oppor-tunities. Northwich had much more of theplay in the second half and deservedly gotthe scores level at 3-3. We decided tochange the shape to a 4-3-3 knowing we re-ally needed to get a win from the game andthankfully it paid off. Ash Reece (New Sign-ing) fed Gassy who chipped a lovely ball intothe box for Chris Denham (New Signing) toscore on his debut. There was a great roar asthe team’s persistence finally paid off, it wasvery pleasing to send the massive Rammyfollowing (as per usual) home with 3 points.There has been a bit of movement in terms

of players coming and going. Kelvin Lomaxhas left to join Hyde FC in the Conference.Phil Edghill was released and has joined

neighbors Salford City, and we have also thisweek released Tom Brooks who unfortu-nately wanted to take a break from footballas he said he hasn't been enjoying his foot-ball for over a year. We wish all 3 players allthe very best for the future and thank themfor their great service to the club.On the injury front skipper Andy Dawson

is due to have his knee op this week. DomSmalley also has a knee problem and couldbe out for up to six weeks. Jon Robinsonneeds an operation on his ankle and we arestill waiting on what the consultant says sowe have no fixed time on how long he couldbe out. Danny Warrender will serve the lastgame today of a two game ban and will beback available for the home game next weekagainst Radcliffe Borough.So as you can see we have had a very dif-

ficult time with having players available topick from, but we have brought in four newplayers. Chris Denham is a vastly experi-enced forward/midfielder who has playedrecently in the conference for Altrinchamand is someone we tried to sign last yearwhen he left Chorley, but we missed out sowe are very happy to welcome him to theclub. Lewis Lacy is a central defender whohas joined from FC United to help us outwhilst we struggle with injuries and suspen-sions. He is thought very highly of at FC andwe look forward to working with him. An-drew Fitzgerald is a 19 year old defenderwho has joined on loan from Hyde FC for amonth, he is another player who is thoughtof very highly for the future. We have alsosigned Rammy lad Ashley Reece who ishome on leave from studying in the USA, hereturns at the end of January but has signeduntil then.I'm sure you'll make the new lads feel wel-

come and we're all chomping at the bit tobe back playing at the HWRS. Come on you Rams.- Jonno

Peter Band - Joint Manager (age 39) Peter Band joinedMossley as a player in August 2011 and made 42 appearancesfor the Lilywhites in the 2011/12 season. Peter now gets thechance to cut his teeth as a Team Manager at Mossley havingpreviously been assistant manager to Chris Willcock at theformer Woodley Sports and then to Halford at Mossley fol-lowing Gareth McClelland's departure in January of 2012. Lloyd Morrison - Joint Manager (age 41) Lloyd Morrisonwas appointed as joint team manager in July 2013 havingspent the previous season in charge at North West CountiesLeaguers Winsford United.Charlie Anderson (age 22) Charlie is a talented central de-fender or midfield player signed from Winsford United in theclosed season. Charlie, who is the son of former NottinghamForest, Manchester United and England defender Viv Ander-son, began his career with Macclesfield Town before havingspells with Ashton United, FC United of Manchester and Flix-ton. John Bennett (age 23) John is a versatile midfield player orleft back who came through Altrincham's successful youthsystem before spending the 2012/13 season with WinsfordUnited. He signed for Mossley in the closed season after turn-ing down a move to Conference North side Vauxhall Motors. Douglas Carroll (age 18) Promising teenage striker Dougiewas signed from Winsford United in the closed season. Hewas previously a prolific goalscorer in the Manchester Leaguefor Wythenshawe Town. Tom Dean (age 21) Signed in December 2013 after beingspotted playing impressively in Sunday football in the Mac-clesfield area.Simon Gallanders (age 27) Simon is an experienced, strongand skilful central midfielder signed in September 2013 fromTrafford where he made well over a century of appearancesafter signing for the Shawe View club. Previously with AshtonAthletic and Ramsbottom United.Mark Haslam (age 25) Mark was one of the original WoodleySports youth team that was established in 2004 and he cap-tained both the Stockport & District FA and Cheshire CountyYouth. He made his Woodley first team debut in 2006, be-coming a regular 1st team member in 2007-08 season. Markmoved to Curzon in November 2011 making just 5 appear-ances before joining Mossley in January 2012.Nathaniel Kerr (age 26) Nat is a strong and skilful central de-fender signed in December 2013 from Ashton United. Hebegan his career as a junior with Crewe Alexandra before join-ing Rotherham United where and made 5 Football Leagueappearances before being released in 2008. He has sinceplayed for Barrow, Northwich Victoria and Droylsden.Luke McCarthy (age 20) Luke is a speedy attacking wide rightplayer who was signed from Droylsden in September 2013.He is a former Manchester City youth who signed profes-sional for Bury and made a couple of League One appear-ances for the Shakers. He had a loan spell with Grimsby Townbefore joining Airbus UK Broughton in the Welsh PremierLeague in 2012 following his release by Bury and then joinedDroylsden in August 2013.

Daniel McDonnell (age 26) Danny is a combative left backsigned from Winsford United in the closed season of 2013.He was previously with Styal FC and Flixton. Kevin McGrath (age 28) Kevin is a strong and capable cen-tral defender signed in the closed season, having been teamcaptain at Maine Road FC in the 2012/13 season. He was pre-viously with Leigh RMI, Flixton and Trafford. Brain Matthews (age 27) Brian is a speedy and skilful attack-ing player re-signed in December 2013 after a brief spell withSalford City. He had initially signed in the closed season of2013 from Winsford United. He was previously with Styal FC,Flixton, New Mills and Congleton Town. He previously had abrief spell at Mossley in the pre season of 2008.Lewis Nightingale (age 22) Lewis is an attacking midfielderwho progressed through the Huddersfield Town academy be-fore being offered a two-year scholarship in 2007 and a procontract in 2009. At the start of the 2010/11 season he joinedBradford Park Avenue before moving onto Farsley, HarrogateRA, Curzon Ashton and Goole prior to linking up with Mossleyin December 2012. Derryn Ofori (age 19) Born in the Netherlands Derryn wassigned in December 2013. He started off with Bury as a juniorbefore playing as a striker with the Altrincham FC Youth teamand worked his way into Altrincham's first team squad beforejoining Hyde FC in August 2013.Russell Saunders (age 24) Talented goalkeeper Russellbegan his career as a trainee with Wigan Athletic but was re-leased in 2009 and joined Ashton United. He then had a aspellwith Altrincham before joining Hyde FC in 2010 were he wasthen voted Supporters Player of the Year. He joined Chorleyin 2011 and was their regular no.1 throughout the season. Hejoined Stockport Sports at the start of this season beforemoving to New Mills in December 2012. His stay with TheMillers was a brief one and he joined Mossley in January 2013.Christian Thewlis (age 18) Christian is an agile young goal-keeper signed in the closed season of 2013 from Hyde FC.Previously a youth teamer with Fleetwood Town having ear-lier been at Burnley as a junior.Matthew Tierney (age 21) Matthew is a no-nonsense de-fensive midfielder who can also play in central defence signedin December 2013. He started out as a youth team player forFC United of Manchester, working his way through to the firstteam before joining Radcliffe Borough. He had a second spellwith FC United and was then with Salford City and more re-cently Stockport Sports.Dean Warburton (age 24) Dean is a skilful, clever and strongcentral midfielder signed from Curzon Ashton in October2013. He was previously with Cheshire League side KnutsfordFC helping them to the League title in 2012/13.Steve Yarwood (age 25) Steve is an attacking midfielder whore-signed from Salford City in December 2013. He originallyarrived at Mossley in February 2012 from North West Coun-ties League side Abbey Hey after scoring against Mossley ina Manchester Premier Cup tie. Previously with Flixton.

today’s visitorsmossley

EDITORIAL - FROM THE DUGOUTEven though we have had a few games called off due to the weather,the boys have still been training between Christmas and New Year andwe have a few missing players to show for it.First of all I'd like to start by saying goodbye and Good luck to PhilEdghill who has gone to play for Salford. Phil had his fair share of injurywoes but was just getting on the right side of these now and I'm hopinghe can stay injury free and get some good minutes under his belt whichis what he has gone to Salford for. I'd also like to wish Kelvin good luck in his move to Hyde. It is with regret that I saygood luck to Jon Robinson,who has taken the decision tohave a rest from playing as heis struggling with a long termankle problem which will onlybe fixed with invasive surgery.Jon was delaying this surgeryto prolong his ability to playbut has taken the decision tohave the surgery to improvehis quality of life outside offootball for him and his family.I wish Jon all the luck in theworld with his surgery andhope that he may one day re-turn to us good as new.We also have a couple of in-juries which appear to be longterm problems but which arestill waiting for accurate prog-nosis. Dominic Smalley picked up a knee injury in the Boxing Day fixtureagainst Salford City. At the time he thought it was just a clash of kneesand felt ok to finish the game. We iced and treated the knee followingthe game and Dom thought it was nothing serious. Unfortunately therewas no improvement over New Year and when he went to seek furtherinvestigation he was advised that nothing was broken but was lookingat approximately 4 weeks until full function would return and all painalleviated. Fingers crossed with treatment and extra care we will seeDom return soon. In our other long term injury Andrew Dawson was scheduled for hisknee surgery on Thursday 9th January so we wish him well for that andhope that I have good news for you all in my next column.We had a number of missing players for the Northwich Victoria victoryand some were as above Dominic Smalley (knee) and Andy Dawson(knee), but Danny Warrender was missing due to having a twomatch suspension for the red card he received against BamberBridge along with a one game suspension from the Kendal FCfixture. Apart from that everyone else is feeling good and we arewelcoming our new players and looking forward to string-ing some games together once this bad weather disap-pears to continue our push on the playoffs. All that is left to say is that I am pleased to announcethat my husband and I are expecting our first child. Mybaby will be due in June, in the close season (good plan-ning), and I am hoping to continue as long as physicallypossible, with the help of all the guys, and try help theteam to every success this season. COYR.- Katy

Jon Robinson - Rammy legend

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RAMMY IN EXILE - RICHARD ISAACSGood afternoon everyone, hope you are all well and a very HappyNew Year.I can hardly say that the new year has graced me well as I sit here inbed, chock full of cold, sore throat and feeling generally full of 'manflu'. If you shook me, I think I would rattle with all the various pills andpotions inside me ... but none of them are working!!!And the weather outside down here in the south is hardly helping ei-ther!!! If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was in the northwith all the rain and howling winds that has battered the south coastover the last week or so. Thankfully, the area around Southampton has-n't been too badly affected but it still put paid to any sporting activityover the last weekend.So I just stayed inside and watched Soccer Saturday's coverage of theFA Cup and keeping tabs on the computer of Rammy's away game atNorthwich/Flixton. Was very pleased that both of my sides won 4-3 de-spite having a few scary moments on the way.And when I saw Michael Clarke scoring Northwich's equaliser on Sat-urday afternoon to make it 3-3 .... well, I thought Mr Clarke was only ru-ining my cricketing enjoyment at the moment but he was havinga hand in ruining my football as well!!!!!Less said about cricket the better, I think. I blame Rams-bottom Cricket Club ... well, Clarke (the cricketer that is)played for them a few years ago so helped in hampering England'sAshes campaign!!!! I could also blame Hampshire CCC as well ....anyway, it was utterly rubbish and being in the Sky Studios onMonday helping with the final Ashes Verdict show was greatfun - especially listening to Bob Willis off camera!!!Anyway, back to today's game and the visit of Mossley. Al-ways a difficult prospect as they grabbed a very late win in thereverse fixture earlier this season. But, despite reaching theplay offs last season, they are enduring a much tougher yearthis time around. So it promises to be another good game.Enjoy the match .... I'm off to splash in some very large pud-dles. Ok, maybe not!!!!C'MON RAMMY!!!!!!!!!!

leaving it latenorthwich v rammy

Goalscorer Lee Gaskell egged on by the army of Rammy fans who travelled to the Northwich game

Ramsbottom United played the “Get out ofJail” card when a late goal from substitutedebutant Chris Denham saw them claim thethree points that they had looked like throwingaway.After an uncertain start, the Rams dominated

most of the first half, opening up a two goallead, but a disappointing second period sawthe deficit overturned by a Vics side whichlooked capable of claiming a victory that hadlooked unlikely as they enjoyed their half-timecuppa.The visitors almost scored in the third minute

when a low cross from Hyde loanee AndrewFitzgerald fell for Lee Gaskell close to goal, buthe could only scoop the ball over the bar.Sixty seconds later, they were made to pay.

A woefully short back-pass from Owen Robertsleft keeper Grant Shenton exposed, and de-spite his best efforts to retrieve the situation,Ashley Stott gratefully waltzed around thegrounded custodian and stroked the ballhome.

Having nervously suppressed the earlyNorthwich pressure, the visitors graduallybegan to exert themselves.

Grant Spencer made space on the edge ofthe box but saw his shot blocked, before someneat inter-passing between Phil Dean andGaskell saw the home defence happy to con-cede a corner.

On 14 minutes the game could havechanged dramatically. With the Rams attack-ing, they cried out for a penalty in a goal-mouth scramble, but as the referee shook hishead, the ball was cleared downfield, leavingShenton once again exposed. This time, how-ever, he produced a magnificent save to denythe Vics what looked like a certain second goal.Two minutes later, United levelled the scores.Spencer’s run into the box ended with him

flying through the air, and after dusting himselfdown, he confidently hammered home the re-sultant spot-kick.

Five minutes later the game turned on it’shead. Darren Green chased a through ball,looking suspiciously offside, but the linesmankept his flag down, and he drove the ball pastTim Deasy in the home goal to give the Rams

the lead.The visitors were suddenly looking rampant,

and further efforts came from Green with a 25yard pile-driver that sailed just wide, andGaskell who chased a weak back-pass butDeacy denied him.

A fine move down the left wing foundRoberts and his dangerous cross ball found thehead of Joel Pilkington, but the ball sailedinches over the top.The home side almost levelled matters when

an excellent free-kick from Marc Joseph lookedto be heading for the top corner only for Shen-ton to produce another magnificent save as hetipped the ball round the post.On 37 minutes the Rams went 3-1 up. Sub-

stitute Jordan Hulme raced down the rightwing before sending over a low cross from theby-line to the unmarked Gaskell, who slippedthe ball past Deasy from 3 yards out.Pilkington was just wide at the end of some

sustained pressure, whilst at the other end AlexTaylor was denied by a deflection as he stolein on goal.Despite starting the second half in a similar

vein, with Hulme and Spencer going close, theVics, having made three quick substitutions,suddenly began to take the game to the Rams.

Shenton was again called upon to produceyet another first-class save as Brian Summer-skill’s 25 yard drive looked destined for the topcorner.Northwich were now pushing the Rams back,

and it came as no surprise when they halvedthe deficit on 66 minutes.With the defenders looking for offside, Gary

Burnett made the most of a ball into the box,and he slotted the ball home to make the score3-2.Burnett was then desperately unlucky when

his lofted shot clipped the top of the crossbar,with Shenton well beaten, and bounced behindfor a goal-kick.

The writing had been on the wall for sometime, and the home side deservedly drew levelon 72 minutes. A static defence watched asMichael Clarke found space in the box to riflethe ball home from ten yards, at which pointthere only looked like being one winner.

3 - 4Valley Road, Flixton4th January 2014Att: 176Rammy Goals: Spencer (15), Green (21), Gaskell (37),

Denham (88) Northwich Goals: Stott (4), Burnett (66), Clarke (72)

Gary Stopforth battles against Northwich

Gaskell tried to instil some life into a listless Ramsbottom side, with a low drivefrom 20 yards, but Deasy easily dealt with it.

Burnett, meanwhile, must have thought he’d won the game when he flicked across from the right goalwards, but the ball ended up in the side netting.

At this point, the visitors looked relieved to be still in with a chance of a point,but a further twist was to follow.With just two minutes of normal time remaining, the Rams snatched an unlikely

winner.Another debutant substitute, Ashley Reece held off a couple of challenges before

threading the ball through to Gaskell on the right hand side of the area. Gaskellsteadied himself before sending over an inch-perfect cross for Denham to nodhome from close range to make the score 4-3.The added minutes were played out without any real danger of a final twist, and

the Rams came off the field in the knowledge that a dominant thirty minute spellin the first half had garnered the points that Northwich would have felt were de-servedly theirs.

Striker Chris DenhamDefender Andrew Fitzgerald

Defender Lewis Lacy Defender Ashley Reece

the ne

w lads

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 CITY 5-2 341 Shenton Lomax Roberts # Stopforth Warrender PriestleySat 4th Jan A Northwich Victoria 4-3 176 Shenton Fitzgerald * Roberts Stopforth Lacy PriestleySat 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 * JohnsonSmalley * Pilkington Gaskell 2 Green + Dean 2 Toth Brooks + Robinson * Spencer 1 # EdghillSpencer 1 + Pilkington Gaskell 1 Green 1 Dean # Toth Brooks Hulme * Denham 1 + Reece #

TONY’S NON-LEAGUE TEASERSAN

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rest G

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4. Edgar D

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1 Name the two non-league teams still in this season’s F.A. Cup.2. Former long distance runner David Bedford is a director ofwhich London-based club?3. To which club has Lee Hughes moved from Port Vale?4. Which player/manager of a Skrill Premier club is consideringquitting playing after being dismissed for the third time this sea-son?5. For which Welsh club does former Bury midfielder Mark Car-rington now play?6. Where do Bradford Park Avenue play?7. What colours do Histon play in?8.Name the Newtown manager who recently left the club to jointhe back room staff at Shrewsbury Town.9 Name the two brothers who are currently managers. One inLeague Two and the other in Evo-Stik Premier.10. Who is the manager of Warrington Town?

Ramsbottom United and Salford City dished up the prover-bial Christmas cracker on Boxing Day with a high-tempo gameand seven goals to keep the large crowd festively entertained.It all started and ended so well for the home side, but in be-

tween they were forced to endure some nervy moments.The Rams took the game by the scruff of the neck. Three

goals in the opening 21 minutes had the home supporters ex-pecting a goal rush, but some sloppy defending allowed thevisitors back into the game, after which both sides gave asgood as they got. In the end, the Rams finally collected all threepoints thanks to a comfortable last 25 minutes.The first chance of the game fell to Salford’s Dan Browne as

the Ammies broke the home defence, but Grant Shenton, inthe home goal did enough to clear the danger.Moments later, Darren Green raced down the right wing for

the Rams and sent over a perfect cross which Lee Gaskell failedto keep down as he lifted it over the bar.

The home side looked to have taken the lead after onlyseven minutes when Dominic Smalley slid in at the far post toconvert a Gaskell cross, but his joy was short-lived as he turnedto see the linesman’s flag aloft.One minute later, however, the home side did open the scor-

ing.Gaskell raced down the right before sending over a low drive

which eventually fell to Phil Dean, and he made no mistakefrom six yards out.

Joel Pilkington almost doubled the lead two minutes laterwhen he fired in a half-clearance only to see the ball skim overthe bar.

On 13 minutes it was 2-0. A long through ball from OwenRoberts split the Salford defence, and Gaskell outpaced thembefore calmly lobbing the ball over the advancing keeper andinto the empty net.Another surge from Gaskell saw his shot deflected for a cor-

ner from which Billy Priestley nodded inches over, as the Ramscontinued to press the over-worked City defence.

That defence was breached again on 21 minutes with a“goal-of-the-season” contender from Phil Dean. He raced 50yards down the left-wing before cutting in by the edge of thepenalty area. He beat two defenders before sending in a thun-dering shot that flew into the top right hand corner of the net,at which stage the home side looked like scoring for fun.Green and Roberts both tried their luck from 30 yards before

the visitors finally grabbed a goal on 27 minutes.Some slick inter-passing on the edge of the Rams’ box

ended with a fine finish from Mark Battersby.Five minutes later, Kelvin Lomax lost possession in his own

half allowing Browne to gain possession, and he played theball across for Battersby to notch his second in quick succes-sion.Suddenly what had looked like a one-sided affair had turned

into a much more competitive game, as Salford’s comebackinspired them, and they began to match the home side’s com-mitment.A cross from the corner flag by Green almost caught out vis-

iting keeper Keiran O’Boyle who managed to flick it over thebar for a corner. From the resultant kick, Billy Priestley wasinches away from heading the ball home.On 39 minutes the game had to be stopped as City full-back

James Moss landed awkwardly, and after eight minutes oftreatment was taken to hospital with a compound fracture ofhis left arm.

Both sides continued to press but the half-time whistlesounded with the Rams holding on to their slender lead.

christmas cheer

5 - 2Harry Williams Riverside Stadium26th December 2013Att: 341 Rammy Goals: Dean (8, 21), Gaskell (13, 66), Spencer (85) Salford Goals: Battersby (27, 32)

On 55 minutes, Lomax raced down the left andplayed the ball in for Gaskell, but he couldn’t quiteconnect in front of goal, whilst minutes later Gaskelldid manage to connect with another cross, this timefrom Smalley, but the ball glanced just wide of thepost.On 67 minutes, the Rams gave themselves breath-

ing space when Gaskell rose highest to nod in aGrant Spencer corner, and a minute later they weredenied a fifth by keeper O’Boyle spreading his bodyto prevent Dean who had raced unmarked into thebox.At the other end, Battersby was denied a hat-trick

by a fine save from Shenton after the City forwardvolleyed the ball goalwards from 20 yards.On 85 minutes, the hosts made the game safe.Substitute Jon Robinson was hacked down in the

box by City skipper Aaron Walters, and Spencer dulyconverted the spot-kick to make it 5-2.Lomax came to the rescue by flicking the ball off

an opponent’s toes as an inviting cross looked likelyto be converted, but the final whistle sounded onwhat, on paper, looked a comfortable victory.In the end it was, but credit to the visitors for not

caving in after the initial onslaught, and making itan entertaining afternoon for the supporters.

THIS WEEK’S MATCHESSaturday 11th JanuaryClitheroe v Ossett AlbionCurzon Ashton v NorthwichFarsley v New MillsHarrogate v DarlingtonKendal v Cammell LairdOssett Town v PadihamPrescot v Bamber BridgeRadcliffe v LancasterSalford v BurscoughWarrington v Wakefield

Tuesday 14th JanuaryWakefield v Curzon Ashton

(Doodson Sport Cup):Farsley v Bamber BridgeOssett Town v FC United

(Cheshire Senior Cup):Cammell Laird v 1874 NorthwichNorthwich V. v Crewe AlexandraWarrington v Tranmere Rovers

Saturday 18th JanuaryCammell Laird v WakefieldCurzon Ashton v WarringtonFarsley v Ossett TownHarrogate v ClitheroeKendal v Bamber BridgeNew Mills v LancasterOssett Albion v DarlingtonPadiham v BurscoughPrescot v NorthwichRammy v RadcliffeSalford v Mossley

CLUB NEWS

You might have noticed that club stalwart Jack Wolfenden celebratedhis 80th birthday over Christmas. He made the front cover of the SalfordCity programme as well as the back cover of the Rossendale Free Press.Just when you thought you couldn’t take another photo of Jack, therehe was, popping up in the middle of the Bury Times. We thought it only right that we should squeeze yet another photoof Jack into this week’s programme, if only so that people can look backin days to come and gaze upon the Rammy Legend who the stand isnamed after... we’re still trying to figure out who the smiley fella in thebackground is!Jack asked us to include the following: “”

I would like to thank Harry for arranging a col-lection at Bamber Bridge on Saturday 21st De-cember for my 80th birthday. I would also liketo thank all the supporters of RamsbottomUnited Football Club for donating so gener-ously. Thank you once again, Jack.“

Don’t let your kids growup thinking football is

a tv programme

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

Centre-Back Billy Priestley

Goalkeeper Grant Shenton

Centre-back and Captain Andy Dawson

DEfender Matty Warburton

Midfield Joel Pilkington

Left-wing Phil Dean

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

Striker Darren Green

Striker Luke Bradbury

EDITORIAL - SUPPORTERS CLUBI’ve just been reading up on some of the dismal recent history ofNorthwich Victoria. Having played at ‘The Drill Field’ as long ago as1874, it seems that their troubles came about largely due to ground is-sues. Much like FA Cup giant-killers Emley, who evolved into flounder-ing Wakefield FC, Northwich were apparently forced to vacate theirground due to safety issues. They sold up, and after a couple of yearssharing at Witton Albion, their new (and spectacular) ground was com-pleted next-door to their temporary hosts. Details are quite sketchy on the internet about what happened next,but it seems that the Vics attempts to buy the new stadium for the clubfell through, and they were booted out by a local chemical companywho wanted the land to expand.Northwich now play their games at defunct Flixton’s miserable pad,and I can’t help feeling that with the fan’s creation of a co-operativeclub 1874 Northwich FC, their days might just be numbered.This got me to wondering about exactly what IS a football club. Certain clubs, such as my home-town team of Preston, have playedat the same ground for donkeys’ years (since 1878), and if you pushedme then I’d say that the ground would be the base of the club. Certainlyif you have visited the Emirates, the Reebok or the Etihad, you will knowthat they don’t have that magical feel that an old site has - there’s evensomething special about the checkouts at Asda in Burnden that feelslike you’re about to take a penalty in front of the old Normid End.But if you rebuild the ground, do you lose some of that? Deepdale’s‘new’ synthetic all-seater, or Anfield’s ‘Kop’ just don’t have that samemagic. You’ll hear a load of scousers talking with religious fervour aboutwhat the Kop is, but the real Kop never needed to talk; it just was. Samewith the Stretford End, or the Hell on Earth for away fans that wasMolyneux. A visit to Wolves now feels a bit like a trip to the TraffordCentre; it’s lost all of that (albeit scary) magic.Are the fans a part of a club’s identity? If generations of the samefamily have graced the terraces of the same club then are they an inte-gral part of its foundations? The Glazers thought that they’d boughtthe entity that is Manchester United, but have they bought the heartsand minds of the fans who turn up week-in week-out with their greenand yellow Newton Heath scarves, or have they just bought tv rightsand a franchise that amounts to shirt sales to gullible Japanese people.Sadly theses businessmen do buy the rights to destroy something witha long and esteemed history - a history that they can never fully under-stand.MK Dons are an abomination, that in my opinion shouldn’t exist. I’mnot a great fan of cockneys in any form, but I do feel an affinity withAFC Wimbledon, as I do for 1874 Northwich, AFC Emley, FC United andall those other fan-run clubs that turned their backs on the exploitationof their religious fervour and decided to create their own cathedrals offootball. I really don’t have much time for the jester-hat wearing im-beciles that bought into the franchises that remained. The thoughtof sitting with my popcorn and bag of merchandise watching MKDons really grates on me, someone whose family have beenstanding on the terraces for over 100 years. But in reality am Ijust a journeyman - switching my allegiance to Rammy whenwe moved here four years ago?I suppose that the appeal at Rammy is that it’s a real club. Theground is just as a ground should be. The club’s potential ishuge, and something that we all feel a part of - which has to besome of the reason why our players are so loyal. It feels as thoughthe club’s successes are our own, not those of some cut-throat ty-coon who just wants an excuse to demolish the place and buildhouses. You won’t hear me say it very often, but I believe we owe agreat debt to Harry Williams for making Rammy what it is!

Managers: Anthony JOHNSONBernard MORLEY

Managers: Peter BANDLloyd MORRISON

Grant SHENTONDanny WARRENDER

Owen ROBERTSGary STOPFORTHBilly PRIESTLEY

Lewis LACYGrant SPENCER

Joel PILKINGTONLee GASKELL

Darren GREENPhil DEAN

Tom BROOKSJordan HULMEJon ROBINSON

Tom TOTHAndy DAWSON

Dominic SMALLEYChris DENHAMAshley REECE

Andrew FITZGERALD

Christian THEWLISMark HASLAMPhil DRUMMONDTom DEANNathaniel KERRMatthew TIERNEYJohn BENNETLewis NIGHTINGALEDean WARBURTONRichard BENNETTDanny McDONNELLBrian MATTHEWSSteve YARWOODDerryn OFORISimon GALLANDERSRuss SAUNDERSKevin McGRATHCharlie ANDERSONDougie CARROLLLuke McCARTHY

Referee: Peter Sporne (Sheffield)Assistants: Colin Unwin (Rotherham), Lee Freeman (Sheffield)

Next home game: Saturday 18th January 3pm, Rammy v Radcliffe Borough