A positive start to the week as we received a generous donation of surplus flagstones and plastic pipework from The Growth Company, a training provider in Manchester. These materials will be a great help when the clubhouse build begins—giving us a solid base to start from (if you'll forgive the pun!).

Tuesday’s training session was cancelled to allow extra recovery time for the squad, given our extended injury list. However, Thursday’s session at Middlewich Leisure Centre went ahead as usual, with a great turnout and final preparations for our game against Handbridge. It was a really good session and set us up nicely for the match.

Match Report – 3rd Round Cup Tie vs Handbridge

Saturday arrived with blustery conditions, but thanks to Danny’s hard work, the pitch was in fantastic shape despite the dry surface making fluent football tricky. We adapted well and broke the deadlock with a Dom Coates header, while some excellent saves from George Billingham ensured we took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

The second half followed a similar pattern, and a late goal from Dom Coates, finishing off a rebound from a superb Tom Lea strike that hit the post, sealed the win. It was a solid team performance, maintaining control for most of the game despite missing several squad players through injury. Final score: 2 - 0.

Good luck to Handbridge for the remainder of the season, hopefully they can stay up.
With that win, we move into the quarter-finals, where we’ll face Cheshire Viking Vets at The Field of Dreams in two weeks. Another strong defensive display means we’ve now played four games, scored eight goals, and conceded just one—a great record to build on!

Looking ahead, the lads don’t have a fixture this Saturday, which will allow more players to recover ahead of our next game. Training will continue as usual, and we’ll be back in action next week.

A huge thanks to everyone who came down to support the teams over the weekend—it makes a real difference! Hopefully, you’ll continue to back both the men’s and women’s teams as we push towards the end of the season.

See you all soon and enjoy your week.
Paul