On Saturday, Celtic have their first league away game of the season when we travel across Cheshire to Nantwich Town. Kick off 3pm. Please note, this is an all-ticket match, with tickets available from the Nantwich website (here).
Like ourselves, Nantwich drew their opening fixture 1-1. They came from behind to cancel out Paul Ennis’s opener for FC United, with Sean Cooke the scorer. In the season that never was, Nantwich looked set to finish in the top five, though when the season prematurely terminated, they were sixth a point behind our last league opponents, Lancaster, with three game in hand. That said, they had been struggling to make up ground on Lancaster, despite Lancaster’s poor form, with only one win in their last five. Their final match of the season last season was at the beginning of Match when they lost 1-0 at home to South Shields. They lost their previous home match, too, losing 1-0 to FC United, with their last home win being over Bamber Bridge at the beginning of February. Over the entire season, they were strong at home, losing only four, drawing once and winning nine.
Last season’s top scorer was Joe Malkin, who bagged 11 goals, though Sean Cooke (who is already off the mark for them this season) was close behind on 9. In total, their scored 55 goals (28 at home) at a rate of 1.8 goals per game (2 goals per home game), and failed to score just 7 times (3 times at home, and two of those their last two home games). They conceded 39 goals (17 at home) at a rate of 1.2 goals per game (home and away), keeping 8 clean sheets in total, though only 3 of those coming at home and the most recent one, being a 4-0 win over Hyde in Mid-January. They went onto win every home match they were winning at half time.
We didn’t play them in Nantwich last season, as it was one of the games that never happened, but they beat us 2-0 at Bower Fold, with Joseph Mwsaile and James Lawrie finding first half goals, to which Celtic couldn’t respond. Out last visit to Nantwich was at the end of the 18/19 season when we managed to take a single goal lead from Neil Kengni into the second half, only for two goals in two minutes from Joseph Malkin to cancel that out. And despite Dan Cockerline’s late goal, it was too little too late. We had better luck the season before, beating them 3-2 thanks to a late winner from Matty Wolfenden adding to his early goal and Connor Hughes’s just before half time. However, in the Cheshire Senior cup in the same season, we lost 4-3. Since 1996, we have visited only visited twice in the league, winning one and losing one. In all competitions, we have visited 8 times, won four and lost 4.
In Nantwich’s last match, progressing in the FA Cup thanks to a 4-2 away win over Tividale FC, they lined up as:
1. Greg Hall
2. Michael Koral
3. Matty Devine
4. Joel Stair
5. Troy Bourne
6. Ben Harrison
7. James Lawrie
8. Prince Haywood
9. Sean Cooke
10. Callum Saunders
11. Joseph Malkin
Celtic likewise progressed, with a 3-0 home win over Bishop Auckland, in which Celtic lined up as:
1. Tom Stewart
2. Kallum Mantack
3. Freddie Sass
4. Scott Sephton
5. Tom Wilson
6. Luke Barlow
7. Jonathon Ustabasi
8. Charley Doyle
9. Mike Burke
10. Harry Freedman
11. Nic Evangelinos
It’s early on in the season yet, and this is the second of our opening three matches against teams who will be pushing for play-off spots.
Table |
P | Pts | |
1 | Warrington Town | 2 | 6 |
---|---|---|---|
2 | Nantwich Town | 2 | 4 |
3 | South Shields | 2 | 4 |
4 | Buxton | 2 | 4 |
5 | Whitby Town | 2 | 4 |
Sat 26 Sep 2020 | Stalybridge Celtic | 3-0 |
Sat 19 Sep 2020 | FC United Of Manchester | 1-1 |
Goal Scorers | H | A | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
1 | Cooke, Sean | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1= | Stair, Joel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
1= | Heath, Connor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
1= | Haywood, Prince | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Home win | Never won at home | ||
Away win | Never won away | ||
Home defeat | Never lost at home | ||
Away defeat | Never lost away | ||
Home score | Never played home | ||
Away score | FC United Of Manchester | 1-1 | Sat 19th Sep |
Games Since... | Overall | Home | Away |
Last Scored | 1 | n/a | 1 |
Last Conceded | 1 | n/a | 1 |
Last Won | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Last Drew | 1 | n/a | 1 |
From the M67 join the M60 towards Stockport.
After 7 miles, leave the M60 at Junction 4 (Chester, M6) to join the M56
Stay on the M56 for 7 miles, coming off at junction 7 (Northwich, M6) to join the A556.
The roundabout can be avoided by using the slip road.
Stay on the A556 for 5 miles to the roundabout with the M6.
Join the M6 southbound (Birmingham) avoiding the roundabout by using the slip road.
Stay on the M6 for 18 miles to Junction 16 (A500, Crewe and Nantwich).
At the roundabout at the end of the slip road, turn right (3 of 4) onto the A500.
Stay on the A500 for one mile to a roundabout with the A51, cross the roundabout (2 of 4) onto the A51 into Nantwich.
After a mile and two roundabouts (first exit off each), cross the roundabout by the station onto the A530 (Water Lode).
Follow Water Lode round for half a mile, and the club is on the right hand side.