On Saturday, Celtic are back at Bower Fold to face Nantwich Town. Nantwich are currently two places and one point below Celtic in eighth on fifty-two points. Kick-off 3pm.

2024 was going really well for Nantwich, out of twenty-three games, they won thirteen and drew three, putting them comfortably in the top five for a long stretch. 2025 started with an eight game run without a win, drawing four and losing four. Though this has picked up in their last three games with two away wins (over Wythenshawe Town and Liverpool) and a home loss to Mossley, they dropped out of the top five. Prior to beating those two teams on the road, you have to go back to mid-October when they beat Runcorn for their last away win. Their win over Liverpool, though, is a league record away win for this season, when they won 8-2.

With fifty-eight goals scored, they are the sixth best attack overall. But with twenty-five on the road, they have the eighth best away attack, and without the eight goals against Liverpool, that plummets to the worst away attack in the league. On average they score 1.5 goals per away game (1.7 overall) and have failed to score in five away matches. Defensively, Nantwich are the eighth best defence in the league, having conceded eleven fewer goals than Celtic, but they have kept only one clean sheet on the road this season, their 1-0 win over Runcorn back in October. Kai Evans has his nose in front for league goals this season, with twelve, though Byron Harrison is only two behind. With nineteen different goalscorers this season, Nantwich have had more people find the back fo the net than any other team.

We’ve met Nantwich a lot over the years, at one point they seemed to be a perennial Cheshire Senior Cup opponent, including beating us in the final in 2012. In the last thirty years, though, we have met twenty-three times, but only nine times at Bower Fold. Nantwich have won four of these encounters, Celtic four and there has been one draw. Nantwich’s last visit last season went Celtic’s way, with a 3-2 win, and a dramatic win it was, when Darius Osei and Jack Irlam both scored in stoppage time to overturn a 2-1 scoreline at ninety minutes. Nantwich’s last win at Bower Fold was in 2022, when they won 2-1, Theo Bailey-Jones’s first-half goal cancelled out in a poor second half performance. Our last meeting, back in Nantwich in November saw Celtic lose 4-0, with Nantwich completely dominating play.

In Nantwich’s last match, the 2-1 away win over Wythenshawe Town, Nantwich lined up as:
1. Ben Garratt
2. James Melhado
3. Perry Bircumshaw
4. Kelvin Mellor
5. Ben Hockenhull
6. Matthew Tweedley
7. Callum Saunders
8. Tom Pratt
9. Byron Harrison
10. Alex Panter
11. Kai Evans

In Celtic’s last match the 2-0 away loss to Hednesford, Celtic lined up as:
1. Charlie Monks
2. Jordan Butterworth
3. Kyle Brownhill
4. Courtney Meppen-Walters
5. Sean Tse
6. Charlie Doyle
7. Brandon Newell
8. Liam Tongue
9. Lewis Rawsthorn
10. Jack Irlam
11. Max Leonard

A win for Celtic won’t lift us above fifth placed Chasetown (away at Stafford), but would keep us in the chasing pack waiting for a slip up and keep our noses ahead of Nantwich (who would leap-frog us if we lose) and Runcorn (away at Kidsgrove). Our loss at Hednesford means now both Avro (at home to Vauxhall) and Trafford (away at Wythenshawe) are back breathing down our necks.