Bollington’s march to the title goes on
ALL 13 men’s teams were in North West Counties League action again last Thursday, although, for the second week running, those celebrating victories were in a narrow minority.
Bollington’s ‘Firsts’ were once again in that number, after securing their ninth consecutive win, and extending their lead at the top of Division Two East to 17 points, with a 4-1 triumph at The Northern 2. Christian Ogden, Rob Alcock, Brigg Simpson and Rob Lamb were all successful.
Divisional companions Prestbury 1, in seventh place, suffered a second 5-0 defeat in succession
- on this occasion at Grove Park 2 - but in the Third Division Central South, Bollington 2, like the club’s First Team, featured among the half a dozen winning local sides by seeing off struggling nearneighbours Macclesfield 1 at the village leisure centre by the odd match in five.
Straight-games victories for Stuart Arnold, Martin Ogden and Mark Collins got the ‘Bolly Seconds’ over the line to retain their third position, while James Douglas and Simon Evans both edged home over five for 12th-placed Macc.
In Division Three South-East, Prestbury 2 inched up a place to third by beating The Northern 5 4-1, thanks to home wins for Chris Dunkerley, Graeme English, Rick Bower and Keith Tolley. And Prestbury’s ‘Thirds’ climbed back into pole position in the Fourth Division Central South after seeing off their title-rival hosts Grove Park 4 by the same scoreline - with Mike Brauckmann, Rich Curry, Rob Thorneycroft and Paul Bartle all prevailing - although Prestbury 4 stay 11th, after victories by David Fitzpatrick and 16-year-old Kaamil Bhatti were not enough to avoid a 3-2 defeat at Bollin Grove to The Northern 7.
Both local representatives in Division Four SouthEast changed their position by one place - but, quirkily, Prestbury 5 moved up to 10th after a 5-0 loss at new leaders Glossop 1, while Bollington 3 dropped to fifth, having beaten previous top-of-thetable side Stockport 1 3-2, courtesy of wins by Neil Garner, Gareth Ainsworth and Aldo Palazzo.
A second ‘BollyMacc’ derby of the evening, in Division Five South-East, also ended 3-2 in favour of Bollington, whose table-topping ‘Fourths’ triumphed at fourthplaced Macclesfield 2. Rob Harland, Tom Grimes and Phil Colville were victorious for the visitors, while Craig Hulme and JeanBaptiste Laurens claimed the home team’s consolation wins.
Further down the division, Jen Robinson was the lone victor for Macclesfield 3, who remain sixth following a 4-1 home reverse against Grove Park 6. And Prestbury 6 lie two places below after losing 5-0 at Alderley Edge 7.
Three days earlier, in the Cheshire Ladies’ League, there was little joy to report for any of our three teams - one of whom, Prestbury 2, had to concede a walkover after failing to field a side to host Village Hyde in Division Three (b).
And in the Second Division, Prestbury’s ‘Firsts’ and Bollington now sit, respectively, sixth and seventh. The former went down 5-0 on the Wirral against unbeaten leaders Heswall 1, while the latter, in spite of wins for Debbie Kent and junior player Bea Lomas (12), suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat at home to The Northern 2.
But on Sunday, Bollington’s youngsters gave cause for cheer, after clinching the Autumn Junior League Division One Championship - following in the local footsteps of reigning Spring and Summer title-holders Prestbury.