Come together
with a 6-4 home win in their last match against bottom team Waddington C (50pts). With two matches left the Waddington outfit too face a second tier future, as they are 17pts adrift of Southport A.
In the Second Division, the race for that title has certainly hotted up. Argyle D still lead on 116pts, but only on matches won from Holy Trinity C. Argyle C remain third on 109pts, needing a big slip up from one of their rivals to let them in. Holy Trinity C turned up the heat with a comprehensive 1-9 win over Southport B, leaving Argyle to match that score to maintain their two point lead. A stubborn Waddington D though thwarted Argyle’s ambition, restricting them to a 3-7 win, giving us a grandstand finish, which will cumulate when the two sides meet on the April 12 at Holy Trinity.
That heavy loss Southport B suffered didn’t help their survival hopes leaving them on 59pts with two matches to play, that’s seven points behind Holy Trinity D who finish their campaign next week against pro- motion hunters Argyle C.
Southport’s match next week is also a tough call away to Argyle D, so they may well be relying on some good fortune when they play bottom team North Meols at home in their final contest.
In the Third Division, Para’s finished their league season with a draw against Southport C, tricky it looked and tricky it was, as a full quota of wins by Southport’s Andy Bush was the pick of a very competitive encounter, which also welcomed the return of Southport’s captain Alan Town who chipped in with a single’s success.
So Ian Littlewood and his team now have an anxious wait, as Crosby G still have two matches to play, this after they inflicted a maximum on their F team. They were missing the Moustaka twins too, but Jack Taylor and Harry Griffiths from the H team proved worthy replacements. So at the top, Argyle G have 139pts, Para’s have 117pts and Crosby G are on 98pts, with those matches in hand. Argyle F gave themselves a chance of overtaking their E team after a good win over Southport D. SKELMERSDALE put in a plucky display on Saturday but it wasn’t enough to avoid another defeat as Halesowen Town claimed a 1-0 victory.
Alan Rogers side have already succumbed to relegation but their performance on the weekend showed positive signs for the future.
“It was the first time really I’ve been able to coach the boys about proper basic defending before the game,” said Rogers.
“We had a really good training session on Wednesday night just working on the defence. We absolutely hammered them!
“We got into their heads the positions we wanted them to be in and the performance definitely showed some improvements in that sense.
“We’re looking to try and build now anyway as we have no chance for the rest of the season [with relegation already confirmed.]
“Our fate has already been sold but every time we take a step forward we have been hit with a big problem and it’s a shame really”.
Skem are battling to find a new venue to host their football after their permission to continue playing at the URETEK Stadium was denied.
Local non-league side Prescot Cables stepped in this week to provide hugely important short-term aid but Griffiths has urged supporters and local community members to provide further help.
“As of yet and despite numerous attempts, we have not been able to persuade their landlord Chequer Properties Limited to commit to a new twelve year lease as per terms of our current lease, although this lease does not expire until November 2017, there has been an urgent need to renew – now so as to comply with our league rules,” said Griffiths. “Therefore the Skelmersdale management board so as to secure the immediate future of the club have had to look at other ways to achieve security of tenure for next season and the only way that could be achieved was to enter into a ground-share agreement with another club (Prescot Cables)”.