Shelley must go back to basics
ASSISTANT manager Howard Cartledge is urging Shelley to make sure they do the basics properly as they approach two North West Counties League games in three days.
The Huddersfield club head to Nelson today before hosting Steeton at the Stafflex Arena on Bank Holiday Monday (both 3pm).
Shelley went third in Division One North with Tuesday’s 4-1 home win over AFC Darwen – a third victory in four matches so far.
Nelson are 12th with seven points from five games and Steeton 17th with four points from five games, but Cartledge is ignoring league positions.
“Early impressions are that the division is going to be quite a lot tighter than last season, when there were a couple of very strong sides in Longridge Town and Avro,” he said.
“There were also a few clubs who were really struggling but from what I’ve seen and heard, it’s going to be competitive throughout this time.
“Nelson had a good 3-2 win at Bacup Borough on Wednesday, and that’s not an easy place to go and get something, and I watched Steeton play Cleator Moor
Celtic.
“Cleator Moor won 1-0 but certainly didn’t have things all their own way, and Steeton have brought in some young lads on loan from Burnley, which gives them another dimension.
“We’ve made a sold start, and we were delighted with the performance against Darwen.
“But it’s just a start, and we know from experience that achieving consistency is hard.
“It’s important that we keep doing the simple things properly.”
■DISTRICT LEAGUE 2019/20
Midweek fixtures for Divisions 1, 2, 3 and Reserve Division 1 will get the District League 2019-20 season underway.
Matches commence on Tuesday, August 27 for first teams and Thursday, August 29, for reserve teams.
The following week there is another round of midweek games before a full Saturday programme for all eight divisions commencing on Saturday, September 7.
We welcome Marsh Athletic to the league with additional reserve teams from Fothergill & Whittles, Kirkburton, Linthwaite, Netherton and Scissett.