Maine Road ended the 2013-14 North West Counties Premier Division season on a high following a 6-0 rout of St Helens Town at Brantingham Road on the final day last weekedn, to clinch fourth place in the league. This rich vein of form for Road has come at just the right time, with a League Cup Final to look forward to on Thursday evening. Matthew Beadle, Neil Chappell, Eddie Moran, Rory Breslin and Tom Bentham were on the scoresheet for Road.
The reserve side, managed by Derek Barber and Steve Cheetham was victorious in their own cup final little under two weeks ago when the reserves beat Dean’s Youth at Curzon Ashton’s Ground in the Amateur Cup Final. The youngsters went behind but came behind and put in a sterling performance to eventually triumph 3-1. On the same ground, Ashton Athletic are the opponents as Chris Thomas and John Morrey’s players try to do the same.
Ashton Athletic had a very good season in the North West Counties, along with their opponents on Thursday night. After a nervy start, Ashton have managed to eventually finish 6th in the league on 74 points just 7 behind Maine Road who topped the table for much of the campaign. Athletic also broke their record for clean sheets in a season this year; however, that is a record that will be sternly tested by a Maine Road side which has scored 85 league goals this season.
These two sides have met twice already this season – at Brecstedes Park back in October before a match at Brantingham Road in February. Both of these games resulted in wins for Maine Road, a good omen certainly for Thursday’s contest. The game on Ashton’s ground finished 2-1 to the visitors, whilst on an extremely windy day in south Manchester in early February, Rory Breslin and Eddie Moran scored in a 2-0 win for Road.
Maine Road have very few injury problems to contend themselves with prior to Thursday’s final big game of the season. Ryan Gresty is out injured, but defender Michael Shenton is back fit after a spell out. That will please Chris Thomas and John Morrey as they look to win the second North West Counties League Challenge Cup for a second time in seven years.
A few weeks ago, this game could have been much easier to call. With both sides having finished the season in good positions, it makes for a great prospect at Curzon Ashton’s Tameside Stadium. The form tells a slightly different story; Road scored eight in their final two games (against West Didsbury & Chorlton and St Helens Town) whilst Ashton Athletic lost their final two games of the season, at home to Congleton Town and Squires Gate. Athletic’s manager Jay Foulds will be keen to recover from this setback in the final of the cup, making the prospective contest even more enticing.
