Bacup Borough 1
Nantwich Town 4
League (NW Counties League Div 1)

Match Report

Date: Tuesday 17th April. 2007.
BACUP BOROUGH 1 v NANTWICH TOWN 4
Tony Carroll.21. Andy Bott.15. Danny Griggs. 33. Richard Smith. 35. Andy Kinsey. 75.

NANTWICH TOWN. Rob Hackney. Mark Fitton. Gyorgy Kiss. Richard Smith. Paul Donnelly. Phil Parkinson © Stuart Scheuber. Murray McCulloch. Andy Kinsey. Andy Bott. Danny Griggs. Substitutes: Adam Beasley. Matt Blake. Danny Smith.

Despite losing defender Paul Donnelly and forward Matt Blake to injury at the weekend both players declared themselves fit for the trip to Cowfoot Lane where Nantwich were looking to extend the gap over promotion rivals Salford City to 4 points leaving ‘The Dabbers’ needing just 2 points from two remaining games to achieve promotion to the Unibond League.

Nantwich began brightly,winning a corner in the first minute. Play was even up to the quarter hour mark before Nantwich went ahead through Andy Bott after winger Danny Griggs had placed a well timed effort across the 6 yard box into the path of Andy Bott who tapped the ball home from close range.

Play was halted for a 20 minute period following a serious leg injury to a Bacup player. The home side pulled level within a minute of the restart when Bacup striker Tony Carroll took advantage of a defensive error to hook the ball over Rob Hackney from close range.

Nantwich retook the lead in the 33rd minute. Winger Danny Griggs skillfully beat three defenders before unleashing an unstoppable drive past the home goal keeper from inside the 6 yard box. Two minutes later Griggs was instrumental in ‘The Dabbers’ third goal. The diminutive winger elected to take a corner and from the flag kick delivered a pin point shot to the near post leaving central defender Richard Smith to power a bullet header into the back of the net.

The second half was dominated by Nantwich who frustratingly battered the home side for long periods before finally scoring again in the 75th minute. Once again, it was the pace and trickery of Danny Griggs that was the provider for Andy Kinsey who made no mistake from close range to send the large Nantwich following into raptures. The second half boiled over several times with the home side having 7 players booked and right at the end went out of their way to intimidate the victorious Nantwich players.

A delighted Nantwich head coach Steve Davis said after the match: “ The spirit amongst the players was tremendous. They worked as a team throughout and despite being subject to provocation kept their heads and earned a well deserved victory that puts us within touching distance of promotion.On behalf of the club I would like to pay tribute to the massive support that came with us tonight. It can’t be overstated what a psychological boost it provides for the players We go to Ramsbottom this weekend with no further injuries and know for certain that if we win then promotion is guaranteed no matter what our rivals do.”

Match report written by Phil Johnson