Nantwich Town 1
Shifnal Town 0
League (NPL Division 1 West)

Match Report

A dramatic 93rd minute winner helped Nantwich Town to a 1-0 win over Shifnal Town at the Swansway Stadium.

Aidy Roxburgh missed out through illness and Byron Harrison was rotated out, with Byron Moore and Callum Saunders starting.

In an even first half, Paddy Kennedy had the first presentable opening when he planted a header wide from a corner after getting a free run at it. Alex Panter had hooked over the crossbar a few minutes earlier.

Shifnal started to grow into the game and were controlling possession without much effort at times. They had little to show for it other than a misplaced header and mishit shot.

But they were getting closer, never more so than when Craig Pritchard let fly from nearly 25 yards and saw his strike bounce off the crossbar.

Panter saw a shot blocked, before there was almost a disaster at the back when a Nantwich clearance was closed down but the prolific Shaquille Leachman-Whittingham couldn’t get the ball under control in the box.

Moore was in a surprise right wing back position but was unquestionably Nantwich’s best attacking outlet in the first half, creating danger with his runs and crosses from the right flank. Saunders slid in to try and turn one home but couldn’t quite get on the end of it.

The second half continued the tight pattern of the first. Matt Barnes-Homer missed the target with a wayward shot early on. The Nantwich defence, heavily hit by injury and illness, stood up very well to a side that had scored at least 2 goals in their last 5 games before this one.

But a significant moment came when Ben Garratt had to make a double save to keep the scores level. The first was a simple enough push away, but the second required him to get up quickly to tip the rebound over the bar and was a great piece of goalkeeping.

Kennedy sent another header towards goal but saw it headed away; it didn’t look as if it was headed on target.

Nantwich almost found the breakthrough with an Alex Panter shot that was miraculously saved by Andy Wycherley. There was sharp play between Panter and Paddy Jarrett in the build up and the save by the foot of the former Dabbers keeper was superb.

From the following corner, Player of the Match Jarrett sent a shot curling wide of the far post, but these were by far the best Dabbers moments of the game to that point.

However, the action did start to peter out from then on; Jon Moran sought to change this with a couple of subs in sending on Harry Bower and Rui Clarke-Phillips.

When it looked as if the game was drifting to a goalless draw, those 2 combined on the left with Clarke-Phillips playing the ball into space on the left where Bower ran on to it and delivered a brilliant low ball for Byron Moore to put away the winner with the last kick of the game (pictured).

There were definite strong similarities to Moore’s late goals against Avro in the FA Cup in September, but this one was later than either of those and brought out the loudest noise heard at the Swansway all season.

Nantwich Town: Ben Garratt, Joel Connolly (C), James Baillie, Oli Finney (Joe Collins, 60), Ben Hockenhull, Paddy Kennedy, Byron Moore, Joe Robbins, Callum Saunders (Byron Harrison, 60), Alex Panter (Harry Bower, 82), Paddy Jarrett (Rui Clarke-Phillps, 87)
Sub not used: Jon Moran
Goal: Moore (90+3)

Shifnal Town: Andy Wycherley, Josh Green, Jack Kelly, Jack Fishman, Louis Bradford (C), Craig Pritchard (Jack Hodnett, 67), Jack Loughran (Kaireice Cunningham, 88), Kevin Da Veiga Monteiro, Shaquille Leachman-Whittingham, Lewis Jarman, Matt Barnes-Homer (Austin Samuels, 73)
Subs not used: Archie Elsdon, Niall Flint

Attendance: 466

Match report written by Liam Price (www.nantwichtownfc.co.uk)