(Match report by Ryan Batty, photos by Jonathan White)
It was a night to remember for all those in Runcorn on 2nd May, as Nantwich Town romped to victory against Stockport Town to claim their first trophy in six years, winning the Cheshire Senior Cup for the first time since 2012.
The first-half goals from Harry Clayton, Joel Stair and Matt Bell ensured the Dabbers had their name on the trophy this year.
Clayton opened the scoring in the first minute from the penalty spot, while Stair added after a quarter of an hour after a header found the far post, a complete mirror of a disallowed goal from the defender a few moments prior.
Bell completed the scoring on the edge of the interval, as he fired a stunning effort that ripped the back of the net.
Manager Dave Cooke made two changes from the side that lost to Stafford at the weekend, replacing Declan O’Riordan and Jordan Cole with Joel Stair and David Forbes.
The Dabbers came out of the gates firing, earning a penalty after forty-one seconds after Jamie Morgan was clipped by Stockport keeper Kyle Haslam, which gave the referee no choice but to point to the spot.
Harry Clayton stepped up and drilled it straight down the middle – giving the Dabbers a very early lead.
The Lions reacted fairly well to going a goal down, going at Nantwich for much of the next five minutes as each side attempted to figure out each other, though a decent cross-field switch was called offside for Stockport.
After eight minutes, Nantwich earned a free-kick midway in the Stockport half. Bell’s set-piece looked for Clayton at the back post, but the pass was just off-line and couldn’t connect with the striker.
Soon after, Nantwich could have extended their lead, as Morgan made a tremendous run down the left; laying it off to Clayton, whose shot was only stopped by a superb save from Haslam.
However, it wouldn’t take long for Nantwich to find the net – or so they thought! A corner whipped into the box found the head of Stair who was able to powerfully head it past Haslam – though the linesman had raised his flag for offside.
A moment later saw a nice effort from Morgan as he attempted to lob Haslam from distance, but his tip saw Nantwich unable to extend their lead.
The Dabbers earned a free-kick after fifteen minutes, and skipper Caspar Hughes’ cross to the back post found the head of Stair, whose header was almost parallel to his one from earlier, though this one did count!
The Dabbers now led by two goals after fifteen minutes – a tremendous start by Dave Cooke’s men.
Stockport’s chances seemed to worsen as their man Ruben Goncalves De Abreu was forced off after twenty minutes due to injury – though his replacement Aaron Dwyer looked good all evening and was quite dangerous for the Nantwich full-backs.
Matt Bell almost put the Dabbers three up soon after, as he allowed the ball to bounce before launching one that dipped over the defence but just went over the bar.
Stockport’s first clear chance came after twenty-five minutes as Justin Pickering was played through, one-on-one, though his side-footed effort was saved comfortably by Myles Boney.
However, it was a golden opportunity for Nantwich to extend their lead after twenty-nine minutes, as David Forbes was brought down in the area, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot for the second time in half-an-hour.
Despite the second penalty, Clayton tried to do the same thing as his first effort, though Haslam guessed right and the shot smacked off the legs of the Stockport Town keeper.
Haslam was the clear man of the match for Stockport, as he pulled off some spectacular saves that kept the Lions in the game – it could have been five or six if it wasn’t for the Stockport man, who made another save as the half entered the last five minutes.
However, it was an unstoppable effort from Matt Bell that would prove to be the final goal of the evening as, after forty-three minutes, the midfielder launched one that dipped under the bar and found its way past Haslam.
Two minutes of stoppage time were added, though neither side created any chances in that time and went into the break with Nantwich leading by three goals to nil.
Stockport had the first chance of the second half, as Treyvon Simpson almost found a ball at the back post, but Simpson’s effort was poor and went wide.
Pickering could have got one back for the Lions a moment later, having been played in by a poor back pass, though his shot was sliced wide.
Ten minutes into the second half, a nice cross from Mwasile found Cotterell at the back post, though the winger’s header could only clip off the post.
Just after the hour mark saw another chance for Stockport as Dwyer was played in on the right, though his squared ball across the box was cleared away by Mullarkey.
Stockport made their second change just after the hour mark, replacing Treyvon Simpson with Reece Skelton.
The next twenty minutes passed largely without major chance for either side, the Dabbers making a change with just over ten minutes until full-time, Danny Griggs replacing Nathan Cotterell.
However, despite ten minutes of the game left and two minutes of added time, neither side produced any real chance, as Nantwich celebrated on the full-time whistle as Dave Cooke became the first Nantwich manager since 2012 to lift the Cheshire Senior Cup.
Nantwich team: Boney, Bourne, Morgan, Stair, Mullarkey, Bell (O’Riordan 87′), Mwasile, Hughes (C), Clayton, Forbes (McDonald 83′), Cotterell (Griggs 78′)
Subs not used: Wakefield, Hawkins (GK)
Stockport team: Haslam, Wallis, Hanson, Downes (Sezerano 80′), Todd, Miranda, Goncalves De Abreu (Dwyer 20′), Hincks, Halfacre (C), Pickering, Simpson (Skelton 63′)
Subs not used: N/A
Attendance: 251
Referee: Mr P Gibbons
