Stoneclough FC

 A rare treat with a Sunday fixture on the cards and with an 11am kick off it was even better for me. It was the first game of the day of the West Lancs groundhop and the only one of the series that I would attend. With no trains to Kearsley on a Sunday I had to get the train to Swinton instead and catch the number 8 bus up the road to Stoneclough. The ground is in the valley at the bottom of the significant hill. Admission was a pricey £7 which included a programme, pin badges were available for £3 as were lovely bacon sandwiches for £3.50. I had a go on the raffle for £1 and then the first goalscorer for a prize of £150, which was a pricey £10 a ticket, they were certainly milking the event for every possible penny, they even had Stoneclough replica shirts for sale. I thought I had a good chance of winning the £150 when I picked out Stoneclough number 9 but even though he netted twice he didn't hit the first goal, sadly for me. There was an excellent attendance in, probably 350 or more, so a good earner for the club, I was staying in Bolton that evening before doing Warrington Rylands on the bank holiday Monday. Bolton Town Centre was really busy with the Bolton Food Festival being in full flow with rows and rows of tasty treats on show.

Stoneclough started dominantly with the busy number 10 having a powerful drive well saved in the 6th minute. In the 10th minute though Chipping got the free kick on the edge of the box and the number 4 finished via a deflection. He was a mouthy so and so too, with the referee having to tell him to shut up numerous times later in the game. It didn't take Stoneclough long to get back on terms, the number 11 finishing a fine passing move and some of the football really was better than the standard, maybe having a big crowd upped the game of a few of the players but it was really good. Chipping had a glorious chance in the 18th minute but a free header was put over, then just over the half hour mark Stoneclough captain and number 9 had a long range drive tipped over. Chipping keeper then made an error, number 9 robbed him of the ball and made no mistake for 2-1. With 20 minutes left Stoneclough left back received a second yellow and minutes later Chipping took advantage with number 12 finding the top corner with a cross cum shot 2-2 and game on. However with 8 minutes left Stoneclough captain and talisman produced an excellent finish from the by line from a corner and they held on for an excellent 3-2 win in front of the highest crowd in their history.