Despite the very disappointing weather conditions so far in 2014 and a good few postponed games, we are still intent on asking 1874 supporters to choose their Player of the Month – only on this occasion it will be a combined award covering both January and February.
We only played one game in January and this was a Cheshire Senior Cup game which we won 2-0 with goals by Dean McGregor and Mike McGinlay but the hero on the excellent night for 1874 was Matt Conkie who made a string of saves to produce quite possibly one of his best ever clean sheets.
More than 2 weeks later we were on the road again for another cup game and this time we were up against Formby who started the game better than we did and after 50 minutes we were 3-0 down and in all honesty all 3 goals were as a result of mistakes by our players. To their credit they stuck at it and pulled it back to 3-2 thanks to a rasping drive from Ryan Stewart from the edge of the box and a well taken goal by Rick Bailey before another mistake settled the tie.
Our 3rd game of this 2-month period again came after an unwanted delay of 18 days and it was another cup tie and at the same time our first encounter with a Football League side – Tranmere Rovers. This was a most enjoyable game and although Tranmere had much more possession than 1874, they had to settle for just the one goal in the 90 minutes and that was a goal fit to win any game – a thunderous header by an exceedingly tall defender from a corner. Ian Streets men competed and defended valiantly with all eleven contributing to the cause but once again our keeper Conkie was inspired form and both teams agreed that he was the “man of the match”.
Our last game of this 4 match period was yet again a cup tie as we took the game to the 3G pitch at Widnes and for the third time this season our opponents were Formby. This was another well competed game between two well-matched sides and it is indisputable that Formby had by far the more goal scoring opportunities but they found the 1874 defence not as “helpful” as they were in the previous encounter and the back four were very solid in front of our goalkeeper who was again outstanding. At the other end a piece of sheer magic by Matty Ward (Novembers player of the month) resulted in his cross being headed home for the only goal of the game by Michael Brandon (Decembers player of the month).
So now it is up to you to cast your vote and we hope that the above notes have helped refresh your memories a little. Voting slips will be available at the ‘Meet the Manager’ night on Wednesday and also at our home game against Daisy Hill on Saturday (remember it is once again being played in Widnes!). Alternatively you can email your vote to trust@1874northwich.com or text to 07975 679624 (please include your own name).
Voting closes on Friday 7 March and the presentation will be made before the Northwich Flixon Villa game on Tuesday 11 March.