Chorley preview
CHORLEY v COUNTY
14th March 1900, that was the last time County played what was officially a first team game at Chorley. given that match was a Rawcliffe Chorley Charity Cup tie the last time the strongest possible County team ran out on a Chorley pitch was for the Lancashire League game the previous October.
So we are - after a fashion - renewing rivalries on Tuesday night.
More on the past games later. For now, a look at Chorley's last five games doesn't fully explain how they have slipped below County in the Vanarama Conference North table.
| 25 Oct | H v FC Halifax T (FAC) | Drew 0-0 |
| 28 Oct | A v FC Halifax T (FAC) | Lost 0-5 |
| 1 Nov | A v Gainsborough Trinity | Won 4-3 |
| 8 Nov | H v Boston United | Lost 1-2 |
| 15 Nov | A v Boston United | Drew 0-0 |
The current slump comes as a result of just 1 win in 5 Conference games starting with a 3-3 draw at Hyde and a 3-1 defeat at Solihull.
OPPOSITION PLAYERS
The men that turned a first home defeat to an away draw in back-to-back games with Boston were:
| Name | Pos | Past Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron Grundy | G | Bury, FCU of Manch(L), Burscough, Chorley, Warrington T, Cambridge U, Fleetwood T, Witton A(L?), Chorley |
| Mark Ross | D | Macclesfield T, Leigh RMI, Rossendale U, New Orleans Jesters [usa], Leigh Gen, Chorley, Baton Rouge Capitals [usa] |
| Adam Mather | New Mills, Woodley Sports, Curzon Ashton, Mossley | |
| Chris Doyle | D | Morecambe |
| Tom Smyth | D | Preston NE, Northwich Vic, Accrington S, Workington(L), Northwich Vic, Colwyn Bay |
| Jake Cottrell | FCU of Manch | |
| Josh Hine | F | Southport, Burscough, Vauxhall Motors, Clitheroe(L), Clitheroe, Skelmersdale U, Warrington T, Skelmersdale U |
| Dale Whitham | M | Manchester U, Maine Road, Leigh Gen |
| Chris Simm | F | Leigh Gen, Wrexham, Hyde U, Southport, Chorley (L), Chester, Bangor C, Airbus UK Broughton, Witton A, Skelmersdale U, AFC Telford U(DR), Warrington T |
| Adam Roscoe | M/F | Everton, Bolton W, Southport, Runcorn, Chorley, Skelmersdale U, Chorley, Austrialian team, Burscough, Radcliffe Bor(L), Radcliffe Bor |
| Darren Stephenson | F | Bradford C, Hinckley U(L), Woodley Sports(L), Stocksbridge PS(L), Southport(L), Southport, Chorley(L) |
| Harry Winter | M | Trafford, Northwich Vic, Salford(L), FC Halifax T(L), FC Halifax T, Hyde, Matlock T(L), AFC Fylde |
| Chris Almond | W | Ashton Ath, Skelmersdale U, Southport |
Chorley's goals have been shared out amongst 10 players so far - plus a contribution from Harrogate's Lewis Coyle. James Dean heads the list with 8 league and 2 FA Cup goals, but he will be absent as he completes a suspension. Chris Simm took his place in the forward line, making his first start since signing from Warrington Town. Of the players who turned out on Saturday it's substitute Chris Almond who has form against County, with 2 goals for Southport. Unlike during his time at County our former defender Kyle Jacobs has failed to find the net to date following his summer move to Lancashire. However, he has only featured in around half their games due to injuries and suspensions.
 |
| Kyle Jacobs |
Keeper Aaron Grundy was making his first appearance of the season. It was a good start with a clean sheet despite Chorley being down to 10 men for a time in the second half. Aaron has not faced the County first team before although he was on the bench for Bury during our League Two meetings back in 2005-06.
PREVIOUS MATCHES
County and Chorley met regularly between 1895 and 1899 in the Lancashire League. As can be seen this season's visit sees us still looking for our first points in Chorley. Chorley's line-ups not yet fully traced but names included where known.
Saturday 9 February 1895
Chorley (1) 3 (Leadbetter, Lyden, 1 not traced)
Stockport County (1) 2 (Haresnape, Leigh)
Chorley: Nightingale, Chadwick, Parker, L Nightingale, Wren, Stevenson, Garside, Tierney, Lyden, Mitchell, D Leadbetter.
County: Tommy Urmston, Moss, James Lever, Billy Upton, Harry Fletcher, James Spencer, Bobby Haresnape, Bert Heyes, H Bailey, Billy Leigh, Bob Mann.
Saturday 11 January 1896
Chorley (1) 8 (Allan 2, Lyden, Devlin 3, Leadbetter)
Stockport County (1) 1 (Sutherland)
Chorley: J Howcroft, Parker, Charlie Ostick, Thornborough, McKennie, F Shorrock, Dick Allan, Johnson, Lyden, Devlin, D Leadbetter.
County: W Childs, James Lever, Jimmy Wainwright, Harry Fletcher, James Spencer, Charlie Wilson, Frank Ferries, Bert Heyes, Dan Sutherland, Billy Leigh, Bob Mann.
Saturday 28 November 1896
Chorley (2) 2 (Johnson 2)
Stockport County (1) 1 (Heyes)
Chorley: Archibald Pinnell, Charlie Ostick, Parker, Wareing, Thornborough, McKennie, Roger Bridge, Lyden, Cunliffe, Johnson, D Leadbetter.
County: Joe Lee, Harry Blears, Jimmy Wainwright, Charlie Wilson, Harry Fletcher, Macdonald, Tommy Hall, Bert Heyes, Geordie Smith, Tom Axon, Arthur Lee.
Chorley finished as champions
Saturday 9 April 1898
Chorley (0) 1 (Pooley 85) att. 4,000
Stockport County (0) 0
Chorley: Pooley, Cunliffe, John Jones.
County: George Kitchen, Harry Blears, Jimmy Wainwright, Tommy Hall, Bob Mann, Billy Bolton, Roger Bridge, Wilks, Arthur Worrall, Joe Foster, Arthur Lee.
Saturday 17 September 1898
Chorley (2) 4 (Ashton 2, Chadwick 2) att. 5,000
Stockport County (0) 1 (Henshaw T 90)
Chorley: Wolstenholme, Ostik, Parker, Green, Doherty, Morton, Pooley, Cunliffe, Bury, Ashton, Chadwick.
County: Tommy Hulme, Harry Blears, Jimmy Wainwright, Tommy Hall, Harry Johnston, Billy Bolton, Art Goddard, Bert Heyes, J Pugh, Joe Foster, Thomas Henshaw.
Chorley finished as Champions with County 6th. Both clubs applied for election to the Football League, neither succeeded.
 |
| County Team 1899. |
Saturday 14 October 1899
Chorley (1) 3 (Garstang 2, Cunliffe) att. 4,000
Stockport County (0) 0
Chorley: Pennington, Ostick, Slater, Thornborough, Green, Morton, Pooley, Jimmy Cunliffe, Garstang, Lloyd, Ashton.
County: James Moores, Harry Johnston, Jimmy Wainwright, Seale, Ben Harvey, Tommy Hall, Art Goddard, Joe Foster, John Patterson, Frank Chesworth, Billy Betteley.
County were champions - and may well have also claimed the Chorley Charity Cup - played in a six-team League format this season. This is no certain as some results have yet to be traced.
Since then Chorley came up against County's reserve side in some of our seasons in the Lancashire Combination up to WW1. In more recent years County have sent youth and Development Squad sides to Victory Park for Friendly matches.
MATCH PROSPECTS
It probably needs to be mentioned that the run of 1 win in 5 Conference North games mentioned earlier included just one home match. That game did however see Chorley suffer their first home defeat of the season at the hands of play-off rival Boston United. Before Saturday Chorley had not been out of the top four since mid-September but Alan Lord knows not to send out his team under-prepared. County should take plenty of confidence into the game from Saturday's performance against Hednesford. If they can handle the early pressure from the Chorley side and the likely larger home support than we will see in most games this season, the absence of Chorley's top scorer and the likely return of County's could prove significant. The Hatters' coaches must be hopeful of still being ahead of the Victory Park side in the table overnight.
VANARAMA CONFERENCE NORTH
Mon: Bradford PA v North Ferriby U.
Tue: Chorley v COUNTY, Gainsborough Tr v Boston U, Guiseley v Solihull Moors.
| Pos | PL | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | AFC Fylde | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 36 | 12 | 24 | 32 |
| 3 | Guiseley | 17 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 32 | 19 | 13 | 32 |
| 4 | Solihull Moors | 16 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 21 | 17 | 30 |
| 5 | COUNTY | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 21 | 10 | 29 |
| 6 | Chorley | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 20 | 7 | 28 |
| 7 | Boston U | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 25 | 2 | 28 |
FA TROPHY DRAW
Boston U v Witton A / Workington, AFC Fylde v Hednesford T, Gainsborough Tr v Brackley T, COUNTY v Colwyn Bay, Bradford (PA) v Leamington, Kings Lynn T v Harrogate T, Worcester C v Barrow, Chorley v Stalybridge Cel, Tamworth v Hyde, North Ferriby U v Mickleover Sp / New Mills, Solihull Moors v Redditch U, Guiseley v Rushall Oly, Oxford C v Lewes / Heybridge Sw, Eastbourne Bor v Lowestoft T, Gloucester C v Bath C.
Ian Watts
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