Came eyes summer as Blues lose

Winsford United 1 Stalybridge Celtic 2

UniBond Premier

By Nick Smith

IT'S no wonder Mark Came can't wait for next season.

This could be because he's enthusiastic about his first full campaign in charge at Winsford United, but it probably has as much to do with him being desperate for this one to be over.

And who can blame him? This latest run of bizarre setbacks would be enough to make any football manager pray for the summer.

There was enough incident in this match to erase the memory of Thursday's 6-1 thrashing by Northwich Vics, but not for the right reasons.

The fun began on the stroke of half-time when the Blues, already a goal down, were reduced to ten men thanks to an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Referee Barry Oldham sent off Sammy Harris for a second yellow card - even though he hadn't already been booked!

It emerged later that the official mistook Harris for Andy Bridge, who had been cautioned earlier for a dangerous tackle.

For Harris it was particularly painful as he had also been dismissed in the Mid-Cheshire Cup final less than 48 hours earlier - you know when it's just not your week.

Mr Oldham then immediately awarded the visitors a dubious penalty when Kevin Thelwell challenged Steve Jones.

Although John Bagnall saved mark Powell's penalty Gary Bauress lashed in the second goal from the resultant corner.

Even Stalybridge's first goal came from a puzzling decision on nine minutes. Mr Oldham gave Celtic a free-kick which broke to Brendan Burke on the edge of the area, who fired a low shot into the corner.

This wasn't far from the end of season mid-table stroll in the sun it could have been as both sides had a number of efforts on goal, some off target, some foiled by some alert goalkeeping.

It was when they were down to 10 men, however, that Winsford really made a game of it as Steve Hibbert rose to head in Joey Roberts' corner on 57 minutes.

Five minutes later, Alan Hockenhull saw the Blues best chance of an equaliser disappear when his instant volley smacked the crossbar and rebounded to safety.

The extra man advantage denied Winsford enough possession to press towards the end and the division's form team held out for the three points.

Winsford: Bagnall, German, Thelwell, Hibbert, Brindley (sub Murphy 45), Wheeler, Roberts, Harris, Whittaker, Bridge (Langley 45), Hockenhull

Attendance: 220

Man of the Match: Alan Hockenhull

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.