FC Halifax Town 2 Stockport County 0

A win for Halifax in a fairly routine pre season friendly bar one incident - you can't look too much into friendlies but for what it's worth, Halifax look a pretty effective unit bar some defensive mistakes, and their new signings are already starting to slot in nicely - they're the favourites in the Conference North and there was nothing here to suggest they won't be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

Stockport meanwhile struggled near the bottom of the Conference last season, and did little attack-wise in the first half of this game but improved after the break. They'll need to improve this season else they could end up swapping divisions with Halifax - personally can see them settling into mid table this time round though.

So in the match, Halifax took the lead midway through the first half with a Seddon shot going through the goalkeeper's legs, and got the second goal late in the second half from a soft/dubious/laughable penalty.

The incident was towards the end of the first half - Dan Gardner, who'd looked very good for Halifax, was shaping up to play a pass, around 30 yards from goal. He sort of turned as he was passing, and it appeared that one foot seemed to stay stuck in the turf, as the rest of him turned and that leg didn't turn with him.. next second he was on the floor writhing in absolute agony - it looked very, very serious at that point.

He was stretchered off, but later a scan revealed he definitely hasn't broken anything. But he said in an interview that it was the worst pain he'd ever felt, and the worry for him could be that this could turn out to be ligament damage - which in terms of time out injured could turn out to be worse than a break ultimately!

Mossley 0 Oldham Athletic 3

I've learnt from previous years not to look too much into performances at friendlies - the main example from last year was when I saw Mossley beat Hyde, and on the day Mossley beat a disorganised, near-shambolic Hyde side. The obvious conclusion was that Hyde were going to be relegation strugglers. Fast forward to the end of the season, and Hyde were top of the Conference North by some distance, and mainly because they played as a super-organised unit.

So, I guess going off that I shouldn't be thinking 'here we go again' with Mossley after seeing them manage just a single shot in this entire match. A shot that cleared the stand and possibly even the school behind the stand. Yes they were missing some of their first team players and playing Oldham's full first team so the result was entirely expected, but it was the complete lack of attacking threat that was a disappointment.

Early on Oldham seemed to struggle with playing with a ground with a small fence on one side, as they managed to send the ball over it at least 5 times in the opening 10 minutes. When play was stopped for an injury Dickov brought his team over and had a word, and they stopped doing it from then on!

Shortly after Oldham got a (dodgy) penalty, and scored, and really they seized the initiative from there on in. They scored again at the start of the second half, and mainly bossed the game. Mossley finally had some solid spells of possession late on but still failed to create anything with it, and Oldham added a third goal right at the end. 

It was an easy and relaxed first run out for Oldham, so much so that they seemed to repeatedly switch off and give away possession in dangerous areas - fortunately for them Mossley were never actually going to manage to exploit any of these opportunities, so in truth it didn't really matter!

The positive for Mossley is that because they so much sat back and didn't at all make a contest out of it, the game was a manager's dream from Oldham's perspective - no risk of injuries, no risk of embarrassing loss to non league opposition. That means Oldham are likely to be more than happy to come back for another friendly next year - and with a crowd not too far short of 1000 at this game, financially this must be a big pre-season bonus for Mossley.

Best and Worst of 2011/12

So, unless today's torrential rain forces a postponement, tomorrow I'll be watching my first game of the 2012/13 season - albeit only a pre season friendly - (Mossley vs Oldham Athletic). So to draw the curtain on the last season, here's a quick 'bests and worsts' from all the grounds I visited during the course of it:

Noisiest atmosphere: For most of the season this was between Bolton and Sheffield United, and then on the final game of the season I went to the Galpharm Stadium, where the Huddersfield Town fans created a right racket for the majority of the match! Admittedly everyone was given a 'clapper' which certainly added to it, and it was a play off semi final, so I'll be interested to see in the coming season if they get close to that atmosphere in a normal match.

Best match: A tough one - I remember the second half of Manchester City vs Sporting Lisbon was very exciting, where City battled back from 3-0 behind on aggregate to bring it to 3-3 on aggregate, and then right at the end a last second Joe Hart header was narrowly pushed round the push, and the whistle went to sent Sporting through on away goals. It was a dramatic end and if that'd gone in that would've been an unbelievable moment. But I don't feel like it can be best as the first half was terrible!

I guess, and admittedly this is a highly biased choice, the most memorably exciting match was Bolton Wanderers 2 QPR 1. It had plenty of drama, and was to be mainly remembered in the media for QPR's goal that never was, but it was a riveting watch from start to finish. With the battle to stay up getting increasingly tight, this game had so much at stake, and it was Bolton leading 1-0 at half time, before Cisse grabbed a goal midway through the second half to make it 1-1.

Both teams had big opportunities to get the crucial win, and then in the 86th minute Klasnic was put through clean on goal... it was one of those moments where time seems to slow down, as he ran at the keeper and finally side-footed the ball towards goal and perfectly into the corner, and thus the Reebok Stadium erupted. Cue the most nail biting period of time added on I'd experienced in a long time!

Worst match: There were a couple of dismal Mossley games I put up with towards the beginning of the season, but in the preliminary round of the FA Cup, Mossley 0 Runcorn Linnets 0 was absolutely dire from start to finish. Now I enjoy following the FA Cup round by round where possible and was looking forward to seeing if my local team could get another run going, having got to the last stage before the 1st round the season before, but this was lifeless utter rubbish that completely went against the 'magic of the FA cup'. The replay was no better from a Mossley perspective, as they were dumped out 4-0 (remember this was against a team from the division below).

Best cheese and onion pie: By a country mile, Glossop North End. It was their steak pie that won an best football pie award a couple of years ago, but this one is ridiculously good.

Worst cheese and onion pie: Oldham Athletic. Their solution to how bad it is seems to be to give you something that's so ridiculously hot, you can't even taste it for a quarter of an hour after buying it. But, leave it to cool till it's edible, and you're left with mush in pastry!

Best league ground: With the Reebok Stadium a very close second, this goes to Man City's Etihad Stadium.

Best non league ground: I'm a big fan of Lancaster City's Giant Axe. It just has real character and a feel to it, which is added to with the backdrop of the train station and Lancaster Castle.

Worst league ground: Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park is looking dilapidated with it's missing stand and general lack of any refurbishment, it's a depressing mess at present.

Worst non league ground: Woodley Sports' Neil Rourke Stadium. (they've now renamed themselves to Stockport Sports having been knocked down a division because their ground didn't match the division's regulations). At the time I visited it was a plastic pitch in the middle of a building site on all sides, it was just a total mess. We'll see if they can developed it into something remotely respectable to match their ambitions.

Best goal: One of those frustrating non league moments where no one was filming so only the people at the match will ever see it - in the second minute of Chorley 2 Whitby Town 2, Jimmy Beadle gets the ball 40+ yards from goal with nothing on, and in a "what is he thinking?" moment, shapes to shoot. The ball goes high and then dips perfectly into the top right corner, impossible to stop.

Best moment: The minute's applause for Muamba at Bolton vs Blackburn. I think minute's silences/applause are overdone and frequently can feel forced and like they gain little, but complete with the stunning 'MUAMBA 6' mosaic and the ripples of chanting of his name, this really was one of those moments that lives with you and gives you goosebumps even when you look back on it months later.

Bolton in the Championship

So despite Manchester City's dramatic late turnaround to beat QPR 3-2, Bolton finished just below QPR after drawing 2-2 away at Stoke, and thus Bolton were relegated. So how will the team I support fare in the Championship?

Within a week of being relegated, the sinking feeling was made all the worse for the fans. as Bolton were faced with the need to significantly cut the wage bill to cope with the sudden drop in income. 16 players either left or were released, including Jussi Jaaskelainen, Ricardo Gardner, Gretar Steinsson, Ivan Klasnic and Nigel Reo-Coker. Not only had some reliable first team regulars gone, there was also little or no squad depth left in several positions.

Bolton have lately brought in two players to begin to add more options, with Matt Mills added to their defence and Keith Andrews in midfield. To me these are strong signings at Championship level, and strong battling type players will add a backbone to the team and perhaps replace the likes of Nigel Reo-Coker and David Wheater (still with Bolton, but recovering from a major ligament injury).

The hope with Bolton is they have more luck with injuries this time round - with all the players to pick from, I'd be confident this team would be right near the top of the table all season. But another series of unlucky injuries would expose the gaps in squad depth.

Last time round, both Chung Yong Lee and Stuart Holden (arguably two of Bolton's best players) were pretty much out all season long with major injuries. Various other smaller injuries disrupted the team throughout the season, and of course I don't even need to say what happened to Fabrice Muamba. The hope is that Bolton were dealt such a bad hand in terms of luck last season, surely they're due some fortune this time round?

Anyway fixtures were announced a few weeks ago, and of all the games they could possibly start with, incredibly Bolton begin away at Burnley - a bit of a local rivalry to start with, but lately much more so since Owen Coyle moved from Burnley to become Bolton manager. Burnley, having started so well in the Premier League, went on to plummet down the table to relegation without Coyle, and have been stuck mid-table in the Championship since.

Burnley was an away trip I was pondering before the fixture announcement, but the home fans will be wound up given the circumstances and it being the opening fixture, and thus the idiots may also come along looking to cause trouble (and that's in both the home and away ends). I'm not sure if I'm looking into it too much or whether I'm just best giving this one a miss!

Whatever the result in this I feel the most important thing in the start of the new season will be the next two matches - at home to Derby County on Tuesday evening, and then Nottingham Forest on Friday evening (live on Sky). I say this as in previous seasons, the Reebok Stadium was widely seen as a difficult away game for many teams - there was a confidence that Bolton had at home that meant even major sides like Arsenal and Tottenham were intimidated into regularly losing/drawing there.

For once this didn't happen for Bolton last season, with just 4 wins from 19 home games. A poor start at home seemed to take away the confidence they'd built up over the seasons. But they've got the chance, in these difficult but potentially fairly attack-friendly opening home games, to make a statement to the other Championship clubs that the Reebok Stadium will be a really difficult away day for everyone. And of course some good early home performances can also lift the crowd to build up a big, noisy and potentially intimidating atmosphere for all visitors!

Football's almost back!

Summer is difficult when you're trying to keep a football blog up to date - do you leave it untouched for months and hope your viewers come back when the next season begins, or try to make posts with little to talk about and risk filling your blog with boring ramble?

Euro 2012 somewhat filled the gap between the seasons, and now with just over a month until the majority of the leagues begin, it's time for pre-season to start to kick in. Pre-season of course never compares to competitive football in terms of entertainment and atmosphere, but it can just be nice to be back at the grounds and enjoy the simple things you don't get from seeing it on tv.

For me a return to going to competitive matches happens before the new season starts however, as I'm at a couple of the Olympic football games at Old Trafford.  I've heard it all with the whole 'yeah but it's not taken seriously' 'it's mostly youth players so it'll be rubbish' etc, but for £20 for a ticket it seems well worth it to me.

First on the 29th July I see a double header in the group stages, Egypt vs New Zealand and Brazil vs Belarus (and seeing the Brazil team will contain the likes of Pato, Neymar, Hulk, Marcelo and Thiago Silva that seems an attractive prospect!).

Then on 4th August I see the first of the quarter finals, the winner of Group D vs the runner up of Group C. Group C is the four countries I mentioned above so it would be optimistic to think there'd be any chance of Brazil only being runners up, but Group D contains a strong Spain team (Mata, Alba, Martinez) so I've got my fingers crossed I'll be seeing them!

In the meantime I'll be at the local pre season matches, starting with Mossley vs Oldham Athletic this Wednesday at 7pm. As with last year Oldham are planning on taking their full first team, which is excellent for Mossley in terms of getting a decent crowd paying admission and buying food and drink - think I'll be getting one of their excellent cheese and onion pies too!

Galpharm Stadium - Huddersfield Town (pictures)

Pictures taken in the run-up, during and immediately after the end of Huddersfield Town vs Milton Keynes Dons from Tuesday evening. (including the fans on the pitch at the end, but was too high up to get a pic of Alan Smith fighting with fans!) Was an entertaining encounter and it's an excellent ground with some similarities to the Reebok Stadium. It's odd as you approach the stadium as you get close to it and then go downhill or down steps to get to it, making it difficult to get a picture from far away - as in the first pic below, the lower half of the ground is below the car park, so the ground looks small on the walk to it!

The Huddersfield fans were very loud, the atmosphere was intense, and that alone makes the ground worth a visit. Definitely thinking whoever wins the league one play off final (Sheffield United vs Huddersfield) will be at the top of my list of Bolton away matches to possibly go to next season, both stadiums are superb in different ways!

Britannia Stadium - Stoke City (pictures)

Pictures on Sunday in the run-up to Stoke City 2 Bolton Wanderers 2 are below. Got to the Britannia from the train station by walking along the canal by the way - it's a two and a half mile walk so not one to do in a rush, but canal leads to right next to the stadium so it's a very uncomplicated route, would recommend it to visiting fans.

Late goals leave Bolton on the brink of relegation

The relegation situation changed in a space of minutes on Sunday, leading to Bolton needing a win at Stoke City combined with QPR losing at Man City, otherwise it's Championship football next season.

Bolton had at one point been leading 2-0, but in all honesty it wasn't deserved. West Brom were the better team in the first half and Bolton were lucky to not concede several goals - instead a Martin Petrov penalty made it a very fortunate 1-0 at half time. It continued this way in the second half, as West Brom continued to look like scoring, and then a comedy moment from them, as one defender skewed a clearance straight into another defender's face, and this sent the ball into the net for a super fortunate 2-0.

So it was no surprise when West Brom got a goal back minutes later, 2-1. And from this point on the West Brom dominance went up several notches - it became all one way pressure.

As the match approached the last few minutes, the person sat next to me, who'd been half listening to his radio for most of the second half, announced that QPR had taken a late lead at home to Stoke. I think my response was "oh S**T". I don't see Bolton getting anything at Stoke, so felt that Bolton needed to better QPR's result on the day - this QPR goal made Bolton's win suddenly seem a little irrelevant.

And then the pressure told, and West Brom got their equaliser. It had felt quite inevitable from the 80th minute onwards, Bolton had been doing nothing other than unorganised and frequently chaotic defending, with everyone going back to defend so no-one to keep the ball when it was desperately smashed clear.

So in the space of a couple of minutes it went from Bolton going 2 points above QPR, to QPR going 2 points clear of Bolton. Thankfully West Brom were happy to stick with a 2-2 draw, as if they'd continued their full on attacking for the 5 minutes of added time there was chance they would have scored again. Bolton attempted to push forward but failed to create anything of note.

So at least Bolton go into the final game of the season with something to play for - but a win at Stoke seems so unlikely after recent performances. Bolton fans of course know all too well about Stoke causing them misery after Stoke beat them 5-0 in the FA Cup semi final last year... however Bolton did get revenge by beating Stoke 5-0 earlier this season. The problem is Stoke are such a better team at home.

I'll be at the Britannia with the Bolton fans on Sunday, and in truth at the moment I'm mainly feeling dread about this one - I just can't see anything other than Bolton going down and the day ending in misery (and the vociferous Stoke fans will be more than happy to rub in that misery from what I've been told about them!). But I'm sure my hopes will build a little by the time the match begins, and after Blackburn were relegated tonight, I guess in a way it's a relief that Bolton have any hope left at all for the last game of the season.

So what's going on with Bolton?

To bring things round to tomorrow's crucial set of matches, here's the latest with Bolton.

My last blog post about Bolton was their 2-1 defeat at home to Wigan, but since then some results improved, starting with a 2-1 victory over QPR courtesy of a late Klasnic goal, albeit with the aid of a fortunate goal-that-never-was.

This was followed by a 2-1 victory over Blackburn, where the atmosphere was near deafening, not due to this being a local rivalry but because this was the first match since Muamba collapsed with a cardiac arrest, and was technically dead for 78 minutes. The picture above I took of the fantastic 'Muamba 6' mosaic, and below are just some of the tributes outside the Reebok Stadium on the day.

They continued the winning 3-2 at Wolves, before a disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Fulham and a predictable 2-0 loss at Newcastle. A 1-1 draw against Swansea was little help, but a vital 2-1 win at Aston Villa followed by a 2-2 at Sunderland gave Bolton big hopes.

I was at the home game midweek versus Tottenham, and Bolton deserved to be 1-0 behind at half time - a fairly disappointing and scrappy first half in truth. But they really came out fired up in the second half, and after Nigel Reo-Coker got the equaliser they were on top, and coming close to getting another goal to take the lead. Next thing Tottenham got two quick goals to make it 1-3, and some after it as 1-4 and the game was over from there.

So, with crucial games coming up tomorrow, where do Bolton find themselves? Well personally, I'm expecting in 8 days QPR will lose at Man City, and Bolton lose at Stoke (however I've got a ticket for that game and hoping they don't). So, with Bolton and QPR joint on points and QPR having a superior goal difference, it's likely that whoever is above the other after tomorrow's games will be the one who stays in the Premier League.

Bolton are at home to West Bromwich Albion, QPR at home to Stoke. It's difficult for both, but both WBA and Stoke are very unpredictable especially in away matches... It'll especially be interesting to see how the announcement of Roy Hodgson as England manager will affect the WBA team's performance - will it cause a dip in form as with Harry Redknapp's Spurs, or will the sudden building up of profile of Hodgson be a sort of extra motivation for the players to impress, or perhaps an extra motivation for Hodgson to push for a result in a game that's essentially otherwise meaningless for WBA?

And of course whilst all this goes on in the Premier League, there's also the small matter of a team from Manchester travelling to Newcastle, and later on some other Manchester team playing at home to Swansea...

Sheffield United and the late season "choke"

In League One, I went to Bramall Lane earlier on in the season to see Sheffield United 3 Torquay United 2 in the FA cup 2nd round. I've recently been there again - the picture above is a game I was at a couple of weeks ago, where it finished Sheffield United 3 Leyton Orient 1. With 3 games to go, this result put Sheffield United 5 points clear of Sheffield Wednesday, and at that point it looked like the gap was too much to be turned around. It would take one hell of a choke from United for it to happen.

As that week went on however, United's star striker Ched Evans, who'd scored the third goal at the weekend and in the games I saw easily looked Premier League quality, was involved in the trial accused of rape, and subsequently jailed for 5 years.

I gather with Evans that, in his earlier years as a promising Man City youth player, his personal life wasn't exactly too rosey, and as a result he wasn't focused enough on his football, causing him to really waste his premier league opportunity. But after initially not fulfilling his potential, it was claimed his mind was now purely on football, and this was why he was finding top form at Sheffield United. Obviously this very much throws that out of the window!

What a disastrous effect the loss of Ched Evans has had on Sheffield United, as they went from being 5 points above Wednesday with 3 games left to finishing 3 points behind Wednesday at the end, an astonishing swing of 8 points in 3 games. Yes they may still go up in the play offs, and on paper are favourites, but with such a dramatic loss of form, can they really manage to bring back belief and just turn form back on like a switch in the space of a week, when they must have thought automatic promotion was on a plate for them?

Catch-up - From Evo-Stik Div 1N to League Two

So, a quick selective catch-up on teams I reported on earlier this season, from lower leagues working upwards to League Two, with those in leagues above to follow another day.

In the Evo Stik Division One North, my local team Mossley, who unfortunately ranged from dire to awful to watch for most of the season, rallied with some decent results late on in the season to climb to 14th out of 22. Meanwhile Woodley Sports have been kicked out to a lower league due to their ground not reaching required standards.

Meanwhile a team I'm a big fan of in that division is Lancaster City, who this season I saw experience good and bad moments in the FA cup qualifying, as they brilliantly won 1-0 at FC United of Manchester, before losing 3-0 at home to Halifax Town, a game that unfortunately will be remembered for it's crowd trouble as a brawl caused the game to be halted for nearly 20 minutes. They went in and out of the play off positions all season, but narrowly missed out by one place / two points at the end of it all. Champions were AFC Fylde, and Witton Albion followed them up after beating Curzon Ashton in the play off final.

In the division above, Chester FC were champions, and the play off final between Bradford Park Avenue and FC United of Manchester is tomorrow. Chorley, who I saw draw 2-2 with Whitby Town, were beating in the play off semi final by FC United. Incidentally Whitby put together a strong run to climb out of the relegation places, as did Buxton, who I saw before this run struggling 0-0 against Chasedown, who eventually finished in the relegation zone.

Next the Blue Square North, in which I regularly see Hyde or Stalybridge when the opportunity arises, and I blogged on their epic boxing day and new years day local derbies against each other. At that point Hyde were top and Stalybridge not too far behind, but Hyde had the upper hand in these games, giving them the momentum to eventually carry on to the end of the season on top of the league, earning them promotion to the Conference. Meanwhile Stalybridge stuttered, wasted their games in hand, and eventually finished one place outside the play offs. Currently battling in the play offs is FC Halifax Town, who I saw battle against Charlton Athletic in the FA cup before eventually succumbing to a harsh 4-0 defeat.

On the subject of Hyde going to the Conference, there's another team I saw who're doing the same, but unfortunately for Macclesfield Town, who amazingly just earlier this season outplayed and nearly beat Bolton in the FA cup 3rd round, eventually drawing 2-2, in this case it's relegation from League Two. At the time I saw them they were safely mid table, and the FA cup progress made it seem like it had so far been a successful season for them. An astonishingly poor run since then has seen them plummet down the table, and with a final game still to go they're already down without a fight.

Blog's back

So... for over half a season I updated this blog several times a week, with match reports and general football ground info. Then it all came to an abrupt end. Why?

Well - I began this with a focus on local non league games, but in truth got a little bored with purely focusing on that. After becoming disillusioned with following Mossley, I wanted to follow a higher level of football on a regular basis.

I watch Man City when the opportunity comes up, but I've mainly become a big Bolton Wanderers fan.  I still watch matches in the lower leagues and in non league - but I'm relishing having a local team to follow whilst also enjoying a big atmosphere and going to and from matches in a huge crowd.

How's that relevant to the blog stopping? Basically writing match reports for games involving the premier league and other football league teams feels a bit like a pointless losing battle against all the other sources. It initially made sense reporting on lower non league matches that had little/no other attention, it gave a chance of getting viewers. But I just don't get the buzz, build-up, post match reaction etc to make it feel worth doing every Saturday and midweek, it just doesn't feel rewarding and especially not worth paying for the train journeys.

So why am I bringing it back? Although it's not been updated it since early February, I'm still getting a regular stream of views each day, mainly photo views, and I guess it seems a shame to let it all go to waste.

I guess I'm going to try to make this more opinionated, as focusing on match reports got very systematic. I have no idea how this'll go but figure there's little to nothing to lose with giving it another go.

Manchester City 4 FC Porto 0

Not really a match report as such - not really much point for big matches like this, there are hundreds of other reports about!

Funny though to see it being called a thrashing, and reports saying City cruised through this one... yes the scoreline suggests that, and once the second goal of the night went in it was comfortable, but in truth after Aguero scored after 20 seconds it was Porto who enjoyed the bulk of possession and chances until the game reached the 75th minute.

City played a long ball game - not like them at all this season, but they were clearly set up to catch Porto on the break, and also as City's usual passing game is what Porto are used to in the Portuguese league it'd play into their hands.

The BBC report says "City's grip on the game was firm", but actually scroll down to the stats - 18 Porto shots to 9 City shots, and Porto bossed possession for the most part. City did ride their luck for large parts of this one, with a series of Porto free kicks narrowly going wide or over, and dangerous crosses not quite finding a Porto player. If City hadn't had this luck, it might have been a totally different scoreline.

Credit to City for taking Porto apart following the second goal, with Porto having a player receiving a second yellow card for mouthing off at the linesman in the immediate aftermath of that goal - credit to the ref for booking those Porto players who continually protested vociferously when things didn't go their way.

Bolton Wanderers 1 Wigan Athletic 2

Wigan put themselves just a point below Bolton with a vital win against their relegation rivals.

Bolton were very poor in the first half, giving their opponents every chance to get a foothold in the game, and Wigan focused on keeping possession of the ball as much as possible. They didn't particularly create a host of chances, but dominating possession was always likely to pay off over the course of the half, and sure enough in the 43rd minute Gary Caldwell headed in from a corner to put the away fans into delirium.

There was a large away crowd for this one who made a lot of noise in support of their club throughout, some went too far though as a couple of scuffles with stewards and flares being set off and thrown led to 5-10 idiots being removed from the ground by the police.

The Bolton fans meanwhile were largely quiet during the first half, apart from as the half time whistle went as there was a chorus of boos from them, clearly unhappy with a lifeless performance in such a vital fixture.

Bolton improved in the second half as the pacey Miyaichi was introduced, and after an initial spell of continued Wigan dominance, Bolton came to life as Mark Davies fired in a stunning equaliser, the ball bounced up towards him and he smashed a powerful half volley from around 25 yards out that flew high into the net in the 67th minute.

Momentum was with the home side after this as they repeatedly pushed forward, gaining a succession of corners and half chances, and it was looking likely that the constant pressure could lead to another goal for them to turn the game on it's head.

So it was a surprise twist in the 76th minute, when Hugo Rodallega suddenly received the ball on the left wing on a quick break and darted towards the Bolton box. Bogdan blocked Rodallega's shot but the power on it meant he could only parry it, and the ball went straight to McArthur to tap in the winner from close range.

It was a real sucker punch for Bolton after ten minutes of them being on top following their equaliser, but perhaps on the balance of play of the rest of the match it wasn't an undeserved winner for a Wigan side who mainly bossed this match.

The Bolton fans tried to gee up their side for another spell of attacking late on, but in truth that Wigan goal really took the stuffing out of them. Their one big chance late on fell to Miyaichi, who charged through on goal on the left side of the penalty area, but his effort didn't have enough power on it, and Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi was able to save it, to ensure his team gained three points over his former club.

There were more boos at full time for Bolton, and with their next Premier League fixtures being away at Chelsea and Man City, getting points in the following two home fixtures suddenly looks all the more crucial - both are relegation battles against teams currently 1 point above them - Blackburn and QPR.

Wigan meanwhile have the opportunity to be able to overtake Bolton over the next few games, with two home games which they might feel they could be able to gain a couple of points from - at home to Aston Villa and Swansea, and that's followed by games away at Norwich and at home to West Brom.

Manchester City 3 Fulham 0

Manchester City in the end comfortably beat Fulham at the Etihad Stadium, but the scoreline flattered them as Fulham frequently created big chances until the third goal went in.

After dropping points lately, City knew they needed the three points to put the pressure on United, with their local rivals due to play away at Chelsea the following day. And they got the early breakthrough they needed, Adam Johnson falling under a slight trip from Chris Baird in the 10^th minute, Aguero scored the penalty.

It was a bit of a soft penalty, and when Johnson went down in similar fashion shortly after the ref wasn’t interested. Mind you, David Silva was blatantly fouled in the box later on in the half and the ref somehow didn’t give a penalty for that, perhaps looking to “even things up”.

Anyway the game became surprisingly open after that, Fulham frequently coming forward at pace via quick pass-and-moves that City’s defence found difficult to deal with, and City’s multi-million strike force always a danger too. With chances aplenty at both ends a goal was coming.

So it was just as well for City that Chris Baird turned Adam Johnson’s low cross-shot past his own keeper in the 30^th minute. The rest of the half continued to be just as open, the two goal cushion making it less nail biting for the home side.

The weather conditions took their toll in the second half – snow all afternoon had already left the pitch a bit patchy, and it seemed to get heavier as the match progressed.

Over the half time period it began to significantly stick on all parts of the pitch, and it built up to the extent that several times the referee had to pause the match whilst groundsmen hurried on with shovels to dig out the white lines – otherwise the match would’ve been in danger of being cancelled. And with City 2-0 up it was no surprise the groundsmen were very enthusiastic to make sure the game would reach its conclusion!

Both teams still looked to create chances, and with Fulham still looking dangerous, City got the killer third goal as Aguero set it up on a plate for Dzeko to tap in from close range in the 72nd minute to make it 3-0.

Dzeko soon after this deflected the ball towards his own goal and was lucky to see it narrowly miss going into the net, as the ball instead deflected out off the post. This proved to be the last big opportunity for Fulham, who in the latter stages just seemed to want to get the game done with and get out of the heavy snow.

So a morale boosting victory for Manchester City after recent dropped points, with two points dropped by Manchester United the next day making this win all the more valuable.

Bolton Wanderers 2 Swansea City 1

Bolton progressed to the 5th round of the FA Cup after coming from behind against Swansea at the Reebok Stadium.

Unfortunately a crowd of 11,597 left many empty seats at the ground, and early on those who'd given this a miss weren't missing anything. Swansea had made many changes to their side with one eye on their midweek match against Chelsea, and the attacking style of football they've been praised for lately was not in evidence here as they seemed happy to focus on stopping Bolton from creating chances.

Some of the few chances they did manage to create fell to Ngog and Eagles - Ngog wasted his opportunities, and Eagles fired wide and had another effort saved.

And then, approaching half time, Swansea appeared to suddenly smell blood, and a poor encounter began to come to life. Around the 40th minute, Wayne Routledge put the ball into the net from close range, but celebrations were halted by the linesman's flag. However they continued their spell of pressure, and in the 43rd minute Luke Moore received the ball, ran at goal and looped a close range lob over the keeper. The away side were ahead after doing nothing for the opening 40 minutes.

Swansea's fans chanted "Pratley, what's the score?", having a dig at the Bolton player who left them last summer. He came up with the best possible response, heading the ball in from close range right at the end of the half, and credit to him he didn't celebrate in respect to his former club, despite their fans having just been goading him. 1-1 it was at half time.

Swansea had the first opportunity of the second half with Luke Moore shooting wide from range, and then Bolton exerted a spell of pressure of their own, and were rewarded by a goalkeeping mistake. Petrov had a fairly optimistic effort from wide left straight at the Swansea keeper, who failed to gather the ball properly and spilled it to Chris Eagles, who tapped in to the right corner to put Bolton 2-1 ahead.

The game became quite open from that point, with both clubs looking for another goal. Lita hit the woodwork for Swansea and Pratley did the same at the other end, and Reo-Coker found the side netting as Bolton tried to build on their lead.

Brendan Rodgers brought on a couple of first team regulars for Swansea including Danny Graham midway through the second half, and late on they pressed forward and gave the home fans a number of heart in mouth moments, the biggest of which was when Graham got on the end of a cross right near the end of the game, his header bouncing back off the post rather than finding the net. Bolton hung on to the win, and face a long trip South to either face Millwall or Southampton in the next round, depending on who wins in the replay between the two Championship clubs.

The Neil Rourke Stadium - Woodley Sports - ground info

Woodley Sports play at the Neil Rourke Stadium, which has a capacity of 2000, including 186 seats. The seated bit is covered, as is the stand behind one of the goals - the rest is open space.

The ground is within easy walking distance of both Woodley and Bredbury rail stations, and locally can be easily got to via buses from Hyde, Ashton and others, which go along Hyde Road / Stockport Road. Via car there are plenty of nearby side streets next to the ground which usually have lots of spaces free.

The ground is mainly well known in the division as being one with a "plastic pitch", making it an ideal options for non league spectators to fall back on when other local games are postponed due to snow/ice. Recently the only time I remember a Woodley home match being called off was due to the safety of players and fans getting to the ground rather than the pitch itself being deemed unfit.

The "3g" turf they use looks surprisingly similar to real grass, as can be seen in the picture below. It does appear to have differences when played on however, you only have to look at how significantly better Woodley do at home compared to away in recent seasons to know it must make a difference, however much clubs with these types of pitches can try to deny it. It's obvious from the way Woodley try to concentrate on low passing moves in their home games that they've adapted to the added kick/bounce off the plastic turf that teams struggle with when attempting high long balls.

Woodley rarely get crowds over a hundred in recent seasons, and unfortunately this combined with current building works happening at the ground leaves it looking soulless, and, to be honest - pretty ugly. See building vehicles and supplies in the top picture, and the bizarre looking metal thing below that'll eventually become a car park. The fenced off area behind the side I was stood at looked even worse.

There was a crowd of 85 at the match I was at, so with so few there I attempted getting some food or drink at half time. Despite the small crowd, I joined a long queue that pretty much didn't move for 10 minutes. I think 3 people were served in that time? I gave up as the teams came out for the second half with a big queue still in front of me. I've seen other blogs saying similar. I don't know how Woodley coped when teams with larger away followings played at their ground in recent seasons!

Admission is £7 adults, the norm for the Evo Stik Division One North, and I believe programmes are £2 which includes some form of raffle ticket.

Moss Rose - Macclesfield Town - ground info

Moss Rose is a 6,355 capacity stadium, with 2,599 seats. The ground was built in 1891, making it the second oldest in the football league. However, it wasn't used as a football league ground until 1990 when Chester City played their home games there for a few years whilst waiting to move to the new Deva Stadium. Macclesfield finally played their first football league match at their ground in 1997 having won the Conference for the second time, having had their promotion rejected in 1995 due to stricter ground restrictions.

Pictures of the stands from the vantage point of the seated area of the Silk FM stand are above, with The Silkmen Terrace first (an open terrace that houses the away fans), then the Macclesfield Audi Stand, and then the Henshaw's Stand.

  

The ground is 1.2 miles away from the train station, and an easy enough walk as you pretty much exit the train station, take a left turn and then follow the road until you get to the ground. There's some parking space at the ground, and with many side streets leading off the main road it looked easy enough to find somewhere to park nearby.

 On the day I was there programmes were £3, I'm unsure about the costs of food and drink. In terms of admission, Macclesfield charge cheaper prices than many at their level, particularly when bought in advance at the club, on the phone or online, with typical seats £16 and standing £12, or seats £18 standing £14 if bought on the match day.

Woodley Sports 2 Wakefield 1

An 82nd minute goal got Woodley back to winning ways to keep up their hopes of a play off place, but Wakefield will look to take heart from a battling performance that very nearly gave them a rare reward.

Times are tough for Wakefield, financial problems have gutted their squad this season and left them in a relegation place. This was their seventh defeat in a row, and made it 19 games in a row since they last won in the league back in August.

But early on in the match Wakefield kept possession well and put in a number of dangerous crosses, one of which was headed wide of the left post. Woodley responded in the sixth minute with a through ball putting Joey Holt one on one with the keeper, the keeper managing to get enough on the shot to deflect it wide. And in the tenth minute, after a dangerous cross was cleared over the bar, a shot from the resulting corner went just wide of the left post.

Wakefield closed their gaps for a while after this as Woodley struggled to create further chances. Then, for a five minute spell as the game hit the half hour mark, Woodley had another flurry of opportunities, including another Joey Holt close range shot on the left side of the penalty area, this time the ball went wide to the right of the goal. Before that a shot from the right side of the penalty area curled wide of the top right hand corner.

And then, just as a Woodley goal was looking imminent, Wakefield had a rare attack, and as their player dribbled the ball in the penalty area, Aaron Chalmers clumsily slid in and took him down. Just like that Wakefield had a penalty, which was perfectly slotted into the bottom left corner by Josh Grant, giving them a surprise 36th minute lead and only their 2nd goal in the last 7 games.

Chalmers tried to make immediate amends for Woodley with a low shot on the edge of the penalty area that went just wide of the left post. Near the end of the half Joey Holt once again was put through for a big chance, but his close range shot from wide left crashed into the side netting, and half time followed soon after.

Wakefield would have been eager to do what they could to hold on to their lead as the teams came out for the second half, but those hopes lasted only one minute. Joey Holt yet again was put through on the left side of the penalty area, and this time he opted to square the ball to Bradley Maylett, who tapped in from close range to make it 1-1 in the 46th minute.

There was almost an immediate response to this, as Wakefield charged forward, and a powerful shot cannoned off the left post. Woodley also hit the woodwork just over 5 minutes after this, a shot pretty much on the penalty spot itself was scooped up and hit the bar when a goal looked easier.

Wakefield were presented another chance after a poor defensive giveaway, leading to a close range effort that the keeper was nowhere near, but a backtracking defender was able to hack clear as the ball approached the goal line.

After this end to end spell Woodley mainly took over as Wakefield began to focus on holding on to a draw. For Woodley a blast from the right edge of the penalty area was parried by the Wakefield keeper, and the keeper also pushed a free kick wide around the 80th minute. From the resulting corner another effort hit the bar and went over.

A minute after this Woodley continued this spell of pressure, and yet again Joey Holt was put through on the left side of the penalty area. The fifth time he was released for a major opportunity in this match, and this time he took the opportunity, slotting the ball underneath the keeper's dive and into the net to put his side 2-1 ahead in the 82nd minute.

Wakefield were unable to create anything else after this point, the battling performance taking its toll energy-wise, but they did stop Woodley creating any further big chances. Woodley were clearly relieved at full time, this win bringing a 3 match losing run in the league to an end as they registered their first points of 2012. Meanwhile Wakefield's gloom continues, but they can take positives from a spirited performance at a ground that brings little reward for most visitors. In 14 home games on their 3g artificial pitch Woodley have won 10 and drawn 2, currently more points at home than any team in their division.

Macclesfield Town 2 Bolton Wanderers 2

A thrilling FA Cup 3rd round tie at Moss Rose, where Macclesfield performed brilliantly to at times really rattle their Premier League opponents.

In a "potential giant killing" type match like this, the lower league team will hope to either get an early goal to rattle their opponents, or to at least disrupt their opponents play and stop them from getting a goal for as long as possible. So when Bolton scored in just the 6th minute, this game was looking unlikely to produce any joy for Macclesfield.

In truth Macclesfield looked very nervous early on, and the early goal had looked likely. Darren Pratley's shot was parried by Macclesfield keeper Veiga, but only straight into the path of Klasnic for an easy close range tap in. It was looking likely that Bolton would now be able to settle into the game and score several more.

But instead Macclesfield responded superbly, and began pushing forward. They had two massive opportunities - first Colin Daniel was put through one on one with Bolton's keeper Adam Bogdan, but his shot was saved when he might have had time to round the keeper. Soon after, Mendy attempted an excellent curling effort heading for the right corner, which Bogdan brilliantly pushed wide.

And then, from a Bolton corner, Macclesfield broke well, as the fast George Donnelly was fed the ball wide left to charge forward. He crossed the ball to Colin Daniel, who this time took his massive opportunity with a composed finish to make it 1-1 in the 16th minute.

A Joe Riley cross brushed the bar on it's way out for Bolton shortly after, but on the whole it was Macclesfield who were looking more threatening, with a series of dangerous long balls and crosses really testing Bolton.

They'd given Bolton no opportunity to settle into the game after the early goal, and by the end of the half Bolton were visibly rattled, with a series of wayward passes and desperate moments in defence, including a clumsy Wheater foul outside the box that had the Macclesfield fans convinced he was the last man in defence. The referee must have decided the other defenders would have caught up with the attacking player in time as he only gave a yellow card. Bolton were probably relieved when the half time whistle was blown.

But the half time break did little to alter things, as Macclesfield continued on the front foot in the second half. Colin Daniel continued to be the man on the end of most of their chances, as he headed wide and then had a low shot saved by Bogdan.

Bolton manager Owen Coyle made two substitutions in the 63rd minute to try to put some life back in his team's attack, but in the 68th minute he must have wondered if his team were about to be on the receiving end of a big shock when Macclesfield scored again - and what a goal it was. Mendy got the ball facing away from goal 25 yards out, flicked it up, span and smashed the ball into the top corner. It was an amazing moment, and the home fans went absolutely mental.

This goal seemed to wake Bolton up, and they began to take over the game and push forward. And they soon got their equaliser, a 77th minute Petrov free kick set up a well placed header from David Wheater, low into the corner of the net, and it was the Bolton fan's turn to go bonkers.

After this Macclesfield struggled to be able to put together the passing moves that had taken Bolton by surprise for much of the game, and late on Bolton laid siege on the Macclesfield goal - first a curling 20-25 yard Petrov free kick hit the bar, and right near the end Klasnic had a massive chance from close range, but his low shot was brilliantly saved by Veiga.

It proved to be the last major action in the game, the draw in the end about the right result after an entertaining match. The tie now goes to a replay at Bolton's Reebok Stadium, and the winner of the replay will be at home to Swansea in the FA cup 4th round.

Stalybridge Celtic 1 Hyde 3

In front of another big crowd of 1,806, Hyde opened up an 11 point gap at the top of the table over local rivals Stalybridge at Bower Fold.

Over the christmas and new year period the two games between these sides has shown they are closely matched, the one difference seems to be that Hyde appear to have a ruthless streak in front of goal that Stalybridge really lacked in this game, which could make all the difference in the remainder of the season.

Stalybridge would have been eager to begin this game in the same fashion as the boxing day tie where they scored after 90 seconds, but this time it was Hyde who pushed forward early on. After Spencer had an early shot go just wide, they cut through Stalybridge's defence with a number of impressive passing moves that were just cut out by desperate challenges.

Stalybridge regrouped, and in truth the two teams mainly cancelled each other out for the remainder of the 1st half, the only other big moment of note being a Stalybridge free kick where Phil Marsh stung the palms of Carnell, the ball rebounding to Connor Jennings who took too long setting himself up for a shot, and he was closed down before he could score.

In truth this summed up Stalybridge for the duration of the game, as they so often took too long shaping to shoot or doing one too many passes in the hope of setting up the perfect chance. Really it was like watching a non league equivalent of Arsenal at their worst - against a well organised Hyde defence they were never likely to manage to prize open a big gap for an easy shooting opportunity.

If Stalybridge had been more ruthless at the start of the second half they could have taken advantage of early dominance - they had near total possession in the opening 10 minutes of the half, with frequent crosses and attempts at the perfect final ball well blocked as the Hyde defence stood firm, and in truth there wasn't really a good shot on goal at all despite Stalybridge having near total possession.

After this the game began leveling out again, and in the 66th minute Hyde got a free kick from 25 yards out. Adam Griffin did a short pass to Reece Gray, and he did something that the home fans had been pleading for Stalybridge to do when they'd been on top - he gambled and had a shot, despite not having a clear sight on goal and not being close range. All the bodies being in the way actually turned out to help, as the ball took a slight deflection as it flew past keeper Jan Budtz to send the Hyde fans into raptures.

Stalybridge switched to having 3 strikers up front and tried to push forward, a McWilliams shot went over and a Jennings curling chip was caught. But as they went for broke and pushed everyone forward, leaving not many back to defend, it gave Hyde excellent chances to counter attack. And when a pass was intercepted, Hyde's top scorer Scott Spencer was released by a quick through ball, and he raced from the halfway line and from wide right smashed a bullet of an effort into the left corner, making it 0-2.

It was a lightning attack that was set up and finished at breathtaking speed, and it really knocked the stuffing out of a stunned Stalybridge side. Their attacks were becoming increasingly desperate, and as a result Hyde were always looking likely to pick them off again given the opportunity. And in the 84th minute they got the 3rd goal to really kill the game off, another shot from outside the penalty area paid off again as it deflected in via a sliding Kristian Platt.

Stalybridge mustered a late consolation, Jennings tripped on the right edge of the penalty area, and he picked himself up to finish high into the left side of the net in the 91st minute. 1-3 it finished, the right result on the day, and after the 1-1 draw at Ewen Fields on boxing day the past week has been a big boost for Hyde's title campaign, Stalybridge now beginning to look like they have a bit of a mountain to climb to be able to catch up with their big local rivals.