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.