1874 Northwich

1874 Northwich 2 v Sheffield United XI 2
(billed as U21)

At Winsford United

Saturday 25 July 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Today’s drink was in the lovely Red Lion in Winsford. Beside the River Weaver. It is a nice quirky place. Quite a few rooms, with a central bar. The problem they had was that the cask beers were going off (in a normal, this one is done way). But, punters were having to come back to the bar & tell them & then no replacements were coming up. This meant that when I walked in, there were nominally four on. But, by the time I went up for my second pint, there was actually only one on. (The one I’d already had). They handled it all very politely, no fuss. But, I will mark them down as one beer is just one beer. Maybe they needed the right cellarman to sort the new ones out.

So, I ended up with Weetwood, Cheshire Cat (Blonde Ale) at 4%.

A real eye opener for the problems our non-league cousins face. Formed only in 2012, they are a breakaway club from Northwich Victoria.  Essentially, a number of Vics fans got so pissed off with the situation they upped & formed a new club. No ground of course, so they cuckoo at Winsford United. A nice enough set up there. Oval shape. Decent club house. There was a handpull beer handle, but nothing on.

Nice competitive game. United played with pace at times. Scored early on after the 1874 keeper went on an excursion. Nobody really stood out. But lots of good shifts. The side is obviously settling down at this level. Ioan Evans ended up going off with a knock. Graham Kelly filled in at centre back for him. When Jake Wright came on, he was in a more withdrawn role, rather than out and out striker. They’re either going to have to rotate Cockerline, McDonagh and Wright, get one out on loan, or find one a new role. As even early season, it looks like they’re competing for two striker positions.

Great day out.

173/368