North West Counties Football League: Cammell Laird 1907 FC 0 - Padiham FC 3

Following the postponement of last Saturday's home game against Squired Gate, the Cammell Laird ground staff obviously worked very hard to make sure that this game went ahead as scheduled.

Unfortunately, while the pitch was up to the job, the Cammell Laird team found it difficult to rise to the occasion and found no way through a plucky Padiham side who started the 18th in the NWCFL Premier Division table and some 9 points behind their hosts.

To be fair, the playing conditions probably favoured the visitors as we have seen Padiham play on numerous occasions when we used to live in East Lancashire and every single time we have been there for match it has absolutely poured with rain. We also know their manager Steve Wilkes of old from when he managed Darwen all the way to the final of the Lancashire Cup - narrowly losing to then-Conference side Morecambe on penalties - so, although we enjoyed the afternoon along with the Padiham travelling faithful, it wasn't such a good day to be a Cammell Laird fan.

In all honesty this game was very entertaining to watch with lost of end to end action and was a lot more closely contested than the final scoreline suggests. But while the home side were unable to put any of their own chances away, Padiham had no such difficulty.

Cammell Laird have the chance to get back to winning ways on Boxing Day when they entertain Ashton Athletic at their St Peters Road ground in a 3pm kick off. If you haven't been to a NWCFL game before, maybe it would be nice festive treat to go as a family and enjoy a pleasant afternoon of grass roots football...?

You can find out more about Cammell Laird 1907 FC and their various teams HERE

or find out about your own local NWCFL team at www.nwcfl.com

GB Pair to Guest in Widnes Festive Charity Game

The first of the guest players who will be turning out in the charity match at Silver Blades Widnes on 27^th December have been unveiled.

The game is between Widnes Wild who compete in the Laidler Conference of the National Ice Hockey League and Widnes based Riverside Raiders who are a recreational team – albeit with some very good players of their own.

In order to help bridge the gap in standards between the two teams, it has been agreed that Widnes Wild’s top scorer this season so far – player coach and former Elite league player Scott McKenzie will not play but will run the Wild’s bench for the game and the Raiders team will also be boosted by 5 guest players.   

Three of the 5 guest players have been announced so far with the other two names to follow in the next few days. 

Those named to date are:

1) Former Widnes Wild netminder Nicole Jackson (in main photo). Nicole is a GB women’s international player and currently plays for the Bradford Bulldogs (men’s senior team) in the Laidler Conference. As was as having played previously for Widnes, she has also played – among others - for the Kingston Diamonds women’s team, Manchester Minotaurs and Newcastle Vipers, with whom she won the ENL North 2 title in the 2009/10 season.



Mikey Gilbert

2) 18 year old Mikey Gilbert who plays as a forward for the Altrincham Aces in the Laidler Conference. He has come up through the Manchester / Trafford junior development system and played for Manchester Minotaurs in NIHL North 1 last season. He has represented England and has scored 3 goals and 9 assists for the Aces so far this season. 

3) Also turning out for the Riverside Raiders is Sarah Hutchinson who is another Team GB women’s international.  She plays for Bradford Bulldogs and has previously played for Manchester Minotaurs and the Kingston Diamonds and Sheffield Shadows women’s teams.

The game faces off at 5.30pm on Sunday 27^thDecember at the Silver Blades ice rink at Widnes WA8 0TA. Admission is £6 for adults and £3 for children. 

Sarah Hutchinson
Photo by Rob Hutchinson

For anybody who hasn’t been to an ice hockey match before, the charity game at the Silver Blades ice rink in Widnes on the day after Boxing Day would be a nice occasion for the whole family to go out and do something together and support a good cause at the same time.

The other two guest players will be announced here shortly and, in the meantime, you can find out more about the Widnes Wild ice hockey team at www.widnesicehockey.co.uk

You can find out more about English league NIHL ice hockey in general by looking here:  www.icehockeyreview.co.uk

Widnes Charity Ice Hockey Match In Aid of Ronald McDonald Houses Charity - 27th December 2015

Here’s a great way of having a good family fun night out over the Christmas period and supporting a really good cause at the same time.

Widnes Wild and Riverside Raiders will be staging a charity ice hockey match at the Silver Blades Ice Rink in Widnes (WA8 0TA) on Sunday 27^th December 2015 in aid of the Ronald McDonald Houses.

The game will be the first in what will become an annual challenge for the “Antony Morris Memorial Cup” which has been donated in memory of the Widnes player who died recently after an accident (more info HERE ).

The game faces off at 5.30pm the day after boxing day with doors opening at 4.45.  Admission is £6 for adults and £3 for children.

If you haven’t been to an ice hockey match before, this would be a great opportunity to give it a try!

The Ronald McDonald  Houses provide free accommodation for families while their child is in hospital and enable parents to stay as close as possible to the children's ward, greatly reducing the need to travel and all of its associated stresses and costs at such a difficult time.

You can find out more about the Ronald McDonald Houses charity here: www.rmch.org.uk

To find out more about Widnes Wild ice hockey team click HERE and to find out more about Riverside Raiders look HERE .