North Walkden FC take 2-1 away victory against Old Blackburnians

North Walkden FC celebrated a 2-1 away victory against ‘a well drilled’ Old Blackburnians side last night.

The game was part of the North West inter-league cup, with North Walkden looking to bounce back from their 1-0 home defeat to Shaw Athletic FC the weekend prior. North Walkden currently sit second in the Lancashire and Cheshire Premier Division after four games, winning three of those and losing one, leaving them with nine points.

A very hard earned victory yesterday against a well drilled and game @OBAFC_. Great host, great facilities. No doubt they’ll have a very good season, some quality in that squad.

We progress through to the next round of the @LandCAFL & @lancsamleague cup #vivanorthwalkden pic.twitter.com/Xy8UEbrWXN

— North Walkden FC (@north_walkdenfc) September 25, 2022

The team’s goals were both scored by Adam Doyle, scoring his first after just 20 minutes. He followed with his second in the 61st minute, securing a ‘very hard earned victory’ for his side.

Both goals were assisted by players called Tommy, with Tommy Ward applying the first, and Tommy Scott providing the second. Old Blackburnians goal was also scored by a North Walkden FC player, with Lewis Blood turning the ball into his own net to give the away side an equaliser.

Ben Willmott ended up receiving the man of the match award for the victorious away side on the night. This win ensures North Walkden’s place in the second round of the North West inter-league cup, which is set to be played on the 29th of October.

Manager Lewis Rich gave his thoughts on his team’s performance in last night’s fixture and their progression as a whole. He said: “Where the club’s been in the past, and where the club is this year, the progress we’ve made is massive…We’re very happy to be in the second round of the cup.”

He also shed light on their aforementioned loss to Shaw Athletic in the league. he said: “We had a great start to the year [and] we’ve got a lot of new players… its one of them games where we were top of the league unbeaten and there was a target on our back.

“We were probably a little bit arrogant as well going into the game.” He admitted. “We got shocked first 25 minutes when they came out and wanted to fight for the win…It was a wake up call for us.”

Their second round opposition will be a home fixture to Old Stretfordians, who are yet to play in the competition due to securing their spot in the second round via a bye. Rich opened up about his opinions on the side: “This is a new team, who we’ll never have played before – so one thing that’s for sure is we will not take them for granted.

“We’ll put our best team out and try and get the win on the day.”

This game will be a tough test for North Walkden FC, as Old Stretfordians last fixture resulted in a 5-0 home win against Stratford Paddock’s reserves.

North Walkden FC’s next league fixture will ironically also be against bottom of the league Stratford Paddock FC’s amateurs at home, the away side yet to pick up a win in the league so far.