And so to the Halton Stadium, home of Widnes FC and also Widnes Vikings RLFC. This afternoon sees the visit of Barnton FC for a North West Counties Premier Division fixture.
The home team was formed as The Dragons AFC in February 2003, concentrating on grassroots football. In 2012 they began a consultation process with Widnes Vikings RLFC to become part of the brand, and set up a first team that played one season in the West Cheshire League 3rd Division.
Widnes Vikings FC was admitted into the football pyramid and placed in the North West Counties Football League for the 2013/14 season. However, the club moved away from the Vikings brand in March 2014, becoming Widnes FC.
The Whites were promoted as champions of the First Division last May, and they are currently second in the Premier Division this time, on a 13 match unbeaten run.
In 2015/16 the club finished third and won the play off final 2-0 against Bacup Borough after extra time in front of a record crowd of 554 (yup I was there !). 17th last time but bottom by a country mile this campaign, one win, 9 points from 29 games and 107 goals conceded, in the 23 team league - relegation appears inevitable.
And so I set out on a dreadful afternoon,
inevitably with rain teeming down - weather that has seen every other
fixture in this division postponed because of waterlogging. Past a
heated argument outside The Navigation then through Bowdon to Rostherne,
'Home of England's Finest Gardens'.
Onto the M56 then the M6 over Thelwall and into Woolston, site of the Tree of Lost Soles - a tree adorned with shoes and boots that the Council mysteriously chopped down in 2015. Through Warrington and The Hatter pub on Lovely Lane, into Bewsey and then to Fairclough Mill aka The Pink Eye at Sankey Bridges.
At Penketh there's The Teapod Tearooms before reaching Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, and the newly constructed fire station next to it - there's nothing like being prepared !! Then into Widnes, home of the Catalyst Science Discovery Centre and No More Kennels. We reach the Halton Select Security Stadium and the pub next door - The Cricketers Arms...... the rain has stopped and there's even a glimpse of sunshine.
The Halton Stadium is a 13,350 all seater stadium with 4 covered stands. The sign in the car park helpfully tells us Widnes FC - Use Turnstiles S1 & S2........ both of which are locked ! After a wander round the ground we enter via Stadium Fitness and I sneak a quick peek of the impressive Legends Bar and Marquee Suite.
Just half of the South Stand is open - more than enough to accommodate the crowd of 72. This in itself is a big improvement on the 47 for last week's home game with Padiham, with today's crowd bolstered by some away fans and the fact that there is no local non league football anywhere else, except St Helens which also has an all weather pitch. But 72 in a ground that holds 13,350 is just nonsensical !!
Widnes are in white shirts with black shorts, The Villagers in change orange and sky blue. Their shirts also feature the club badge which includes a narrowboat referencing the nearby Anderton Boat Lift.
The expected gulf in class is immediately apparent, and the Whites should have led within the first 15 seconds. But their front two, George Lomax and Ben Hodkinson are wasteful, miscuing a hatful of chances. Joint player manager Steve Akrigg plants two free headers from corners over the bar, and winger Danny Laverty fires wide. The Villagers' keeper Rob Cooke makes two smart stops but the breakthrough is a long time coming.
One of the features of the first period is Widnes left back Phil Doran's barnstorming runs but he is involved, bizarrely, in another way in the Whites opener on 38 minutes. He retrieves the ball from the empty Pat Price Stand opposite and takes the throw in from the sixth row. The referee orders him to retake it from the touch line. From this a simple ball over the top beats the offside trap and George Lomax lobs a hesitant Cooke.
Five minutes later Chris Lomax's slaloming run sees the ball ricochet to Hodkinson who sends Cooke the wrong way for 2-0. Barnton's only response is bang on half time with Jack Irlam's 30 yard free kick straight at Richie Mottram.
Not long into the second period Chris Lomax makes it three with a sumptuous finish, and soon after Laverty has the opportunity to make it four but Cooke stands up well in the one on one. Widnes then become sloppy with Villagers' sub Brandon Moores lobbing just over Mottram's bar and Chris Bandell hitting the side netting. Moores is then felled for a Barnton penalty with a cheeky young lad shouting from the stand 'I'll give you a fiver if you miss the pen'.... Irlam scores straight down the middle.
Irlam goes close again and the other joint player manager Kev Towey has seen enough, and brings himself on with a quarter of an hour to play. Within 30 seconds he has scored, heading the ball on to Laverty on the wing and finishing the cross with aplomb.
He then sets up fellow sub Jack Banister with two goals in a minute, the first a one two and run on goal before his shot deflects in, the second from an exquisite back heel. The scoring is completed in the final minute as Stuart Cook produces two outrageous drag backs, dumping defenders on the floor, before smashing in off the post.
