Mid-season review - Division One

Pre-season upheaval saw FRECKLETON scrap their reserve side from Reserve Division Two to put their sole focus on the first team’s debut season in Division One.

And it was a struggle at first, losing their opening two games heavily at home.

But wins against Slyne and a double over Southport Hesketh – the most recent a 3-1 win in Merseyside before Christmas – has given them a boost in their survival battle.

A creditable performance in defeat at Fulwood Amateurs in the LFA Shield should give them confidence for the second half of the season too.

There’s been no such drama or frustration at Division Two champions ASTLEY AND BUCKSHAW who have carried on where they left off and are eyeing back-to-back promotions.

They won six matches in August and haven’t looked back, only defeat at Millom seeing them sacrifice top spot before the winter break.

Lucas Gornall has bagged 13 goals and Callum Williams only one fewer. They’ll take some stopping.

One side hoping to do just that is ULVERSTON RANGERS who are best placed of the leading pack to overhaul that 12 point gap.

They fell away alarmingly last year after a stellar campaign so they’ll be hoping for the exact opposite – a storming finale – to get in the mix.

Jack Milburn has been on fire with 19 goals and they face bottom club Slyne with Hest this weekend expecting to get three more points to their total.

SLYNE were looking for a season of consolidation after relegation but again it’s been a tough start for the Lancaster side, their solitary win coming at Croston back in September.

A draw at Crooklands and a narrow defeat at Hesketh Bank show they are more than a match for any side in the division on their day.

They have 10 games to put that promise into action.

LYTHAM TOWN also have 10 games left to try to turn 2022-23's relegation on its head with a swift return.

They’ve been better away from home with six wins from 10 games on their travels and have Ulverston and Astley still to visit.

Of course, whatever happens on the pitch pales into insignificance compared to the unimaginable pain of losing beloved coach Paul Fiddler last month in a freak road accident during Storm Darragh.

Lytham’s players will need no motivation whatsoever to mount a promotion tilt in his honour.

TURTON have fared slightly better than fellow-relegated side Slyne and are 12th with four wins from their 18 games.

They’ve done well in cup competitions though – they beat Premier Division Whitehaven 2-0 to advance in the Richardson Cup and they did well in the LFA Shield eventually bowing out to Burscough Richmond.

They travel to HESKETH BANK this weekend – another side left craving some consistency.

They are the division’s second top scorers with 53 goals (20 of those courtesy of Kevin Edgar) but have let in 30 while losing three at home.

Shorn of injured player-manager Dan Birkby and stalwart defender Liam Hayton, who hung up his laces at the end of last season, they need a solid run to give themselves a shot at a promotion that has eluded them so often.

CHIPPING are the last of the clubs who could still have something to play for at the top end and are in ninth with eight wins from 18 games.

Harris Bailey and Gary Knight have struck 26 times between them and with seven home games left, they may well have the firepower to kick on and shoot up the table.

CROSTON SPORTS are one place behind but a full nine points adrift in 10th and will be determined to avoid being sucked into a relegation scrap.

They won handsomely at Freckleton and narrowly at Ulverston and Southport Hesketh.

Goals have been their undoing, hitting the lowest (26) outside the bottom two sides. Get that right and they won’t be sweating too much.

Nor should CROOKLANDS CASUALS who lie a point and a place behind Croston going into January.

They won their first two games in August but haven’t won since September 28, a 4-3 thriller at Freckleton.

Their next two games are easy though – away at Astley in the league and then Tempest United in the Richardson Cup!

Win them two and the team of the month award will be sown up.

Another side with cup ambitions over league are CARNFORTH RANGERS who have an LFA Shield quarter-final against Eagley to look forward to.

They’re hard to predict – August was a case of win comfortably one week then get beat the next.

The Challenge Cup holders did beat Astley at home in the league and no side will fancy facing them in the season run-in.

They’re eighth with 32 points, level with ASKAM UNITED, a side who will also feel they should be higher than they are, which is seventh.

Josh Jones’ side are unbeaten in five but three defeats in August set them back, a position they have not been able to recover from properly as they bid to at least match last year’s fourth slot in Division One.

They still have Millom and Ulverston to play at home and Astley and Hesketh Bank to play away – the destiny could be in their hands.

They also play HOLKER OLD BOYS RES looking to avenge a crazy 7-5 defeat at Rakesmoor Lane back in August.

Jordan McGarry was on target that day for Holker and he’s hit 11 more to put them level on points with Askam and Carnforth with 12 to play.

Failing to fulfil a Richardson Cup fixture at CMB before Christmas was an unwelcome stain on their record since coming into the league, which has already seen one promotion.

A seat at the top table is not out of the question just yet.

For MILLOM, that should be a foregone conclusion.

They’re 14 points ahead of third placed Ulverston with 11 games to go.

With Ben Macdonald on 19 goals and having won their last 11 league matches, Dave Allen’s men are in rude health at the summit, a position they assumed after seeing off Astley 3-0 before Christmas.

But nothing is won in December…

Or lost, for that matter.

Which could be a saving grace for SOUTHPORT HESKETH who lost to Freckleton 3-1 early in December to keep them in the bottom two.

Early season results didn’t tell the full story though for Denis Hill’s men, scorelines often not reflecting games, notably a 4-1 defeat at Hesketh Bank in August where they could have easily got a share of the spoils.

A narrow win over Slyne and a 5-3 defeat of Croston are the season’s highlights so far. They have one of the league’s most exciting forwards in Mo Samateh – they’ll need him to hit the target to keep their season alive.

If he can, KENDAL COUNTY could be the ones to suffer – they’re 13th and looking nervously over their shoulders.

But they have a good record against the sides around them – wins over Croston, Freckleton and Southport Hesketh their only three point hauls to date.

They still have Freckleton and Slyne to play plus Carnforth this coming Saturday, win that and they will go into their Richardson Cup tie against Rossendale on January 11 with a renewed confidence.