Mid-season review - Premier Division

The division started with 16 sides but come early September and with player unavailability starting to bite, WYRE VILLA decided to resign from the league with their record expunged.

It left the division with just 15 teams meaning a 28-game season, four fewer than last season.

First to our promoted clubs EAGLEY and HASLINGDEN ST MARY’S who both had high hopes of following the path of previous Division One promoted sides Rossendale and Lostock St Gerards and making a splash at the top end of the table.

But, for Eagley, they were dealt a blow back in August when prolific striker Finlay Stafford took his talents to America and they drew blanks in their first two games.

A 3-0 win over Milnthorpe Corinthians got them off and running and thanks to their home form, they have a tidy gap to the bottom two.

A record of just one point on the road will surely improve with a mid-table finish surely realistic for Neil Hart’s men.

An LFA Shield quarter final away at Carnforth Rangers awaits, too.

Up the valley at HASLINGDEN, St Mary's sit ninth with a steady record – not bad considering they were given Burscough Richmond and CMB first up back in those balmy August days.

But spearheaded by driving midfielder Alfie Edmondson, they beat Fulwood, Blackpool Wren Rovers and Hurst Green before the clocks went back.

Only four sides have scored more goals than them this season so if you want entertainment, you know where to go. Like Eagley, they are still in the LFA Shield quarter finals so there is plenty left to play for.

One of those free-scoring sides is BLACKPOOL WREN ROVERS who started the season like a steam train, smashing five past Hurst Green and Burscough Richmond.

Could they finally be title candidates?

A series of frustrating draws held them back and with only eight league games left to play, they are probably too far behind to mount a late title bid in sixth, nine points off the pace.

That’s because TEMPEST UNITED have been sensational, returning manager Ross McNair dismissing the old adage that you should ‘never go back’.

But for a surprise recent defeat at Cleator Moor, they have had a remarkable few months.

August highlights included a 10-0 defeat of Coppull and an eye-catching 4-1 win at near neighbours CMB.

They have barely let up – bar that loss in Cumbria – and sit pretty going into tomorrow’s game against HURST GREEN.

The Ribble Valley villagers had a slow start, picking up just two points from their first three home games in the notoriously chaotic August slogfest – a victim of Ric Seear’s unerring finishing in the opening game against Blackpool Wren Rovers.

But their spell over Fulwood continued with a 4-1 win and a 6-0 thumping of Cleator Moor helped them nudge up the table.

They’re hard to beat and probably deserved a point at Burscough back in November. They’re in seventh leading the chasing pack – a good spring could see a top five finish.

BURSCOUGH RICHMOND recovered from that August pasting by Blackpool Wren Rovers to gradually reel in Tempest United and they are the most likely title challengers two points behind the Bolton side with 10 games to go.

They seem to be able to rebuild every year around a core group and one key new face is teenage midfielder Lewis Corke, who surely looks destined for greater things.

They host Haslingden in that LFA Shield last eight later in January – don’t bet against Anthony Murt’s grafters for a league and cup double.

Also in that cup quarter final draw is CMB and they, too, could end the season with an unexpected glut of silverware.

A possible hangover from last season’s title trauma, when they lost out to Thornton Cleveleys on a scarcely-believable final day, they lost four league matches in August and suffered two more defeats at Coppull and Poulton.

Matt Taylor told the West Lancs Show podcast in May ‘you can’t win the league in August, but you can lose it’.

Their chances of going one better in the league looked done and dusted.

But remarkably, 12 wins and no draws means they remain only five points behind Tempest United and face Golborne Sports in that Shield quarter-final.

The final Premier Division side in the LFA Shield quarters is FULWOOD AMATEURS who are almost replicating last season’s rollercoaster term – unplayable on their day, a penchant for surprise defeats their Achilles heel.

Six defeats mean they trail the top three having played one more game.

If they can keep Spencer Lucas on the pitch and firing, they could be very dangerous in the run-in.

They have bigger fish to fry, of course, with an application to join the North West Counties League. To do so, they need to finish in the top five.

Phil Blackwell’s men are odds on to achieve that, but it’s not easy – just ask Euxton Villa who staggered over the line in 2022!

Fulwood play WHITEHAVEN this month, a side who beat them earlier this season and who will be looking for a repeat to help them beat the drop.

Managerial changes have caused understandable upheaval on the Cumbrian coastline and they are the league’s joint lowest scorers with 20 from 18 games so far.

Good wins against Lostock St Gerards and Milnthorpe were balanced out by a travel sickness – they have just one point from nine away games – that needs to be remedied if they are to escape.

They’re made of stern stuff up there though and only a fool would bet against them, especially now with Karl Benson and Chris Rourke reuniting in the dugout.

Their closest rivals COPPULL UNITED recently earned praise from Fulwood boss Phil Blackwell who said he thought they would avoid the drop.

They remain a point ahead of Whitehaven at the bottom and have had a transitional year under new management, too.

Home wins over CMB and Rossendale have been the highlight – a repeat of their 4-1 win at Whitehaven could be crucial.

ROSSENDALE are ticking along nicely in fifth with seven wins in their last eight games after a crazy September when they conceded 95th minute goals in three consecutive matches at Poulton, Hurst Green and Burscough Richmond, costing them four points.

If they can get their away form to match their unbeaten home record going into May, they could well gatecrash the top three.

One of those last-gasp goals was at POULTON who aren’t short of goals (they scored four on three occasions in August) but concede plenty too.

On their day they are a match for anyone with that 3-0 win over CMB an eye-catching result.

January’s three league games against Coppull, Tempest and Eagley will decide if they will enjoy a calm end to the season…or a relegation scrap.

CLEATOR MOOR CELTIC have notched three home wins on the bounce to lift themselves out of trouble after another turbulent season with changes in the dugout.

Keep that form going and they will be able to keep near neighbours Whitehaven in their rear view mirror with a top seven finish not out of the question.

The same can be said of MILNTHORPE CORINTHIANS who are level on points with Cleator in 10th.

They have six home games left out of 10 and Garry Thompson is moulding an exciting young side, with the pre-season capture of Jonny Voortman from Kendal United a shrewd signing.

Mid-table beckons for them and an improvement on last season’s 14th slot.

And finally, LOSTOCK ST GERARDS – seventh in their debut Premier Division season – flew out of the blocks in August and looked destined to be in the title conversation.

Off-field issues and the upheaval that brought has seen them fall to eighth.

But now under the gaze of Andrew Leggett in the hotseat, no one will fancy having to face them needing three points.

They still have to play three of the top four – title hopefuls beware!