The 1874 Column by Matt Waters

SATURDAY’S 1-0 victory over Litherland REMCYA saw us stay nine points clear at the top of the table and stay unbeaten in our last 11 games.

A goal from defender Lee Jackson saw us over the line in a tight game against a Litherland side who have picked up in the form table over the last few weeks.

Since the season started, it was clear that the recruitment which has taken place has benefitted the squad massively and given us much more depth than we’ve ever had before.

As we ended pre-season with notable absences such as Ryan Mitchell, Jack Pritchard, Joe Woolley and Ryan Jackson who were suffering long-term injuries, the recruitment that Wayne Goodison and Paul Bowyer did over the summer has taken us from strength to strength.

One of the biggest differences we’ve seen compared to last season was that we started the campaign with a settled goalkeeper in Tony Aghayere.

Even though he joined part way through the 2018-19 season, it has been crucial keeping hold of Tony as this weekend he made his 10th clean sheet in 21 games, showing how valuable he is.

With Ryan Jackson and Joe Woolley both suffering serious injuries, it was clear that we needed to strengthen our options on the wings if we were to challenge for promotion, and ‘GoBo’ did just that.

The signings of young wingers Lee Knight and Harry Cain have been excellent.

With both players having experience playing in the leagues above, these two players have helped take us to the next level so far this season stepping up and creating competition for 1874 fan favourite Taylor Kennerley.

Between them this season they have scored 10 goals plus contributing many assists.

The pace and skill on the ball has proved too much for many sides this season and they have played a huge part in the season so far, especially for Harry Cain who overcame an injury during the early part of the season.

And last week’s re-signing of Ryan Jackson and Stuart Wellstead shows the intent that Wayne and Paul have as the side look to march on in the league and Macron Cup.

However, potentially the biggest signing was Jake Parker.

After leaving the club during last season due to work commitments, we welcomed Jake back at the start of this season and he is having the season of his life.

After half a season Jake has bagged 19 goals in the league putting him the fourth top scorer in the league and showing the huge impact he’s had on the side so far.

With 17 league games left and our average attendance sitting at 278, it is fantastic to see such a great atmosphere being built at Townfield and the constant feelgood factor around the club as we play our football in Northwich for the first time and as we look to make it a season to remember.