ON THIS DAY: 13 February – Matt hat-trick
In normal circumstances, we would have been hosting Prescot Cables in a NPL North West fixture at Borough Park this afternoon. Instead, we can reflect on a victory against the same opposition played on the 13th February twenty two years ago…….
1999 Prescot Cables (home) 3-1
Peter Hampton had been presented with the manager of the month award for January prior to kick-off by League Vice-President, Bob Eccles. The team then justified the boss’ nomination with a powerful display which secured a crucial victory against promotion rivals, Cables.
The Reds line-up was:
George Dixon, Alan Gray, Marc Green, Martin Kirkby, Lee Taylor, Stuart Williamson, Mark Jones, Mathew Henney (George Corrie), Matthew Swailes (Stuart Millar), Darren Wilson, Matthew Bowman (Graham Goulding).
Matt Swailes (featured) had joined the club from Chorley the previous month and proved the match winner on this occasion, scoring a hat-trick with goals after 23, 52 and 80 minutes. The first two were similar – a powerful run with the ball before an impressive finish from just inside the box – with his threesome completed thanks to a penalty, emphatically hammered home in style.
Gavin McDonald responded for Prescot at 2-0 as they contributed to an entertaining game whilst Alan Gray’s shot rebounded off the woodwork.
Matt Bowman made his debut for Reds in that match but never featured again after that.
Reds were unhappy with the referee’s performance after four players – Taylor, Henney, Corrie and Swailes – collected yellow cards.
The win left us in 5th position and the game attracted another decent crowd with 833 on the terraces.
Other results on this day included:
1952 Bradford Park Avenue -Third Division North – away, 1-2 (Chris Simmonds) 4,179
1960 Rochdale – Fourth Division – home, 2-0 (Peter Harburn, Ron McGarry) 2,486
1965 Reading – Third Division – away, 0-1 5,304
1982 Grantham – Northern Premier League – home, 1-1 (John Smith) 316
1988 Buxton – Northern Premier League – away, 1-3 (Dave Smith) 264
1996 Atherton LR – NPL Challenge Cup – home, 2-3 (Graham Caton, Gary Messenger) 229
2010 Droylsden – Blue Square North – home, 0-1 383
2016 Marine – NPL Challenge Cup – away, 2-3 (Josh Calvert, Joe McGee) 136
