ON THIS DAY: 30 March – Nantwich’s first success at BP & Jimmy Dailey hat-trick
Another delve into the archives to see what was happening to Reds on the 30th March in years gone by – as usual, it was a mixture of good, bad and indifferent results from our team…….
2019 Nantwich Town (home) 2-4 Reds fell to their twentieth league defeat of the relegation campaign following another abject performance on home soil, compounded by the fact that this was Town’s first success at Borough Park.
Jason Walker 
Scott Allison
In a game of three penalties, two for them and one for us, Nantwich were always in control although Jason Walker, looking suspiciously offside, did equalise with a measured lob over the ‘keeper early in the game. Scott Allison converted a second half spot kick to make it 2-3 but any hopes of salvaging a point were dashed when we gifted Callum Saunders (watched by his dad, Dean) the sixth goal of the afternoon.
Nantwich consolidated 4th position, Reds were adrift at the bottom five points from safety!
2013 FC Halifax Town (home) 0-1 A third minute headed goal from Gareth Seddon was the difference between two jaded sides with Town still on target for the play-offs and Reds, out of promotion contention and clear of relegation, lodged in mid-table.
Match winner, Seddon, had scored twice in the earlier meeting at the Shay where we were thrashed 5-1!
2004 Hyde United (home) 1-1 Hyde arrived in West Cumbria as Unibond League First Division leaders and Reds battled hard to force a draw having to defend for long periods in the second half.
John Wharton was injured early in the game, left the field for treatment, returned to head home the opening goal before being substituted in the twentieth minute. Hyde eventually levelled matters fifteen minutes from time.
Hyde did finish as champions but the top fourteen clubs were effectively promoted as a big reorganisation took place to accommodate the introduction of Conference North and South at Step 2.
2002 Witton Albion (home) 1-3 This was Reds 999th game in the NPL but they were outplayed and failed to win at home for the sixth time in a row. Albion had raced into a three goal lead by half time and, although we improved in the second, it was late in the day when John Hore marked his home debut with a well taken consolation goal.
1996 Netherfield (home) 1-0 Kick-off was delayed by half an hour because the three officials didn’t arrive in time. Travelling from Liverpool, their car broke down on Shap and they had to be towed off the motorway before completing their journey from Penrith in a taxi!
Billy Gilmour scored the twentieth minute winning goal but Reds were poor overall and the Kendal side couldn’t take advantage in a drab derby.
1991 Warrington Town (home) 1-1 Both sides were ‘out-of-sorts’ in another game that failed to excite the sparse crowd (just 137 punters passing through the turnstiles). Indeed, it was with great irony that the main topic of interest was an unannounced visit from Sixties hero, Jimmy Moran. How both teams could have benefitted from a modicum of the craft and guile he brought to a game.
Town had gone in front thanks to a Liam Watson goal but Duncan Armstrong blasted home the equaliser soon after from the penalty spot.
1976 Doncaster Rovers (away) 0-1 Spending a Tuesday evening in Doncaster is only memorable if you win and we didn’t on this occasion. Rovers, who included Chris Balderstone in their line-up, scored the only goal in the first half.
1974 Colchester United (home) 1-4 Jim Smith’s Colchester side were on course for promotion and this emphatic victory at Borough Park took them a step closer to that goal.
Brian Wood 
Brian Heslop
One of their four goals was recorded as an own-goal with former Colchester player, Brian Wood, having the misfortune to deflect the ball past Reds’ ‘keeper, Mike Rogan.
Scoring at the right end for Reds was Brian Heslop.
1970 Lincoln City (home) 1-1 Les Massie’s contribution during the second half of the ’69-70 season was instrumental in keeping Reds out of the bottom four with his eight goals equating to ten points overall.
He scored in the Borough Park clash which, like the game at Sincil Bank, finished one apiece.
1966 Walsall (home) 1-0 Ken Oliver’s first full season at Borough Park was a personal success and saw him finish as top scorer and an ever-present as we climbed to unprecedented heights. He scored in both matches against Walsall that season including the winner on home soil.
1964 Bradford Park Avenue (away) 0-1 Avenue were often a thorn in our side and did their best to disrupt our one and only promotion campaign. They had drawn at Borough Park on Good Friday (Kevin Hector scoring their goal) and then got the better of us in the return on Easter Monday when Jim Fryatt netted the only goal of the game. Future Red, Tommy Spratt was an opponent that day
In fact, they did well against all four promoted sides, defeating Gillingham (1-0), Reds (1-0) and Exeter City (3-2) as well as taking a point from Carlisle United (1-1). Thankfully, it was our final defeat in the home straight and four wins and a draw got us over the line.
1959 York City (home) 2-2 Reds (17) and City (18) were the Fourth Division’s draw specialists during the ’58-59 season so no surprise that both matches ended all square.
The Good Friday clash at Bootham Crescent finished 2-2 and it was the same at Borough Park on Easter Monday with the teams again sharing four goals.
Bobby Dixon netted both Workington goals on our own patch.
1957 Bradford City (home) 5-1 Jimmy Dailey’s fourth hat-trick for the club helped overcome City as Reds continued the march towards a 4th place finish in the Third Division (North).
He was joined on the score sheet by Ted Purdon and Ken Chisholm.
Jimmy scored 28 goals that season with the former Sunderland duo chipping in with 4 and 12 respectively.
1955 Wrexham (away) 1-1 This was a tale of a Scotsman playing for his English club in Wales and scoring his eleventh goal of the season. Jack Bertolini was a popular player during his six seasons with the club in the fifties.
