Old Stretfordians v Shaw Athletic

2pm  19 December 2020

Lancashire and Cheshire Amateur League, Division Two
Old Stretfordians 2 Shaw Athletic 1 (att 12)

I'm no stranger to Flixton Park. More than 20 years ago I saw Urmston play a Manchester League game on a railed off pitch there, and just two years ago I visited when Aldermere used one of the open pitches for a cup tie.

Following Urmston's demise I'd assumed Old Stretfordians had moved onto their old pitch, but when I watched Aldermere I noticed the railed off pitch looked unused. I had another look last week, ahead of a game nearby (another Aldermere match, this time at their new venue), and Old Stretfordians were using a different pitch.

Wanting to stay local again, once the club confirmed via Twitter that this fixture was on I decided to make Flixton Park my destination. Urmston's old pitch still has a rail around three-quarters of it, but it looks like it hasn't been used for some time, and parts of it were under water.

Old Stretfordians play on a nearby pitch, which I suspect is the one that drains best as much of Flixton Park was waterlogged.

The home side are top of the league, and stayed there after a hard-fought and slightly fortunate win. Shaw Athletic, pushing for promotion themselves, took an early lead, and looked the better side but conceded an equaliser not long before half time.

In truth there wasn't much between the teams, but Shaw looked the likelier scorers during the second half, at least until Old Stretfordians got a second goal against the run of play. The visitors had 20 minutes or so to get back level, but despite their best efforts and a frantic finale they were unable to do so.