Magic Mikes

St Michaels DH  1  Knutsford  1

Cheshire Football League – Division One

Admission / Programme – No / No

The Cheshire League First Division has been intriguing this season.

About three months ago I went to Upton JFC and was convinced they were nailed on for promotion, but since then they’ve had a comparative mare and are completely out of it. I then went to Bollington Town thinking they were looking good, but again, indifferent results means that’s now looking touch and go, but they are still in the mix at this stage.

Vulcan had been in the mix for a large part of the season, but then again, Vulcan have been in the mix for years and never gone up, not sure quite what’s happening with them!

So, as we enter the final stages, a couple of other names have entered the equation, one being Golborne Sports, the other being Widnes based St Michaels DH.

I’ve done some daft journeys recently in terms of distances, so decided that I wanted something within two hours of home, and when I took a look at the fixtures, a trip to Widnes quickly jumped to the top of the list.

I’ll be honest, and I mean this with absolute sincerity, up until a couple of weeks before the trip, I knew absolutely jack about St Michaels DH, in fact, I still don’t know what the DH stands for, but I guess if I wasn’t so lazy I could probably find out if I tried.

So, away we went, along the A50, up the M6, Westbound along the M62 and then a short run down to the Western edges of Widnes and into the areas known as Ditton and Hough Green (I’m not sure technically which one the ground falls into, in fact, thinking about it, DH? Ditton, Hough Green? Mmmm)

Anyway, I must admit to being pleasantly surprised with what I found. You see the ground address was showing as St Michaels Catholic Primary School, so I fully expected a pitch, with a rope down one side, on a school playing field, but I was wrong.

Firstly, while the ground is right behind the school buildings, it is annexed from it and has it’s own entrances etc. It also has a fixed plastic rail all the way round the pitch, and a changing room block that is very much the clubs building, complete with signage and the like.

Parking wise, the main car park was rammed, so I had to utilise a grass verge, only it seems the car park is also used by churchgoers and it looked as though some kind of service was taking place over the road, they were all dressed very smartly and lots of kids were in attendance, so a Holy Communion maybe? Anyroadup, they all went their merry ways and the car park thinned out considerably, but by now the arriving players had elected to park on St Michaels Road which runs to the rear of the ground.

St Michaels are playing catch up somewhat, and their destiny is in their own hands, but they really can’t afford to be losing too many points along the way. Visiting Knutsford were sat just behind them in the table, with even more games to catch up on, so a relatively tight game was expected, and was indeed exactly what we got.

The visitors took a first half lead through Jonny Cavanagh, as the hosts laboured a little, but in the second period it was to be St Michaels who had the lions share of possession, and with it numerous chances to get on the scoresheet.

As the half wore on you began to wonder whether it was going to be three points lost but their perseverance paid off when Dominic Brereton found the net. St Michaels poured forward in the closing stages in search of a winner but it wasn’t to arrive. Whether the dropped two points will prove costly in the final analysis remains to be seen. Golborne Sports impressive late run is likely to give them one of the spots, the other is very much up for grabs.

What I would say though, don’t let the address put you off, the home of St Michaels DH is much more than just a school, in fact it’s not a school at all.

It’s a football ground, and one that could very well be hosting Step 7 football next season.