Vauxhall Motors 0 Stalybridge Celtic 0
THERE was no separating Vauxhall and Stalybridge on Saturday as the Blue Square North rivals shared the spoils in an uneventful stalemate.
Karl Noon had the first chance for the home side as he burst clear down the left, but his shot was saved by Alex Cairns in the Celtic goal.
The visitors then had the majority of possession but they were restricted to shots from distance. Adam Pepper and Greg Wilkinson warmed the hands of Motors’ shot-stopper Zac Jones with powerful low efforts from 25 yards.
The best chance of the first 45 minutes came on the stroke of half-time. Tom Buckley played Chris Hall through on goal but Jones rushed off his line and made a good save.
It was a quiet second half. Motors defender Andy Nicholas headed a Karl Clair free-kick over the bar, while at the other end Stalybridge were denied a winner on 84 minutes. A free-kick from the right ricocheted to Hall, whose out-stretched leg diverted the ball into the bottom corner of the net past Jones. However, the assistant referee flagged for offside and the ‘goal’ was disallowed.
Vauxhall: Jones, Fearnehough, Moss (Roberts-Nurse 24), Hannigan, Nicholas, Noone, Mahon, Clair, Rutter, Stott (Burns 75), Noon, Subs: Kocsis, Ellison. Attendance: 209.
A competition to design a mascot for Vauxhall Motors proved a huge hit.
More than 450 children from local schools entered designs for the project, which was run by the club’s community section and funded by the Football Conference Trust.
The winning design came from Rowan Russell, of Whitby Heath Primary School.
Rowan’s mascot – Griff the Griffin – was unveiled before Saturday’s match.
Vauxhall’s head of community Andrew Tower said: “We are very pleased with the amount of interest this project has generated in local schools within the area.”
Motors hosted Workington last night in a game played after the Pioneer had gone to press. On Saturday they travel to Brackley (3pm).
