Abbey Hey 0-3 Congleton Town by Bobby Lakin

After racing into a 2-goal lead, they controlled the match and were rarely threatened by the home side.

Andy Alston only had to make one change to the starting line-up with Callam Gardner replacing the injured Scott Baker on the wing. Brian Matthews was on the bench after rejoining the club from Prestwich Heys.

The Bears made an excellent start to the game and were ahead inside 2 minutes. Mike Koral showed good strength to turn away from his marker and put the ball across the face of goal for Gardner to finish.

The lead was doubled just 2 minutes later. A bad touch from Declan Fletcher took him to the byline but he calmly lifted his head and spotted Nathan Haynes making a late run into the box. The pull-back was perfectly weighted and Haynes made no mistake with a finish into the bottom corner.

Abbey Hey almost responded immediately after when Johnathon Hardy sent in a good cross from the right. Jack Tinning had run in unmarked from the opposite wing and forced Ross Heywood to get down quickly with his header.

That was probably the home side’s best chance of the game as the Bears continued to create a catalogue of chances. Things might have been different if Alston hadn't made a well-timed tackle on George Noon as he went through on the Congleton goal.

At the other end, Gardner wasn't far from his second goal as he volleyed over from Haynes’ cross. A long free-kick from Ian Willis was headed just over by Fletcher and Jack Pritchard drove in a low cross that ended up hitting the post.

Scott Sephton had a header from a corner cleared off the line and another 3 corners followed before Abbey Hey could clear the ball. Gardner then went close again but shot over after a nice one-two with Koral.

The next goal was going to be crucial and Abbey Hey began the second half on the front foot. Connor Martin managed to beat Heywood to a high ball and touched it past him. Fortunately, he couldn't stop it from going out of play.

The home side were winning several free-kicks in promising positions as well as some corners. The Bears remained solid though and found the all-important third goal on the counter-attack.

A clearance sent Gardner away down the left and he was supported by Koral. They didn't try to rush the move and kept possession until Rick Bailey could receive the ball on the edge of the box. He drove past the defenders and sent the ball across for Fletcher to tap in and put the Bears out of sight after 56 minutes.

The game experienced a lengthy stoppage around the 62nd minute when Callum Jones and Ben McNamara collided while going for a 50-50 ball. Both were injured but Jones was able to limp away after some treatment. Andy Alston’s reaction gave away that McNamara wasn't so lucky as he immediately went to his aid whilst waving for help from the physios.

After almost an hour, McNamara was in an ambulance and the rest of the players had warmed up ready to see out the last 30 minutes. The Bears were unable to return to the same rhythm as before and their best chance came when Sephton had another header cleared off the line following Gardner’s corner.

Abbey Hey’s Nico Collins grazed the top of the bar with an improvised shot late on but there was to be no more goals.

This was a huge win for Congleton to close the gap to 4 points on the teams between 8th and 10th. This could be closed further with a win against 18th-placed Barnoldswick Town next and a similar performance should be more than enough to deliver another 3 points.

Congleton Town: Heywood, Pritchard, Willis, Jones, A Alston, Bailey, Haynes (Hibbert 69), Sephton, Fletcher (Matthews 78), Koral, Gardner (Rutnam 89).

Substitutes not used: Gittins, Pettitt.

Attendance: 98

By Bobby Lakin

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