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Difference a day makes
Story courtesy of
Gresley Rovers face FA Vase opponents next Saturday who only five years ago were still playing in Sunday soccer.
Since then, the rise of Newcastle Town to senior non-league ranks has been nothing less than rapid, with the club now chasing promotion from the North West Counties League Division One.And having accounted for Premier Division Carnforth in a much-delayed third round tie, the Potteries side clearly cannot be dismissed as an easy touch.
Secretary John Cotton was among a delegation from the club which attended Gresley’s New Year’s Day victory over Paget Rangers and said Town were already gearing up for Rovers’ visit.
Newcastle began life as Parkway Clayton, becoming one of the region’s top Sunday sides and reaching the Midlands Sunday Cup final for four consecutive seasons.
Among Parkway Clayton’s former players was a certain Bob Aston, now keeping goal for Gresley, who lives a stone’s throw from the club’s Lime Valley Parkway Stadium.
Switching to Saturdays and changing their name to Newcastle Town, the club won the Mid-Cheshire Division One at the first attempt, finishing second the following season and moving into the North West Counties League, finishing fourth, sixth and 12th in the last three seasons.
Manager Alan Sides is in his second season with the club, and plans to have Town fully stoked up for what will certainly be one of the biggest games in the club’s history.
Rovers face an enforced 10-day break with manager Frank Northwood saying: “We’re ready for a lay-off.”
Apart from long-term ligament victim Jason Minton, strikers Paul Acklam (knee) and Carl Rathbone, who picked up two dead-legs in Wednesday’s Derbyshire Senior Cup win at Alfreton, could profit from a rest.
