After last week’s home win against New Mills, Eccleshall returned to Pershall Park to meet Cheadle Heath Nomads, who had proved to be a tough nut to crack on previous visits. With keeper Aaron Woolrich injured, new signing Ryan Brown was in goal and Liam Kelly included another new signing, striker Jake Lovatt, in the starting line-up. Kelly was hoping for more points to move further up the table.

The match was evenly balanced in the early stages and a good run and cross by Nomads’ Sheriff Njie went over Brown but was cleared by the Eagles defence. Minutes later, the visitors found the net, but it was offside. On 19 minutes, George Woodroffe overhit a back pass which almost caught Brown out and the keeper had to rush back and clear to prevent an own goal. However, it was Eagles who took the lead on 22 minutes when the ball was laid to Lovatt on the corner of the box and his low shot went across Nomads’ keeper Ryan Michael Forde to find the corner. It got better for Eccleshall three minutes later when they went two up. Dan Shelley threaded a through ball to Liam Hallam and he ran wide of the advancing Forde before slotting home. In reply, a jinking run by Nomads’ skipper Ryan Morton down the left forced a corner which came to nothing. The visitors continued to probe and a deflected shot by Daniel Lewis was just over the bar as Brown could only watch. Then, a free kick by Njie was collected by Brown as time ticked down to the interval.
HT: Eccleshall 2 Cheadle Heath Nomads 0

Eagles began the second half looking to add more goals and, on 52 minutes, they were three to the good. A Shelley free kick into the box was initially missed by Jack Warren but found Lovatt coming in at the back post and he had the easiest task of slotting into the net. Kelly brought on Kyle Diskin for Josh Waite, who had picked up a slight pull, before Hallam had a shot blocked after a Shelley corner. Forde then had to race out to head clear as Lovatt ran onto a through ball. Jonathan Kapend and Mitch Glover then replaced Solomon Ashworth and Lovatt and then a good run and pass by Jay Ford found Hallam and his shot was saved by Forde with his legs. With one eye on Wednesday’s Senior Cup quarter final, Kelly brought on Aidan Blaise and Harry Baggaley for Shelley and Hallam as full time was approaching. Jordan Darlington went on a run down the right before putting a great cross into the box which had to be cleared by the Nomads defence for a corner. From this, Eagles added a fourth. Diskin’s cross was headed home by Warren, despite desperate efforts to clear the ball from crossing the line. The game was now beyond Nomads, but Matthew Sumner fired wide of the post as they looked for a consolation. Just before the final whistle, Ford’s shot went wide as Eccleshall looked for a fifth goal.
FT: Eccleshall 4 Cheadle Heath Nomads 0

This was a very impressive performance by Eccleshall, with every player putting in a shift. The result lifts them to tenth place in the league, with teams higher up now within reach. Kelly will turn his attention to Wednesday night’s tasty Staffordshire Senior Cup Quarter Final against Rushall Olympic at Pershall Park. It will be a tough test for the Eagles but that is the magic of the cup.

Eagles: Brown, Darlington, Woodroffe, Ashworth (Glover), J Minshall, Warren, Ford, Shelley (Blaise), Lovatt (Kapend), Waite (Diskin), Hallam (Baggaley).

Referee: Justice Abaka Jacobs
Attendance: 103