Eccleshall welcomed promotion hopefuls New Mills to Pershall Park on the first sunny afternoon it seemed for some time. Eccleshall skipper Harvey Collins was ruled out with COVID, and Callum Feeney took the armband. Regular keeper Aaron Woolrich returned in goal. The home side were looking to build on Tuesday’s spirited performance at Wythenshawe Amateurs.

Seven minutes in Feeney suffered a poor challenge from Millers’ Benito Lowe. He was yellow carded, and it could very easily have been a red. After 13 minutes New Mills took the lead ironically through Lowe with a well taken finish after being set up by Joe Bevan.
With Eccleshall struggling to get a foothold in the game New Mills pilled on the pressure and unsurprisingly a second goal arrived on 22 minutes again through Lowe following a good build down the right-hand side by Bevan.
Further half chances came for New Mills but in first half stoppage time the Millers centre forward Akim Samms got onto the scoresheet to make it 3-0, smashing home from six yards after his initial back heel was cleared off the line. To add insult to injury, Lowe completed his hat-trick just before the whistle went after being set up by Bevan.

HT: Eccleshall 0 New Mills 4

The second half started with Eccleshall looking to restore some pride and, in fairness, the Eagles acquitted themselves a little better without creating any real chances. New Mills sat back looking to run down the clock until the 75th minute when Harry Norris scored with a header from a Samms corner. With a few minutes to go, a frustrated Liam Robinson got involved in an altercation with Kyle Oakes and received a straight red from referee Orritt ending his game early and also his season.

FT: Eccleshall 0 New Mills 5

This was a bad day at the office for the Eagles, their performance was way below that of recent matches and disappointing in the extreme. With just two league matches remaining, they will hope for a strong finish before thoughts turn to their pre-season. Next Saturday we make the trip to Merseyside to face Cammell Laird.

Eagles: Woolrich, Darlington, Dunn, Flanaghan, Corbishley, Hickman, Lewis, Feeney, Cole, Huxley, Robinson.
Subs: Doughty, Lindop, Chesters, Butchart, Woodroffe.

Referee: Mr Sam Orritt
Attendance: 57