Week 7: Manager Quotes

Tue 15th September 2026 | Manager Reactions | By Jay Cooper

After another week of Isuzu FA Vase action, the NWCFL’s biggest winners were Premier Division side FC St Helens. Mike Smith’s side stormed to a 9-0 victory over NCEL side Frickley Athletic, with Joshua Briggs bagging four on the day.

After the game, Smith said: “it was a tremendous performance from start to finish. Defensively we dealt with everything that they asked of us, and going forward we were clinical. The scoreline was probably a true reflection of how we attacked and how many chances we created.”

FC St Helens were the biggest winners, but not by all that much. Further north, First Division North side Holker Old Boys were putting on an attacking clinic of their own. They took the game to Seaton Carew, of the Ebac Northern Football League, smashing their visitors 7-2 to get into the hat for the next round.

Following the whistle, joint manager Kevin Watkin said: “I’m really pleased. I thought the standard of football was really good – the quality in some of the goals we scored, the movement, and it was an all-round positive performance.

“I think the lads worked hard, and it’s important that they take their chances. We got a really good start thanks to Nathan (Reid), and after that we just relaxed, and you could see and feel that from the lads, to the point where we went in 4-0 up at half time.”

Finally, in league action there were more goals to be scored, as Cammell Laird 1907, of the First Division North, secured maximum points on home soil at the weekend with a back-and-forth 4-3 win over AFC Blackpool.

“After getting over the line, manager Glyn Norman said: “We played some of our best football in the first 15 minutes which gave us a two-goal lead. Frustratingly, we allowed AFC Blackpool a way back in by stopping what we were doing so well and gave away two really poor goals. But we deservedly went into half time 3-2 up, thanks to a bullet header from a corner from Lucas Hagan. 

“We spoke at half time about getting back to what worked really well in those first 15 minutes and we took it into the second half, by grabbing a fourth and playing some lovely football. Unfortunately, in the last 10 minutes, we again turned the game into a basketball match and Blackpool got a third goal with five minutes left to play, which made for a nervous ending.

“It was a game that should have been won at half time, but left us anxious at the end.”