Gameweek 40: Preview

Fri 25th April 2025 | Match Previews | By Ben Wilkinson

The regular season came to an end with a bang last weekend as Bury joined Atherton LR and Winsford United in having their names etched onto the NWCFL honour roll for 2024/25 - two more clubs will earn promotion this weekend and the Premier Division play-off finalists will be confirmed. Here's what's happening:

PREMIER DIVISION PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALS

Lower Breck suffered the fate of becoming the best ever 2nd-placed club in NWCFL history, their 106 points not being enough to win the title. 'The Breck' will dust themselves down quickly for the play-offs, knowing that they are just two more home wins away from playing Step 4 football for the first time in their history. Their latest obstacle comes in the form of West Didsbury & Chorlton, who finished their season with four consecutive wins in order to finish 5th on 86 points, an entire 20 fewer than their hosts on Saturday.

It was honours even between the pair during the regular season; West scored three late goals to win comfortably at Brookburn Road in October before Breck got their own back to win 3-1 in the return fixture in March. Both sides have had no problems finding the back of the net this season with a combined goals for tally of 271 in all competitions! Jordan Lazenbury tops the goalscoring charts for West with 30 goals while Sam Burns has bagged 25 for Breck this season.

The other semi-final sees Ramsbottom United host Padiham at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium. The 'Rams' were at the top of the standings for large parts of the season before a dip in form saw them finish 3rd - their 97 point haul being enough to win the title in many a season but a full 12 points behind champions Bury this term. 4th-placed Padiham sit 10 points further back and limped across the finish line once a play-off spot was secured; picking up just two points from their final three after surrendering a two-goal lead away at Stockport Town last time out.

Again the pair traded blows in the league; Rammy put the 'Storks' to the sword at the Ruby Civil Arena in early September, three first half goals helping them to a 4-1 win. Fast forward to March and Michael Morrison's men handed Steve Wilkes' charges their third successive home defeat, a goal in each half being enough to take home all three points and severely dent the hosts' ambitions of the title. Joshua Briggs leads the line for Padiham in terms of league goals, having netted 16 times in the Premier Division - tied with Tyler James who moved to Bury in January. Thomas Hoyle is Rammy's equivalent - 18 of his 23 goals coming in league action.

FIRST DIVISION NORTH PLAY-OFF FINAL

One of Droyslden and Euxton Villa will be playing Step 5 football next season with the 'Bloods' hosting Villa at the Butchers' Arms on Saturday. Both clubs required a penalty shootout to get the better of their semi-final opponents: Droylsden came from behind at home to Holker Old Boys to draw 1-1 before winning out 4-2 from 12 yards whilst Euxton Villa drew away at Nelson by the same scoreline. 'The Villa' booked their place in the final with a thrilling 10-9 shootout victory over the 'Admirals', putting to an end a run of two successive semi-final defeats since promotion from the West Lancashire League.

The pair met on the same ground way back on the opening day of the season in July. Droylsden started life in the North division well with goals from Eoin Charles and Fuad Kasali putting them two goals to the good at the break before a late Joel Darley consolation halved the deficit.

They then met again at the Butchers in November, this time in the Edward Case Cup, and again the 'Bloods' got themselves a two goal advantage, firstly through Tawab Djankpata on nine minutes then a Caelan Kilheeney penalty on the half-hour mark. Euxton weren't to be beaten this time though and three goals in 13 second half minutes turned the tie on its head - Cameron Ross, Dan Singleton and Lewis Swarbrick all getting their names on the scoresheet as Villa handed the 'Bloods' their first home defeat of the season.

The third meeting of the season came at Euxton's Jim Fowler Memorial Ground in January and it was the away side who won 2-1 to claim the double over Matty Atherton's Villa. Kai Shorrock put the hosts in front but goals from George Kattah and Elvis Amoakwa ensured Dave Pace's Droylsden left with all three points.

There's sure to be a large crowd watching on - will the home faithful be celebrating the first step of what they hope will be the 'Bloods' rise back up the pyramid, or will the visitors end their play-off hoodoo once and for all and play at Step 5 for the first time ever next season?

FIRST DIVISION SOUTH PLAY-OFF FINAL

In comparison to the tight, low-scoring semi-finals in the North, the South semi-finals were absolute crackers. Abbey Hulton United won their ticket to the final with relative ease, putting five past Eccleshall without reply (with five different goalscorers!) whilst Evans Park went goal crazy, Stafford Town traded blows with Sandbach United from the first whistle to the last as both sides took the lead during the game before Stafford won out by five goals to four to book their place in their third final of the season.

Both sides won 1-0 away against the other in the league this term; Sean Kinsella scoring the winning goal for Stafford at Drayton Beaumont Park in July and Lewis Holdham grabbed a late winner for Abbey in early April. The top three scorers in the division (in all competitions) all play for one of the finalists; Matthew Hearsey (Stafford Town) tops the chart with 36 goals while strike partner Patryk Mazurkiewicz has 30 goals to his name, Abbey Hulton's Kieran Brown is sandwiched between the pair on 33.

Stafford Town ended a four-match winless run with that semi-final triumph before going down 3-0 to Atherton LR in the Final of the Edward Case Cup on Easter Monday. This is a stark contrast to their hosts in the play-off showpiece as Jonathan Beaumont's Abbey have won six on the spin, scoring 19 times and conceding just the one goal in that run. The momentum is all with the side from Stoke but form often goes out the window in finals...

All fixtures can be found on the fixtures page here: NWCFL Fixtures, with any recent changes to fixtures recorded here: Fixture Changes