CONGLETON TOWN 1, STALYBRIDGE CELTIC 0
Congleton Town piled on the misery for Stalybridge Celtic who were victims of a giantkilling act as they were beaten in the quarter-finals of the Cheshire Senior Cup.
It was a desperately poor performance from Celtic whose winless run now extends to eight matches – six losses and two draws – as they went down to opponents two divisions beneath them in the football pyramid.
What made it even more embarrassing was Celtic fielded a near full-strength side, the notable exception being youngster Connor Leach who was handed a rare start between the posts in place of regular goalkeeper Greg Wall.
Presumably manager Chris Willcock went with the line-up to try and secure a win to lift spirits as they have been sucked back into a relegation battle in Northern Premier League, premier after their wretched run.
To add a further twist, it was the Bears who fielded a weakened side as captain Tom Pope, the former Port Vale legend, and four other regulars were only named on the bench.
The contrast between the two clubs could not be more marked as Celtic are lacking direction with majority shareholder Rob Gorski in the process of selling the club on health grounds and the instability blindingly obvious.
Town, meanwhile, are enjoying a terrific campaign in the knockouts and they are a club with ambition as they are building towards a return to the NPL.
They are potentially only two games from Wembley in the FA Vase – the home quarter-final against AFC Bury is expected to be a sell-out – and they are also through to the semis in both the Cheshire Senior Cup, where they play Crewe Alexandra, and Macron Cup.
Incredibly this was the Bears’ 19th cup tie of the campaign with at least a further two guaranteed. They also reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup when they were the lowest ranked team still in the competition at that stage.
As to the match, the Bears’ matchwinner was home-town player Ethan Hartshorn.
The former Crewe Alexandra youth team captain, landed the knockout blow within two minutes of the restart for the second half.
Celtic failed to clear their defensive lines and, following a goalmouth scramble, Hartshorn fired home a low shot.
It was effectively the only clear-cut chance of the night as Town defended manfully to hold on to their advantage as Celtic toiled throughout.
What was worrying for Celtic is they failed to work home goalkeeper David Parton all night as their lack of a cutting edge was glaring.
And with a huge home game against bottom-club Belper Town on Saturday (March 4), the midweek match left Willcock with much to ponder as he strives to avoid a first-ever relegation on his managerial CV.