Cheshire Independent Issue 214

MAY/JUNE 2026 20 Independent LOCAL SPORT MACCLESFIELD Rugby Club signed off their National 2 North cam- paign in thrilling fashion. They overturned a 10-point deficit in the final stages to secure a dramatic 38–34 vic- tory away at Sheffield Tigers. In a season that had already seen Macclesfield surpass 1,000 points and 100 league points, this encounter perfectly summed up their attacking quality and resilience. And despite missing out on the end-of-season play- offs director of rugby Matt Coleridge, told the club’s offi- cial website: “We’re building something strong here.” A hat-trick of tries by Samson Shute at Sheffield capped a superb individ- ual season that sees him finish second in the league try-scoring charts. Harry Oliver also enjoyed an outstanding campaign, finishing third in the try standings and as the league’s top points scorer. Coleridge said: “We’ve been the top points scorers in the league, but we’ve struggled defensively in the second half of the season. “It’s disappointing to miss out on the play-offs, but at the start of the season we’d have taken this position. We’re building something strong here. A big thank you to our supporters, staff, and everyone involved with the club, we’re excited about what’s to come.” Sandbach RUFC’s senior MACCLESFIELD boss John Rooney has begun plotting for his side’s pro- motion push next season with his first signing of the summer. Midfielder George Wil- son knows how to get out of National League North – he was part of AFC Fylde’s auto- matic promotion in May. The 25-year-old played a pivotal role in the Coasters’ automatic promotion to the National League this sea- son, featuring in 41 of their 46 league games, grabbing three goals and recording three assists from his cen- tral position. He was released by Fylde at the culmination of the 2025/26 campaign at the end of his one-year con- tract and the Silkmen moved quickly to register their interest. Wilson previously enjoyed a season long spell in the division above for local rivals Altrincham under Phil Parkinson. He also played starring role in Coalville’s 2022/23 South- ern Premier Central season, in which they reached the First Round of the Emirates FA Cup, facing then EFL League One side Charlton Athletic, whilst narrowly missing out on automatic promotion merely via goal difference, before losing on penalties in the play-offs. Wilson began his career LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP NANTWICH and Alder- ley Edge made the most of a weekend which saw seven first XI matches abandoned in the Chesh- ire Premier League. A comfortable win over Timperley at Whitehouse Lane saw The Dabbers in second place in the table. The decision by Timper- ley, who have now lost three games in a row, backfired against an accurate Nant- wich attack. Ray Doyle (4-20) and Scott Wardley (3-14) triggered a collapse from 79-4 to 89 all out inside 26 overs. John Fowler claimed two quick wickets in reply, including Rob Jones, but Nantwich eased to a seven-wicket vic- tory within 18 overs. Alderley Edge secured an impressive victory away at Oxton and are now fourth in the ladder. They bowled the hosts out for 173, with seven of the eight bowlers used taking wickets. Edge struggled early in their reply and were in trou- ble at 36-6 in the 15th over. However, Simon Norman- ton joined Will Valentine to construct a patient recovery. The pair batted together for 25 overs in a partnership of 98 to tilt the game back in Alderley’s favour. Valentine was dismissed for 52, but Normanton remained unbeaten on 60 from 120 balls, hitting the winning boundary with nine balls to spare. In Cheadle, a 94-over game was completed with only an hour lost to the weather. The match ended in a tie between the two newly promoted sides. Bramhall missed an oppor- tunity for a full 20-point win after reducing Cheadle to 172-9 in pursuit of 211. Last man Ben Broadhurst (4-33 earlier with the ball) joined wicketkeeper Dan Osborne to steadily accumulate the remaining runs, aided by six wides and four byes. Cheadle required nine runs from the final over; Osborne hit a boundary on the fourth delivery, but Bramhall restricted the remaining balls to singles to secure 15 points each from the tie. Earlier, Greg Dixon (56) top-scored for Bramhall, with contribu- tions from Jacob Workman (44) and Ollie Latter (42), while Dan Brown took 4-63 for the hosts. Lindow’s strong start to the season ended with a six- wicket defeat to Neston in a rain-hit game. In Division One early league leaders Bollington maintained their winning strat at Maritime. They secured their fourth consecutive victory as their disciplined bowling attack dismissed Maritime for 171, despite a late 37-run stand for the final wicket. Bollington chased the tar- get comfortably, winning by six wickets with 13 overs to spare, guided by Andrej Yak- sender’s patient unbeaten 52. Stockport Georgians kept pace at the top of the table by avoiding the worst of the rain to defeat Macclesfield. They bowled out a strong Macclesfield side for 130 inside 39 overs before reach- ing their target five wickets down in the 31st over. Marple were struggling at 44-4 against Alvanley when their match was abandoned due to heavy rain. Bowdon were left frus- trated by the rain at Toft during their most promising performance of the season. Joe Chapple took 4-30 in 10 overs to reduce Toft to 5-3, with the hosts recovering slightly to 107-5 after 24 overs when play was per- manently halted. In Division Two Cheadle Hulme suffered a defeat at the hands of Christle- ton after being dismissed for 106. The match at Poynton against Upton was aban- doned after 12 overs. Else- where, Romiley were saved by the rain against Tatten- hall, with play abandoned when the hosts were strug- gling at 47-6. And in Division Three Hale Barns defended 143 to secure a two-run win over Barrowwith Connar Robson hitting 65. In the National Club Championship Nant- wich advanced to the sec- ond-round proper with a seven-wicket win over Staf- fordshire side Porthill Park. Captain Luke Robinson hit 85 with Ben Wright finish- ing unbeaten on 67 in a suc- cessful run-chase. Rain takes its toll but Edge shine WE GO AGAIN! Silkmen’s first signing in new promotion push First arrival: GeorgeWilson (Photo credit: MFC) Signing off in style Awards: Sandbach RUFC 1st XV Players’ Player of the Season Harry Leese with Head Coach TomHolme (Photo credit: Andy Mitchell) LOCAL RUGBY ROUND-UP player of the season. It was a close one, but the inaugural award was won by forward George Perkins. It’s been a busy awards season for club stalwart Andy Mitchell. Fresh from picking up Sandbach Town Council’s 2026 Civic Award alongside Jack Seddon, Andy was honoured for his services to the club with the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sandbach RUFC in the Modern Era’ award. players and volunteers cele- brated the season’s successes, both on and off the field, at their annual awards night. The awards honoured an array of players from each of the four senior men’s teams, touch rugby and walking rugby, as well as other roles across the spectrum of the club. This season’s achievements include, for the second con- secutive season, a third-place league finish for Sandbach 1st XV and a place in the play-offs, where they bowed out in the second round. At the end of the regu- lar season, Sandbach 1st XV were consistently near the top of the statistical tables, finishing second for most points scored at home, fewest points conceded and home wins. They topped the standings for the most points scored in away games. Captain Laurie Essen- high ended the season as Sandbach’s top try-scorer with 20 tries. He also made 24 appearances, having not missed a single league or play-off match. Both feats were recognised at the awards evening. Last year’s recipient of the ‘Young Player of the Season’, Matt Randle, topped the club’s points scoring with 228 points from 22 starts. This included 10 tries, 70 conversions and 26 penal- ties, beating his 198 points tally from last season. For the first time, sup- porters got to select their Big contribution: Andy Mitchell was honoured for his services to the club (Photo credit: Josh Randle) The 23-year-old full-back joined the Silkmen last sum- mer ahead of the 2025/26 cam- paign following his release from Bolton Wanderers. Promising young mid- fielder Carlos Dos Santos has also had his contract extended. Since being in the senior squad, he has made 28 appearances, predominantly from the bench, including a memorable cameo against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup. Macclesfield also moved quickly at the end of their league campaign to announce they had retained the ser- vices of management duo John Rooney and Fran- cis Jeffers. In a big statement of intent, Macclesfield said both had agreed to extend their stays at Blackburn Rovers and his CV includes a spell with Swedish side Ljungskile SK. He told the club’s offi- cial website: “It was an incredible experience to get my first promotion onmy CV. It was a special feeling I’ll be hoping to get the second one this season withMacclesfield. “Tasting promotion once definitely makes you hungry to do it again and Maccles- field has the same ambition. That’s why I’ve signed. I want to be playing in a team at the tope end of the table.” Rooney and his team quickly put aside the disap- pointment of missing out in the play-offs to start looking ahead at the next campaign. As well as new signingWil- son, the club has announced it has retained the services of Luke Matheson. and expressed their wish to remain with the club “for the foreseeable future”. Rooney was handed the reigns by chairman Rob Smethurst last summer and in its statement the club said: “He excelled ever since, well-surpassing expectation in his first season in man- agement and quickly gained the full trust and support of the board, players and fans alike, who we are sure will be delighted to learn of his eagerness to retain his role as manager.” Jeffers joined the club as assistant manager shortly after Rooney took over at the beginning of the 2025/26 campaign. The club’s statement added: “They have compli- mented each other excel- lently throughout what has been a rollercoaster sea- son of ups and downs, and have come out of it with the utmost respect of everyone associated with Macclesfield FC and the wider football- ing community.”