Lee Ashcroft’s Longridge Town eye up win bonus in FA Cup

Winning through to the first qualifying round of the FA Cup will be a bonus for Longridge Town, says boss Lee Ashcroft.
Longridge Town boss Lee AshcroftLongridge Town boss Lee Ashcroft
Longridge Town boss Lee Ashcroft

The Reds travel to Widnes this weekend for what will be their second competitive fixture this season.

Town – who do not begin their NWCL Premier Division campaign until the beginning of next month –have already won a game in the cup.

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Earlier this month, they defeated Winsford United 2-1 in an extra preliminary round tie at the Mike Riding Ground.

Ashcroft insists his men have already over-achieved by reaching this stage of the competition and further progress this weekend will be most welcome if unexpected.

Town will certainly be the underdogs against the NPL North West Division outfit, who are ranked higher in the football pyramid.

However, Ashcroft will draw confidence from the win over Winsford plus the way his men have performed in pre-season so far.

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On Tuesday night they enjoyed an emphatic 6-2 victory over Nelson at home.

“It’s been fairly strange start to the season,” said Ashcroft. “We had an FA Cup game a week last Tuesday which we won, then we’ve had a couple of friendlies in between and now we have got another FA Cup game this weekend against a team who are from a higher league.

“It’s going to be difficult but we go there with confidence.

“We had a fantastic result against Nelson, so we’ll go there and see what happens.

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“We managed to get to this round last season and hopefully we can do one better this time around, but if we do it will be a bonus.”

Widnes – who are jointly managed by Steve Akrigg and Kevin Towey – were solid performers last season in the NPL Premier Division.

They were placed in a mid-table spot before the campaign was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I have managed a couple of their lads when I was at a previous club so I know a little bit about them,” said Ashcroft.

“They are well established in the division above.

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“They also play on a plastic pitch at home which isn’t always great to play on.

“But we will go there with nothing to fear and will try to enjoy ourselves, but we know we have got a very difficult job on our hands.”

Elsewhere in the competition, Kendal Town host Bishop Auckland and Charnock Richard travel to Northwich Victoria. Clitheroe go to Warrington Rylands.

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