Magpies must turn draws into victories, says Preece

​The Magpies have opened the National League North campaign with three successive draws.

Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw at Chester was certainly a point gained as far as Preece was concerned.

But respective 1-1 draws to Brackley Town, at home, and away at Farsley Celtic were tinged with regret as the manager felt his men could have taken all three points.

Nevetheless, Preece has been pleased on the whole with performances but know his men need to open their win account as soon as possible.

"If we have five or six points then that would have been a fairer reflection,” said Preece.

"We are a little bit under on points but we are positive that we are unbeaten.

"In Chester and Brackley you would think that we have played against two sides who will be in the top six.

"So there are good signs but there’s still some improvement needed.

"I think it’s the fine margins in the final third, especially in the first two games, we have had lots if chances.

"The Farsley game, we made the keeper make nine saves so that’s a lot of saves in a game. It is a save every 10 minutes.

"That was an improvement from Brackley where we were blasting things wide or over the bar, not working the keeper enough.

"Even against Chester, we had a few shots blocked on the line, so we’ve been knocking on the door.

"There have been some really encouraging signs but we have to turn some of those draws into wins.”

​Bamber Bridge will be hoping to make it two wins on the spin this weekend when they host Bradford Park Avenue.

​Jamie Milligan’s men opened their win account in midweek when they defeated Hyde United 2-0 at Irongate in the NPL Premier Division.

That followed the 0-0 draw at Matlock on the opening day of the season.

Meanwhile, Lancaster City head to Worksop Town after a mixed bag of results over the past week.

Mark Fell’s (pictured) men got their campaign off to a terrific start thanks to a 2-0 home win over Stafford Rangers.

Unfortunately, they came unstuck on Tuesday when they lost 4-2 at Radcliffe.

Clitheroe have collected four points, beating City of Liverpool 2-0 and then drawing 2-2 with Trafford. This weekend, they travel to neighbours Padiham.

NWC Fixtures: Burscough v Albion Sports, Charnock Richard v Bury, Padiham v Clitheroe, Kendal v Pilkington, Longridge v Chadderton, Euxton Villa v Ashton Town, Garstang v Daisy Hill.