by Garry Clarke
UPDATED: WARRINGTON Rylands 1906 will now welcome fellow NWCFL side Longridge Town to Gorsey Lane on Saturday in one of the stand out ties of the Buildbase FA Vase third round.
Playing at this stage of the competition for the first time since 1983, the game has now been switched to Gorsey Lane and Rylands will be hoping for better fortunes than those experienced 37 years ago when despite beating Rainworth Miners Welfare 4-1 they were denied a place in the last 32 of the nationwide competition.
An appeal was lodged against the length of the Gorsey Lane pitch and when it was found to be just over a yard short, a replay at Rainworth was ordered by the FA which the Notts Alliance side won 1-0 to end Rylands dreams of a trip to Wembley.
With both sides requiring penalty shoot out victories to progress through the 2nd round, Saturday’s game between two teams promoted to the NWCFL Premier Division in 2019 promises to be an intriguing encounter, with Rylands manager Dave McNabb fully aware of the threat posed by a Longridge team which beat his charges 4-1 last season.
The NWCFL resumes its fixtures on Saturday with the undefeated Warrington Rylands 1906 having entered lockdown occupying pole position in the Premier Division table while Longridge are 14th in the table although the Lancastrians have only played 3 league games so far.
The game will kick off at 3pm will be £6 for adult and £3 for concessions – pay on the gate. Under 16s will get free entry.