Nelson then got the bit between their teeth as West regrouped after a couple of injuries and enforced substitution. Tre Baldwin Willis replaced Lee Shillito after 52 minutes and then Lewis Schofield came on for Dave Conlon a couple of minutes later. West were then saved by the upright as the game opened up to provide a thrilling second half with chances at either end. On 64 minutes Lewis Schofield shot wide from a central position and 5 minutes Nelson had a lucky escape when their central defender headed against his own bar and then Tre shot over. The final substitution for West saw Lee Malkin replace Tommy Walsh after 73 minutes as West went all out for an equaliser. Ten minutes later on 85 minutes it was all square when Lewis Schofield cracked home a fantastic free kick from 20 yards giving the Nelson keeper no chance. Unfortunately the lead lasted a mere 2 minutes when, yet again, we were punished from a corner when a header down was turned home from 3 yards by the unmarked Nelson substitute to restore the lead. West however were not finished and refused to lie down and on 88 minutes Callum Jones equalised from a Schofield corner to leave the final score 2-2, and for the second time in 4 days we notched twice in the last 5 minutes. A very encouraging and gutsy whole team performance against a very good Nelson side who on this form will be in the mix at the end of the season.
Saturday 22nd September: Cheadle Town 3 WEST 2 We travelled the short distance for a rematch against our FA Vase opponents Cheadle Town, anxious to make up for that defeat and to build on the good results against Oldham Boro and Nelson. The first 20 minutes was very even with few threats to either goal, but we then began to outplay the home side creating a series of decent opportunities but unable to take any of them. On 22 minutes a shot from Lee Malkin was parried by the keeper who then saved at the second attempt and 3 minutes later Callum Jones headed over at the back post with the keeper nowhere. Then it was Tre Baldwin’s turn a minute later when Mike Aston played him through the home defence only for his shot to hit the keepers legs and rebound to safety. 28 minutes gone and Lewis Schofield fired over and on 32 minutes Danny Summers turned his man only to shoot wide after good work by Schofield and Scott Jones. Five minutes later and the same duo created havoc only for Callum Jones to again head over from 6 yards. It looked like being one of those days when on 42 minutes the home defender played a short back pass to the keeper for Lewis Schofield to seize on the mistake to give WEST a 1-0 interval lead which was the least our play deserved. We started the second half brightly and 7 minutes in it was 2-0 when great interplay between Scott Jones and Tre Baldwin played the ball into Lee Malkin who steadied himself and calmly slotted past a bemused keeper. On 54 minutes it could and should have been 3-0 when a Scott Jones shot again came back off the keepers legs to rebound safely when anywhere else would have left a tap in for the third. Cheadle took full advantage of being let off the hook and within 3 minutes had pulled a goal back when their tricky No7 Carroll was sent clear of our defence to crack a right footed shot inside the post to make it 1-2. On the hour it was 2-2 when some poor defence saw a corner headed home to level at 2-2 with Cheadle somehow back in the game despite having been outplayed for most of it apart from that 6 minute spell. On 66 minutes we should have regained the lead when for the 3rd time a header went over the bar with the goal gaping, this time Schofield was off target, and a minute later Tre Baldwin’s effort was saved by the keeper diving full length to his right. Another chance went begging as we pushed forward to try and regain the lead only to be severely punished on the counter attack when Alex Monde-Leke again got the better of our defence to break clear and rifle a shot home from a very acute angle. Unbelievably Cheadle Town were now 3-2 ahead with 10 minutes left! The drama was not over however and in the final minute Callum Jones was brought down inside the area only for Schofield to hit a pretty tame penalty along the ground and too close to the Cheadle keeper Piggott who saved comfortably. That was that with West again left to rue missed chances and defensive mistakes and end up empty handed in a game we could and should have won. Cheadle manager Steve Brokenbrow frankly admitted they had got out of jail leaving us with a few things to ponder and put right before the Holker game. WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON AFC