Nostell Miners Welfare 3-1 Campion
Nostell Miners Welfare overturned a deficit in their defeat of rebuilt North West Counties new-boys Campion at Crofton Community Centre.
Tom Ramsden’s opener for Campion was cancelled out on the stroke of half-time by centre-back Alex Haigh.
The home side had the win wrapped by the hour as substitute Santos Camara and Joe Wood.
Campion, who have had to rebuild their side following several recent departures, will hope the defeat will have a similar effect to the last time they visited Nostell in August 2019.
A 4-1 defeat continued a rocky start to the Toolstation NCEL Division One campaign, but also inspired them to a run of consecutive eight league victories which propelled them to second in the table.
Fast forward to 2021 and for the first half, Campion were competitive, but after the interval they ran out of gas and Nostell deservedly won the contest.
Campion were without new signings Nicky Boshell and Myles Foley – both quality signings in key areas.
From Nostell’s point of view, Campion’s goal midway through the first half was very avoidable. The ball was lost needlessly in the middle of the park and the visitors broke forward and Ramsden slotted home from the edge of the penalty area.
Nostell responded strongly. Campion goalkeeper Mark Bower denied a through Brett Smith before Nathan Perks wasted a superb opportunity when he blazed over the crossbar.
The equaliser had been coming when it finally arrived. A corner missed everyone and Smith pinged it back across goal where Haigh was on hand to turn it past Bower.
The second half began disastrously for Campion who literally went to sleep after kick off.
Substitute Santos Camara found himself in a dream position of being one-on-one with Bower. The young lad went past him and slotted the ball into the empty net to complete a glorious debut at Crofton Community Centre.
Wood’s close range blast from Nathan Hawkhead on the hour sealed the victory.
Perks missed an effective open goal as Nostell looked to extend their lead.
Santos was also unlucky with a similar chance as the game drew to a close.
The Teams
Nostell Miners Welfare: Barrow, Miller, O’Neill, Haigh, Allsop, Hawkhead, Smith, Penny-Larter, Perks, Wood, Booth. Subs: Proctor, Brinsley, Camara.
Campion: Bower, Carney, Lumb, S Eastwood, McCreadie, Keane, Ferguson, Trialist, Kirby, Day, Ramsden. Subs: Morgan, Kearsley, J Eastwood, Bates.
Man of the Match
Santos Camara (Nostell Miners Welfare)
