WEEKEND PREVIEW: VALLEY LOOK TO TURN PROGRESS INTO POINTS

Mersey Valley are back at Banky Lane for the second successive Saturday as Cheshire Football League Two continues this weekend. Cheadle Heath Nomads Reserves are the visitors for a 2pm kick-off, with both sides heading into the game looking for their first points of the new campaign.

For Valley, Saturday represents another opportunity to build on the progress shown during last weekend’s remarkable nine-goal encounter with early league leaders Upton.

Jon Hudson’s side eventually suffered a 5-4 defeat, but a stirring second-half fightback – including recovering from 4-2 down to level at 4-4 – provided plenty of positives despite another frustrating result.

This weekend the challenge is to turn those positives into points.

Nine-Goal Thriller At Banky Lane

Anyone who made the trip to Banky Lane last Saturday certainly got their money’s worth.

Upton arrived having scored 13 goals across victories in their opening two league matches and showed exactly why they had started the season so strongly.

The visitors led 3-1 at half-time, with James Matthews scoring Valley’s goal, and when Upton moved 4-2 ahead during the second half it looked like the game could be getting away from the hosts. Valley had other ideas.

Pete Greenwood and Matthews helped reduce the deficit before Rourke Neal struck in the 69th minute to complete a superb fightback and make it 4-4. Unfortunately for Valley, the celebrations were short-lived. Upton restored their advantage almost immediately through Berry and, despite another late push from the hosts, held on for a 5-4 victory.

There was almost one final extraordinary twist. Deep into stoppage time, Sam Deering spotted the Upton goalkeeper off his line and attempted an audacious effort from around 45 yards. The ball beat the goalkeeper but struck the post, denying Valley what would have been a dramatic equaliser.

It was another defeat, but also another afternoon that demonstrated the potential within this new-look Mersey Valley squad.

League Two Begins To Take Shape

Three weekends into the new season and the early League Two picture is gradually starting to develop.

Upton’s victory at Banky Lane maintained their perfect start and continued an extraordinary run in front of goal.

Wythenshawe also produced an eye-catching result last weekend, beating Warrington Rylands Development 2-0 to continue their positive opening to the campaign. Rylands had previously started their league season with a 3-0 victory over Valley.

There is still a long way to go and the number of cup fixtures during September means clubs have played different numbers of league matches, but the first few weeks are beginning to provide some early indications of how competitive the division could be.

This weekend brings another interesting set of fixtures.

Another Big Weekend

There are five League Two games scheduled for Saturday.

Barnton Reserves host Haydock in one of the standout fixtures, while Congleton Town Reserves welcome Pilkington.

Upton take their perfect league record to Maine Road Reserves, while Warrington Rylands Development travel the very short distance Moore United looking to respond to last weekend’s defeat in a tasty looking local derby.

Wythenshawe step away from league action as they host Rochdalians in the Lancashire County FA Saturday Junior Cup.

And at Banky Lane, Mersey Valley welcome Cheadle Heath Nomads Reserves.

Familiar Faces At Banky Lane

There is plenty of familiarity surrounding Saturday’s game. Mersey Valley manager Jon Hudson spent time at Cheadle Heath Nomads before taking charge at Valley in July 2023, while a number of players have also represented both clubs over recent seasons. The sides know each other particularly well.

Last season produced two memorable meetings. Valley won 5-2 away at Nomads in August 2025, with Joel Riley marking his return to the side with a hat-trick, before producing an emphatic 8-1 victory at Banky Lane later in the campaign. Previous results will count for very little on Saturday.

Nomads have endured a difficult opening to the new campaign and, like Valley, arrive still searching for their first league points. For Hudson’s side, the objective is straightforward. Three competitive performances have produced three defeats, but there have been clear signs of progress, particularly during the last two games.

Now Valley need the result to go with it. Ahead of Saturday, we caught up with the manager.

Last Saturday must have been a difficult game to assess – hugely positive fightback but ultimately another defeat?

That’s exactly it. I was incredibly proud of the character we showed because at 3-1 and then 4-2 down against a team that had scored 13 goals in their first two games, it would have been very easy for heads to drop. They didn’t.

We fought our way back into the game and at 4-4 I genuinely felt there was only one team that was going to go on and win it. That’s why conceding again so quickly was so frustrating and we can’t keep giving teams a start against us and having to fight back.

There were lots of positives, but we can’t keep talking about positives after defeats. At some point we have to turn performances into points.

Does the way the players responded tell you something about this group?

Massively. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve taken from the first few weeks. Things haven’t gone our way. We’ve lost three games and we’ve had plenty of moments where we could have felt sorry for ourselves. But the lads keep going.

Last Saturday was probably the clearest example of that. At 4-2 we could have disappeared from the game. Instead we got ourselves back to 4-4 and were inches away from making it 5-5 right at the end. There is plenty of character in this group. Now we need to add that little bit of quality and consistency at the important moments.

James Matthews scored another two last weekend. How pleased have you been with his start?

James has been excellent. His work rate is fantastic, he gives us everything and he’s scoring goals but I know we can get more out of him and he’ll be the first person to tell you that individual performances don’t mean as much when the team isn’t getting results.

That’s the mentality we want throughout the squad. We win together and we lose together.

Cheadle Heath Nomads is obviously a club you know particularly well. Does that make Saturday different personally?

There will always be a connection there for me. I had a really enjoyable time at Nomads, worked with some brilliant people and I’ve got a lot of good memories from my time there.

But once the game starts, none of that really matters. I’m Mersey Valley manager and all I’m interested in on Saturday is trying to get our first points of the season. We’ll shake hands before the game, hopefully have a drink afterwards, but for those 90 minutes we both want to win.

Both teams are looking for their first points. Does that add anything to the game?

Maybe from the outside, but we’re not looking at it like that. It’s still September. Nobody’s season is being decided on Saturday.

What matters to me is that we keep improving. I thought there were positives against Rylands, another step forward against Dukinfield and then some really good things against Upton. But we can’t hide from the results. Three games, three defeats. We’re at home again and we want to get off the mark.

What do you want to see from the players tomorrow?

The same character, togetherness and desire we’ve shown, but with a little bit more control at the important moments. We scored four goals last weekend and still came away with nothing. That’s frustrating.

We don’t need to reinvent everything. We need to keep believing in what we’re doing, keep working for each other and make better decisions when the big moments arrive. If we do that, the results will come. Hopefully Saturday is where it starts.

This Weekend

Saturday 26 September 2026

Cheshire Football League Two

Barnton Reserves v Haydock | 2:00pm
Congleton Town Reserves v Pilkington | 2:00pm
Maine Road Reserves v Upton | 2:00pm
Mersey Valley v Cheadle Heath Nomads Reserves | 2:00pm
Moore United v Warrington Rylands Development | 2:00pm

Lancashire County FA Saturday Junior Cup

Wythenshawe v Rochdalians | 2:00pm

For Mersey Valley, it’s another afternoon at Banky Lane. There have been signs of progress. There has been plenty of character. Now it’s time to turn both into points.