Menu
Menu
https://tombarnes.substack.com/
Two goals from Arron Johns and strikes from Tom Pope and Tom Hampton drew the curtain on Congleton Town’s league campaign as The Bears drew 4-4 with Longridge Town on Saturday.
Ben Finley opened the scoring for the visitors as the forward went round Dave Parton and slotted into an empty net.
Jordi Nsaka looked to respond immediately but his fierce effort was denied by James Aspinall. The resultant corner led to Congleton believing they drew level.
Hampton’s header looked to go way over the Longridge goal line but claims were dismissed by referee Taylor Metcalfe.
Moments later saw The Bears draw level with Johns latching onto Darren Chadwick’s flick-on to head home from close range.
Richard Duffy’s side were rewarded for their dominance as Hampton eventually got on the scoresheet as he calmly slotted past Aspinall to give Congleton a well deserved lead going into the break.
After blowing for half-time, Taylor Metcalfe showed Longridge’s manager Lee Ashcroft a red card for dissent.
The hour mark saw Longridge equalise with Cian McDermott’s strike arrowed past Parton from inside the box.
There was a real season finale feel to the encounter as the goals continued fly in. Substitute Ollie Griffiths picked out Arron Johns with a wonderful cross with the winger volleying home emphatically.
Longridge drew level once more twenty minutes from time, as Jack Anderton drilled an effort from outside of the box into the bottom corner.
The visitors then found themselves in front as Finley grabbed his second of the afternoon with a smart lob over the onrushing Parton leaving the Longridge faithful thinking they were taking all three points back to Lancashire.
Tom Pope had other ideas, as he lobbed Aspinall with a delightful header moments from full-time to share the spoils as Congleton’s final home game of the 2022/23 campaign concluded.
The end of their league campaign but certainly not the end of Congleton’s season as they have two cup finals to look forward to in the coming weeks against Altrincham [Cheshire Senior Cup] and Bacup Borough [Macron Cup].
Let’s hope the lads can get their hands on the silverware that would be the perfect way to end an incredibly historic season.
