Central make trip to Bollington Town as pre-season rolls on

Manchester Central will make a second trip of their pre-season campaign as the club looks to build on their strong start to preparations for the new season.

Chris Tomkinson’s side were dominant in their opening fixture in their visit to Eccles United, securing a resounding 6-1 triumph to get off to a near perfect start as Central look to ramp up the intensity by the time the season kicks off.

Captain Daniel Dolling was back on the scoresheet from the spot, whilst Dennis Raposo got a much-needed brace to help boost his confidence following a difficult first campaign in Central colours, but it would have been an encouraging performance ahead of the upcoming season.

New faces Kelson Basilva and Jurgen Sade impressed in their first outing for Central, both netting to add to the encouraging start for the club in pre-season. Sade particularly shone in front of goal, scoring a clever brace to cap a clinical showing.

Central will now take on their next test in pre-season, making the trip to face newly promoted Division One side in the Cheshire Football League, Bollington Town, on Saturday afternoon in their bid to carry through the momentum they have begun to build last weekend.

The hosts at the weekend enjoyed a successful campaign in their respective league, securing the final spot of the promotion places to climb up to Division One of the Cheshire Football League.

It was a tight third placed finish for Bollington last season, edging through by just a point over both FC St Helens and Moore United in the promotion race, whilst Bollington were always an entertaining outfit throughout their season.

Notable victories saw consecutive thrillers, first a 5-3 win at Hartford FC followed by a dominant 9-1 thrashing at home over Mersey Valley FC which both came towards the tail end of the season.

Bollington had multiple threats in front of goal last season, with three reaching double figures to help them towards promotion. Nathan Jackson, Joshua Connolly and Jack Naylor combined for 33 of Bollington’s 68 league goals scored, accounting for almost half last season, and have proven to be a threat that Central must look out for on Saturday.

Central meanwhile must look to build on their impressive first outing of their pre-season campaign ahead of the return to Division One football in the Manchester Football League.

It was an imposing display by Central who repped the red and black strip, and although the regulars were out on show, it was the new arrivals who gave Tomkinson something to think about for the remainder of pre-season.

Sade, who donned the number nine shirt on Saturday, particularly took his position on superbly by netting twice in ruthless fashion. His first strike was a composed slide of a finish to beat the onrushing keeper, whilst his second was even better, producing a sublime chip to complete his brace.

Tomkinson will be certainly hoping for more from Sade in front of goal to add another goal threat for this upcoming season, with their being a lack of numbers from across the board in the previous campaign.

Meanwhile both Paul McGuire and Tomkinson will be looking for another good performance rather than another resounding result. It was the key aim for both at the back end of last season to see an improvement in desire and performance levels, and they did get a raise in the final two fixtures.

Consecutive wins over Altrincham Hale and Boothstown to round off the 2022/23 season left Central off on a positive note, and their first pre-season game could be an early indication that they have carried forward their momentum.

Bollington Town will provide another test for Central, with the hope that this group of players can become a more consistent unit next season. This pre-season will prove to be an important period for Central to aid preparations for a potentially successful campaign.