Report by SJG

CHESHIRE COUNTY CUP

WIGAN ATHLETIC   vs   RUNCORN

23^rd NOVEMBER 1932

LATICS MARCH ON.

Wigan made only one change to the side that overcame Buxton in their last outing. Murphy was rested. to allow time for him to recover from his previous injury, and in came a gifted local amateur who had been impressing in the reserves, A.C. Swift.

The game was played in cold wintery conditions and in the second half a tremendous storm struck the ground. However, Latics were in no mood to allow obstacles, be they weather, or their opponents from Runcorn, to derail their assault on the Cup.

Latics played with the wind at their backs in the first half and had established a commanding lead by the break. Wigan went quickly onto the attack, clearly eager to use the conditions to best advantage with Jones and Spencer both going close before on the seven-minute mark JONES had a shot parried by the Runcorn keeper, but the rebound fell back to the Wigan man who slotted home the chance. Wigan poured forward and O’Dell played a through ball for Hughes who played in a dangerous cross that debutant Swift hooked goalwards, only for Molyneux to save. The keeper saved the visitors again when Chambers headed at goal following a scramble. CHAMBERS had better luck on his next foray and a neat finish with the outside of his boot. On 20 minutes the debutant, SWIFT, made the most of the prevailing wind when he curled a corner kick straight into the Runcorn net. The winger almost repeated his effort two minutes later, but on this occasion the keeper was able to palm the ball clear.

So far, Runcorn’s only real effort on goal was a shot by Foxley which Abbott collected, but they nearly reduced the arrears when a shot by Ascroft forced Abbott into a fine save, the keeper touched the shot onto the crossbar, and Callachan, under pressure, scrambled the ball to safety. Wigan grabbed two more goals before the break, CHAMBERS firing home a fourth, then on a break following a Runcorn corner, Wake and Hughes linked well before releasing CHAMBERS, the in-form striker finished with style to complete yet another hat-trick.

Half Time; Wigan Athletic 5-0 Runcorn.

Runcorn’s only hope for a revival was to make good use of the conditions and they set about their task in the second half with purpose. It took only five minutes for the deficit to be reduced, Houghton and Ross linked well and their cross-field ball found ASCROFT who fired home. Hughes raced through but his shot was straight at the keeper, who saved well. Then Chambers found the Runcorn net with a tidy finish, only to see the effort ruled out for offside. Runcorn then grabbed a second and the goal-scorer again was ASCROFT. The ball broke loose in the wigan area and the Runcorn winger cooly drew Abbott out of his goal before slipping the ball neatly home.

Latics, inspired by Spencer, pulled themselves together and gradually regained control of the proceedings. The home side forced a string of corners, but somehow the Runcorn defence held firm and when Ascroft fed a sweet through ball for Houghton to pursue it briefly looked as if the visitors may get right back into the contest. Houghton, however, flashed his shot wide of the post and Wigan could breathe again.

With ten minutes to go the stormy conditions worsened and the wind was supplemented with driving rain that must have been blinding for the defenders. Runcorn threw men forward and long balls were played as they literally bombarded the home goal. Swift, who had performed well on debut, had to leave the field with an injury. Then as the storm abated, so did the Runcorn attack and on the break CHAMBERS saw the keeper off his line and lifted his shot that went into the net via the far post.

Full Time; Wigan Athletic 6-2 Runcorn.

Attendance; 4,000

Scorers; Chambers (15), (40), (44), (88), Swift (20), Jones (7); Ascroft (50), (55);

Team; WIGAN-- Abbott; O’Dell, Callachan; Wake, Spencer, Allon; Hughes, Chambers, McCabe, Jones, Swift;  

RUNCORN—Molyneux; Atherton, Rogers; Foxley, Miller, Neill; Brown, Houghton, Ross, Taylor, Ascroft.

Referee; E. Broome (Altrincham).

The quarter final draw was kind to Latics as they were given a home tie against Ashton National. 

With a few players now suffering injuries, knocks, and occasional loss of form the club decided to make some moves in the transfer market. They signed Henry Jamieson, an inside forward who had played for Bradford City, Crystal Palace and Gillingham, and they also signed N. Dixon, a centre-half, formerly of Preston North end and Barrow.