Irlam 0 Squires Gate 3: Fourth consecutive victory for Luke Evans' players

On the back of Wednesday’s strong win over Avro, Gate boss Luke Evans made four changes with James Hughes, Nathan Bartram, Rowan Chambers and Fetih Yilmaz replacing Isaac Abankwah, Alex Welsh, Chris Webster and Theo Ball.

Skipper Josh Westwood had to be switched on inside the first five minutes, making an important clearance at the back post, before Hughes had Gate’s first effort with a volley deflected off target.

Gate broke the deadlock on 17 minutes through Dan Gray’s first goal of the season, volleying home from distance after a sliced clearance from the Irlam goalkeeper.

They almost got a second goal in similar fashion four minutes later as Hughes intercepted a poor clearance from the keeper, only for his effort to land just wide of the top corner.

Yilmaz, who was making his first start for the senior team, played an excellent ball across goal that Nathan Cliffe could only stab wide at full stretch.

Irlam saw an effort deflected wide and Cliffe spurned a couple of decent chances as Gate led 1-0 at the break.

Ryan Moore had Gate’s first shot of the second half, firing an effort wide, before Irlam missed another opportunity to get on terms.

They were punished as Gate doubled their lead on 55 minutes, Cliffe bagging his 13th goal of the season.

Gray won an aerial challenge from a goal kick with his header finding Cliffe, who was as clinical as ever with his finish.

Saad Mekkaoui-Abouzaid and Harrison Kay came on for Yilmaz and Moore as Gate began to control the game in professional fashion.

Ryan Riley also came on for Gate, replacing Cliffe, before both teams picked up bookings as the match progressed.

Gate eventually sealed their win on 87 minutes, James Boyd tapping into an empty net after pressing the Irlam keeper into another poor mistake.

The win sees Gate 14th in the NWCFL Premier Division and they are back in action on Saturday, hosting Winsford United at The Brian Addison Stadium.

Squires Gate: Pennington, Hughes, H Webster, Gray, Bartram, Westwood, Moore, Chambers, Yilmaz, Cliffe, Boyd. Subs: Welsh, Jungo, Riley, Kay, Mekkaoui-Abouzaid.