THE party is over - that's the message Leigh RMI boss Steve Waywell is telling his players after Saturday's disappointing FA Cup exit.
It was their second cup defeat in four days, after an unbeaten sequence of 15 games, but tonight Waywell will be hoping it will be third time lucky as RMI travel to Radcliffe Boro for a Challenge Cup Replay.
"We didn't do ourselves justice against Runcorn and we have the opportunity to put things right at Radcliffe," said a still smarting Waywell.
"Apart from a huge dent to our pride we came through without any further injuries and I will not be making any panic changes, but I will be strengthening the squad," said Waywell.
That could start tonight with the signing of former Manchester City player Paul Moulden, the Bolton based striker who started the season with Accrington Stanley.
Waywell has added Mark Schofield and Gary ?Jones to Saturday's squad and both players could at least start against a Boro side that earned the reply with a goal-less draw at Hilton Park a fortnight ago. Boro manager Kevin Glendon has only long term absentees Frankie Bunn, Danny Donackie and Andy Kilner missing. Radcliffe are sitting pretty in the Division One table at the moment seven points behind leaders Lincoln United and with a game in hand, but, with the top two positions designated as promotion slots, it is the seven point cushion over third placed Stocksbridge PF that really matters.
Glendon's only problem appears to be selecting the right combination of 11 starters out of a squad of 18 hopefuls. Striker Peter McRae is looking to return to top form after a bad pre-season ankle injury and his front running combination alongside Ian Lunt, with wide-man Joe Conner supplying the ammunition, is a potent mixture. ATHERTON LR need to bounce back from Saturday's big disappointment of a 3-1 home defeat by Bradford Park Avenue for the away trip to Netherfield. LR have slumped to third from bottom of the table but have games in hand over all close rivals. Tonight's opponents are two places ahead but with just one point more. Midfielder Mattie Brooks is being badly missed by LR as he serves out a three match suspension but the ranks have been boosted by the return of kenny Quigg from holiday. ATHERTON COLLS face a real daunting prospect tonight with the long trip down to the Potteries to face the Newcastle Town side that has been grabbing national media attention after a storming run to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.
Newcastle beat Bamber Bridge by an amazing 4-0 scoreline on Saturday and have drawn a plum home tie with Notts County! While the cup exploits have been the focus of attraction, Town are still unbeaten in the NWCL Division one table but Colls go into the game buoyed by a superb 6-1 away win at Maine Road at the weekend.
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