Youth gives Chipping foundation for the future

They bowed out of the Lancashire Amateur Shield after a 5-0 loss at Carnforth Rangers.

“Last season when we played them, we won one, they won one and this season we drew 2-2 and probably should have won," said Hargreaves.(pictured above by James Watson)

“Yesterday it was a case of giving up an early goal and never really rebounding from that.

“There was a 15 minute spell in particular where they were really good and we just couldn’t put it together, they were clinical.

“Steve Lancaster’s done a great job there and they are probably one of the best teams in the division right now.

“We can have no complaints and they deserved the win.

“It isn’t the nature of this group, we need to bounce back and we will.”

Despite the defeat, there are many reasons to be optimistic about their youthful side.

In the last couple of years, the club have introduced a third team and lowered the average age of the squad as they build for the future.

“When I came in before the 2024/25 season, my first job was to bring in new blood.

“We’ve managed to do that, a lot of them are young but we’ve just looked to improve on what we already had.”

After two solid Division One finishes since promotion in 2022/23, Hargreaves is now confident his side can move up the table.

“Last year we had a strong start but then lost a few players through departures and injuries so we had a bit of a transition mid-season.

“This year, our seconds - who we looked a lot at last season - are very strong, we’ve brought in a few new players to the firsts and they’re quite young, so longevity-wise it’s looking good.

“We’re trying to recruit players who suit the club and building a two to three year-long project to really build a strong squad and I think we’ve got the foundations to do that.

“We had a nice unbeaten spell a few weeks ago so we need to get that consistency back.”

After 30 years working over in America, Hargreaves was impressed by Chipping‘a setup when he joined the club in 2024.

“I experienced West and East Lancs football when I was 19, 20 years old and I came back 50-years-old so a lot had changed.

“When I got introduced to Chipping, I really liked the fact they were trying to do exactly the same thing to what I was doing over there, working with younger players.

“We’re trying to improve the youth facilities and bring players through, we’ve had some success with that over the last couple of years.

“We’ve spent around £20,000 on the pitches this season and looking at ways to improve the training - everything is an opportunity to improve and the club are really supportive of my ideas.

“It’s a good community club in our area and we have ambitions to make things even better.

“There’s a lot of lads who’ve been here for some time and are really entrenched in that community.”

Elsewhere in the Amateur Shield, Hurst Green eased past Caton United in a 11-0 win while Langho also enjoyed a comprehensive victory, defeating Slyne with Hest 10-1.

Blackpool Wren Rovers won by an impressive margin too, triumphing 8-1 at Horwich RMI.

Stoneclough won 3-0 away to Storeys of Lancaster and Poulton came out of an eight-goal thriller as 5-3 victors over Royton Town.

The other West Lancs teams to progress were Mill Hill, CMB, Burscough Richmond, Dalton United and Tempest United.

Meanwhile, in the Premier Division, second placed Haslingden St Mary’s were 4-0 winners at Milnthorpe Corinthians, with now Premier Division joint top scorer Charlie Ridge bagging two.

Millom enjoyed a 6-2 victory at home to Coppull United, thanks in no small part to a nine-minute Ben MacDonald hat trick.

Hesketh Bank are the new leaders of a very open Division One after a 3-1 win at fellow high-flyers Kendal County.

Previous top-spot occupiers Ulverston Rangers were knocked off the summit after Lytham Town defeated them 3-1.

Two more sides with strong starts met in Croston Sports and Kendal United, ending in a 3-2 win for the latter.

Holker Old Boys edged out Pause United in a dramatic 4-3 victory that concluded with a Faryl Foster winner on the 90th minute.

Just seven points separate the top eight, and sixth placed Carnforth Rangers - five points behind Hesketh Bank - have two games in hand over the majority of the teams in that pack.

Plenty of goals in Division Two as well, none more so than for Euxton Villa Reserves who won 9-2 at Thornton Cleveleys Reserves, with James Hale getting a hat trick.

Top of the table Fulwood Amateurs Reserves got another big three points, defeating Galgate 5-1.

Brad Trippett scored three in the first 20 minutes as Walney Island saw off Garstang Reserves 6-3, while Charnock Richard Reserves Reserves held off a late Hawcoat Park comeback to win 4-2.

In Reserve Division One, Hesketh Bank Reserves triumphed 6-2 at home to Turton Reserves and leaders Haslingden St Mary’s secured a 2-1 win versus Lostock St Gerards.

Meanwhile, CMB Reserves inflicted a first loss of the season on Blackpool Wren Rovers Reserves as they recorded a 2-1 victory.

In Reserve Division Two, top side Thornton Cleveleys A won 5-2 against Storeys Reserves and Ste Ward was the hero as Stoneclough Reserves beat Rossendale Reserves 3-2.