22/09/2026
Thornton Cleveleys take a quick trip to AFC Blackpool for a Fylde Coast Derby on Wednesday evening
The Reds put AFC Knowsley to the sword in a 5-0 home win on Saturday to extend their unbeaten run to eight games. Josh Winder’s brace took him to four goals since arriving at the start of the season. Ben Duffield, debutant Harry Williamson and Dan Stoney rounded off a top-tier performance, with the latter duo coming off the bench to score incredible goals in the final stretch of the game.
Achieving a third clean sheet in four games, the Reds maintained fourth place in the NWCFL First Division North as the three teams above them also won.
Another midweek fixture is on the cards for TCFC – their record under the lights is two wins, two draws and a loss, although one of the draws came in the Lancashire Challenge Trophy, where they went on to win on penalties.
AFC Blackpool have had a below-par start to the season, having picked up four points in their opening 10 games to sit in 21st place. In their last match, the Mechanics, playing only their third home game of the season, were beaten 2-1 by Holker Old Boys. The weekend prior, they scored three but were beaten away at Cammell Laird.
Their top goalscorer, Charlie King, has five goals in all competitions, including two in his last two games.
Last season, a December 2-2 draw at the Mechanics Ground was followed up by a 3-2 win at Gamble Road. Luke Harris and Oliver Wilkinson scored first-half goals in the draw as the Mechanics scored twice in the second half, including one from new TCFC man Jacob Gregory. In the five-goal thriller in March, Harris, Josh Edwards and Samuel Lopes Viegas scored to lead 3-0 before AFC Blackpool almost pulled the game back once again, ultimately running out of time away from home.
In the 2025/26 campaign, the Mechanics did the double – they won 3-1 at the Mechanics Ground before winning 4-1 at Gamble Road, as Jordan Beavers and Archie Lang scored in either game.
Manager Paul Gregory was clear that he wants his players’ standards to remain the same to avoid losing their unbeaten streak.
“With the run that we are on, I just don’t us to get complacent and lazy-minded. The league table often lies because at this level, anybody can beat anybody. Like I say, every game we play at this level has got to be with a cup final mentality and we go out there resilient and hard to break down. We have had three clean sheets in the last four games and have to keep working hard.
“There will be movement again with shift patterns, but we will address it over the next few days to see where we are at and what we start with on Wednesday. It was good to see Ben Anderson getting out on Saturday.
We will also assess Jordan Beavers to see where he is up to – that is why we subbed him off on Saturday, just to manage him. He was carrying a bit of a knock before the game so we managed him, and we thought he was still carrying it a bit so we rested him in the second half, but hopefully with another few days of rest will him good to go.
Lewis Walmsley was good to get an hour again to get back in the mix. I thought he did superb again but again, we were just managing his minutes. The games are coming thick and fast, but it gives us a good headache, but I think the lads are adapting to it.
“AFC Blackpool always seems to be our biggest derby game because there is a lot of friendships between the two teams and there is a lot of pride. I think we have took four players off AFC Blackpool so they will be gunning for us on Wednesday night, so we have to be on our A-game to get anything out of the game.”
Kick off at the Mechanics Ground on Wednesday is 7:45pm.
By Sam Lawson
