Midcheshire Independent Issue 195

AUGUST 2026 20 Independent LOCAL SPORT NANTWICH Town have confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Yusuf Mersin. Mersin, 31, played 27 matches in all competitions for Hyde United last season before joining Runcorn Lin- nets where he featured at the end of the campaign includ- ing their playoff semi-fi- nal defeat. Born in Greenwich, Lon- don, 6ft 5in Yusuf first came north to sign for Liverpool in January 2011. His foot- balling journey took him to Turkiye with a transfer to Kasimpasa before he headed back to England, signing for Crawley Town in June 2016. Yusuf was offered a new contract by League Two Crawley at the end of the 2017-18 season and made 19 appearances for them in total. He spent two years in the National League with Dover Athletic, joining in May 2019. A subsequent spell at Maidstone United saw him make 27 appearances. These included seven in their title-winning National League South campaign of 2021-22. He played 16 times for Stones on their promotion to the National League ahead of a brief return to the South Division on emergency loan with Welling United. In July 2023, Yusuf signed for H&W Welders in North- ern Ireland but returned to England in March 2024 with Mickleover, making 48 appearances in Southern League Premier Central and NPL Premier before joining Hyde for last season. Yusuf represented Turkiye By JonathanWhite NANTWICH Town sup- porters can now take a journey through more than 140 years of the club’s past thanks to the launch of a comprehen- sive new online archive. The free DABBER- Sarchive website brings together thousands of his- toric records, photographs, match reports and player profiles, creating the most complete digital record ever assembled of the Cheshire club’s long and proud history. The new website has been created by former club President and Director Michael Chatwin. It brings together dec- ades of research into one free, searchable resource for supporters, historians, former players and foot- ball enthusiasts. Covering Nantwich Town FC’s history from its forma- tion in 1884 right through to the present day, the archive focuses on matches, play- ers and club memorabilia, making it the most compre- hensive online record of the Dabbers ever produced. While the website already contains an extensive collec- tion of information dating back to the Second World War, it remains a living project, with more records being researched, verified and added on a regular basis. The DABBERSarchive allows visitors to explore team line-ups, player biog- raphies, programme covers, match reports, statistics and photographs spanning generations of Nantwich Town football. More recent seasons also include many of the detailed match reports written by club media officer Liam Price alongside photographs by club photographer Jona- than White. The project is the culmina- tion of almost half a century of research. LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP LONG-TIME leaders of the Cheshire County Cricket League Premier Division, Didsbury, suffered rare defeat in a top of the table clash with Nantwich. Nantwich moved into sec- ond place after a resounding five-wicket home win in a high scoring clash. Having been put in first, Didsbury piled on the runs and made 344/8. Joe Cooke (84) and Robert Sehmi (81) had a partnership of 171 and James Green weighed in with 48. But Nantwich pair Ali Chughtai and Rob Jones took a real liking to the Didsbury attack and put on a match-winning partnership of 228. Chughtai smashed 18 fours and seven maximums in his 149 with Jones hitting 22 fours in his 130. Hyde, who had a comfort- able seven-wicket win over Lindow, are the new divi- sion leaders. Alderley Edge won a tight run chase, beating Timper- ley by three wickets. Batting first Timperley made 297/9 from their 50 overs with Zach Thompson (127) and Ed Gal- ley (71) sharing a partner- ship of 118. Keeper Henry Murray helped Alderley Edge across the line with 119 in his team’s reply of 300/7. Bramhall were beaten by 94 runs at Brooklands. The home side posted 305 all out (Ben Cunliffe 89 and Kevin Carroll 128 off 67 balls). Bramhall were dismissed for 211. Openers Dan Brown (53) and Ashley Burton (51) were the main contributors as Cheadle posted 266 all out. Opponents Chester Boughton were restricted to 225/9, thanks mainly to Josh Dooler (4-42) and Dan Brown (3-43). In Division One, Bollington maintained second spot with a 32-run win at Sale. Bolling- ton opening pair Andrej Yak- sender and skipper Richard Hough put on 204 for the first wicket. Yaksender made 137 off 125 balls and Hough made 61 in Bollington’s 286/9. Sale’s Tyrone Lawrence had impressive figures of 7-59 but his side fell short as they were bowled out for 254. Alex Thompson made an unbeaten 103 but it was not enough to prevent Maccles- field falling to a six-wicket defeat at Marple. Maccles- field posted 222/8 but Jack Feilen’s 102 helped Marple to victory. Stockport Georgians pushed leaders Widnes all the way before falling to a 41-run defeat. Widnes posted 290/6 while Georgians replied with 249/6 (Francis Yates 81 and Ben Staniforth 78). Bowdon had a comforta- ble 121-run win over bottom club Urmston. Bowdon’s top scorers were Jack Tipton (73), Ashwin Sharma (70 no) and Joe Chapple (52). In Division Two, Romi- ley had a 21-run home win over Cheadle Hulme. Ans Muhammad (57) and Brodie Richardson (61) top scored in Romiley’s 263/8. Despite 69 from Jordan Potts, Chea- dle Hulme fell short on 242 all out. Second bottom Middle- wich (150 ao) were beaten by Bredbury St Marks (151-5) while Stockport were beaten by three wickets at home to Runcorn. Hale Barns kept third spot in the table with a five-wicket win over Irby. Stockport Trinity held onto second place in Division One with a 39-run win over Old Parkonians in a low-scoring clash. Trinity must have feared the worse when they were shot out for just 92 but Lincoln Kellett (5-5) and Matt Royle (4-27) bowled them to victory. Bottom club Northwich lost their 12th game of the season, losing by 81-runs at Over Peover. Bowdon Vale lost by one wicket at West- minster Park. Division Two leaders Holmes Chapel (174/9) beat Hawk Green (116 ao) while Division Three side Winsford (130 ao) stay second bottom after being comfortably beaten by Frodsham (210/7). In the North Staffs and South Cheshire League Divi- sion One, Congleton (216/9) lost at home to Porthill Park (217/6) while Division Two bottom club Sandbach suf- fered their 10th loss of the season away at Eccleshall. PREMIER LEADERS FIND IT TOUGH AT THE TOP To advertise in the Independent, contact Robin Atkins on 07767 840274 COMMUNITY sport across Cheshire East is getting a welcome investment, with the Cumberland Arena ath- letics track set to undergo a major upgrade. For decades, the facilities at Cumberland Arena have been afocalpointforsportinCrewe, supporting generations of runners, jumpers and throw- ers, from their first experience of athletics through to county and national competition. The venue, which is oper- ated by Everybody Health & Leisure in partnership with Cheshire East Council, is used by schools, community groups and clubs from across South Cheshire and plays a key role in promoting health, wellbeing and opportunity. Now, with an almost £500,000 investment agreed, the arena’s athletics track is set to be restored so that it can once again provide a safe and accessible community facility to hundreds of people across the area, as well as host regional competitions which bring people into the town. The upgrades are the lat- est piece in a wider project to modernise and expand the facilities at the arena. This includes a new artificial 3G pitch, three new multi-pur- pose studio spaces to support fitness classes, community activities and targeted health and wellbeing programmes run by Everybody Health and Leisure, a new covered spec- tator stand, more car parking and secure cycle shelters. The latest investment news has been warmly welcomed by Crewe and Nantwich AthleticClub,oneofCheshire’s largest and most successful athletics organisations, which is based at the arena. A spokesman for Crewe and Nantwich Athletic Club, said: “Thousands of people have trained, competed and exer- cisedat theCumberlandArena since the track was last resur- facedalmost 25years ago. “Without this invest- ment, we would be forced to stop hosting competi- tions from early next year, as the track in its present condition would not pass the certification required to legally hold competitions. “The investment in the ath- letics track protects not just a sports facility, but a commu- nity built on volunteering, participationandopportunity. “In the last year alone, our athletes have won more than 70 medals at the County Championships, 14 ath- letes were selected for the English Schools National Championships, and one of our athletes recently competed at the Schools International Athletics Board (SIAB) competition in Belfast, representing England and bringing home both a gold and a bronzemedal.” The work to upgrade the athletics track is due to begin in early spring next year, while the wider project to improve the facilities will complete this autumn. £500,000 major upgrade for athletics track Online archive preserves Dabbers 140-year history New goalkeeper Yusif Mersin (Image: JonathanWhite) IN SAFE HANDS Much-travelled keeper Mersin joins Dabbers at Under 16s, U17s and U18 level. Manager Luke Goddard said: “The summer and timing of losing Ben Garratt who was ultra reliable was always going to be difficult to replace. Yusuf contacted to come in after spending much of his career playing higher, he’s experienced and much like Ben he’s a fantas- tic person who hasn’t missed a thing all summer. “We want to continually challenge all positions this season with healthy competi- tion. A goalkeeper will always be heavily judged more than outfielders, but in terms of reliability and experience the staff cannot fault Yusuf, he’s been excellent and I have full faith he will give us a plat- form with our strong options defensively to begin the cam- paign positively.” The club have also signed former Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Zac Prior. Prior has also played for North- wich Victoria.