Cheshire survival overshadows return of North West derby
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Sunday 18th November
Cheshire vs Manchester Giants
In what was meant to be the former “Cheshire Jets” opening fixture, it is now potentially one of the final games of their history if £50,000 is not raised before the 30th November to continue for the remainder of the season. However, the support and backing so far in the “Save The Jets” campaign would have you think otherwise.
ABode Chester, which is also home to some of the finest quality cuisine from renowned chef Michael Caines, hosted a drinks reception on Thursday evening for local businesses to get a taster of what it would mean to come on board to “Save The Jets”.
The entire Cheshire team were present, and were on hand to talk with fans and businesses, to help raise awareness.
Cheshire captain, Chez Marks, spoke to me ahead of this weekend’s game, firstly on the positive point of it being the return of what many see as the original North West derby against the Giants and how he and his fellow team-mates intend to treat the game.
“Manchester are huge inside, they have David Watts, David Aliu, who I used to go to college with. I know him, he knows me. He passes first, shoots second, a great player inside out, and to be honest, I’m just looking forward to matching up with him!
It was planned for Cheshire to face Giants away this Friday, but television fixture alterations have meant just the one clash on Sunday, and with also the loss of forward Kenny Moore, who left the team by mutual consent earlier in the week, now more than ever a collective approach is needed.
“With the rearrangement of fixtures this weekend, it’s given us time to rest,” said Marks, “there’s really six of us playing minutes, and we’ve prepared now without Kenny [Moore] here, who was, and still is a great player, but Phil [Brandreth] has some really big shoes to fill and is going to need to step up. I told him that we need him Sunday, so to come in there and just play hard.
Although still hanging above them, the dark cloud of £50,000 is slowly raising as the fund currently stands at £20,000, but with the local football team, Chester FC, also coming on side with support after their demise and subsequent revival of back-to-back promotions (leaving them just one league below the Blue Square Premier, from which they were removed in 2010), Marks hopes that with the speed at which things are moving, it all bodes well, and that fans need to come out for Sunday’s game to raise the Northgate roof.
“It would be a blessing for everyone to come out and show their support. I just want to thank all of them for what they have done and continue to do. If we can get them down on Sunday and get the Northgate as packed out as it was 2-3 years ago when I was last here, it will be great. It’s a test and a challenge, but if we move at the pace we are at now, and the community comes together, we will be OK.”
