A Boxing Day football fixture list was a little bit different this year, especially with a host of fixtures being postponed including Accrington and Rochdale’s.
Wigan Athletic were the only Greater Manchester representatives on Boxing Day and despite being dominated in possession drew 1-1 with Shrewsbury. A Will Keane penalty just after half-time making Shrewsbury work for their point. This sees Wigan with only one loss in their last 5 matches, as they look to have a better second half of the season.
In to league Two and Bolton Wanderers had an entertaining clash against Carlisle United. Being 3-1 down by half time it seemed that Bolton was cruising for a Boxing day loss. However, a second-half comeback saw Ian Evatt’s men draw 3-3, despite hitting the post late on and getting a man sent off deep into injury time.
Salford City continues to climb the table and go deep into the playoff places going into the new year. A 2-0 win over Walsall, maintains their 100% home record this season. James Wilson opened the scoring after 16 minutes and Burgess finished it off with three minutes to go, in what seems to be the great bit of momentum at the moment having not been beaten in their last 5 matches.
In the first-ever meeting between the two sides, Oldham Athletic, despite going ahead after 20 minutes with a penalty lost to 1-2 to Harrogate Town after having Grant sent off just before half-time. Oldham are in fine form, having won the five of the last seven matches and still find themselves in mid-table.
In a boxing day derby match, Altrincham hosted Stockport County with them sharing the spoils one. Altrincham went ahead after 25 minutes but despite a little bit of pressure held onto the 82nd minute where Jennings fired home to score. The point keeps both teams in the hunt for playoff places.
Curzon Ashton picked up only their second point in their last five matches with a 2-2 draw against Southport to see them climb a couple of places in the National League North table.
