Shrewsbury are new challengers

Central defender Stephen Edwards

It was just a third defeat of the season for North End, and a surprise one when they lost at home to Tranmere. But their three point lead on Walsall, who started the day in second place, remained intact as the Saddlers also lost, their defeat coming at Rochdale.

This allowed the in form Shrewsbury to climb into second place and they are now just two points behind Preston, although the Lancashire club do have a game in hand.

A win for us at home to Chester would have seen us go up one place to fifth, but with the game called off when Chester were unable to fulfil the fixture it meant we dropped one place to seventh because of Rochdale's win.

The results of the day were very much those by Blackpool and Accrington, two of the bottom three. Blackpool hit five as they beat Wrexham whilst Accrington got a surprise point in a draw against Wigan.

Stockport were the only other winners and they remain in fourth place in the table.

This weekend sees just about a full fixture list, but there is no game for Burnley who have a free date. We are next in action a week on Saturday when we face Morecambe at Gawthorpe. The latest results and next fixtures are below.

Last season, watching the reserve and youth teams allowed me to reacquaint myself with an old friend and work colleague Gary Eastham, a Preston fan but watching his son Ash playing in the defence for Blackpool youth.

Ash has gone on to win a professional contract with Blackpool and is currently on loan with Cheltenham Town. His dad Gary sadly passed away at the end of last week after a long struggle against illness. He was in his early fifties and I'd like to dedicate this week's review of the Youth Alliance League to him and offer my sincere thoughts to Gary's family at this sad time for them.

Last Week's Results

Saturday 6^th February
Accrington 1 Wigan 1
Blackpool 5 Wrexham 3
Bury 1 Macclesfield 1
Morecambe 0 Shrewsbury 1
Oldham 0 Stockport 2
Preston 2 Tranmere 3
Rochdale 3 Walsall 2

Postponed Games
Burnley v Chester

This Week's Fixtures

Saturday 13^th February
Chester v Blackpool
Port Vale v Bury
Shrewsbury v Carlisle
Stockport v Morecambe
Tranmere v Oldham
Walsall v Preston
Wigan v Rochdale
Wrexham v Accrington

Burnley Goalscorers (League and Cup)

9: Michael King
8: Joe McKee
5: Dom Knowles
4: Joe Jackson, Liam Newman, James Taylor
1: Curtis Woods, own goals

Res Fixtures

Res Table

Youths Fixtures

Youths Table