FCUoM 3 - 0 Congleton Town

A decent midweek crowd of 2,051 watched on at Gigg Lane as United opened up a five-point gap at the top of the table with a strong 3-0 victory over unbeaten Congleton on Wednesday night.
After last Wednesday's victory over Flixton, boss Karl Marginson announced he would make widespread changes to the team for the match against Atherton Collieries.
But that game was postponed, so it was business as usual, with the only change for Wednesday's action the return from holiday of Matty Taylor, who replaced Mike Lomax at right back.
Marginson's men set out their stall quite well early on against a visiting team who gave the ball away quite a lot.
The reds' first chance arrived about 15 minutes into the game, when Rudd hit a long-range effort tipped over the bar by Congleton's man of the match Terry McCormick.
But it was the ever-energetic Rory Patterson who was to open the scoring, seemingly surprising himself with a relatively tame shot from near the left-hand edge of the area beating McCormick sloppily at his near post.
But the Congleton number one impressed throughout the game.
When a left-sided corner broke to the unmarked Rob Nugent, the solid centre back slammed in a superb shot only for McCormick to push wide.
Moments later, McCormick pushed over another long-range effort to keep the scoreline down.
The match rarely got out of first gear before the break, with United moving forward and Congleton rarely getting a site of Sam Ashton's goal.
Perhaps the games turning point came a minute into first-half stoppage time, when Stuart Rudd rose to meet a left-sided corner, nodding past the on-rushing McCormick for 2-0.
The goal knocked most of the fight out of Congleton, who showed only rare promise after the break, leaving only a minimal threat to the United back four.
Curiously, some of the most notable events came off the field, as Main Stand supporters unveiled a flag reading "Tara Fergie, Enough Betrayal' and a song ringing out in the MR with the words "Fergie, shut your mouth."
Patterson tried to liven things up on the field late on when McCormick hacked down Rudd in the box to give FC a penalty.
United's number 11 tried to chip the Congleton 'keeper in true Champagne Charlie fashion, only to hit the bar.
He managed to convert the rebound, but the goal didn't stand as the taker isn't allowed as the ball wasn't touched by another FC player.
The showboating element was toned down shortly afterwards when Patterson showed some terrific skill on the right wing, where he linked up well with Rhodri Giggs and - later on - substitute Aidie Orr.
Patterson hooked the ball into the box for full debutatent Jamie Pheonix to tap in his first United goal, for 3-0.
The man of the match, chosen bu match sponsors the University of Salford, was Alex Mortimer.