Town faced up to a confident Fulwood Amateurs side, however a brace from Liam Atkinson and a single strike from Matt Van Wyk saw the Ridge run away with the tie to claim the competition.

A massive thank you to everyone who attended over the course of the weekend and hopefully you'll agree with us in saying it was a brilliant weekend of football.

Special thanks to the Hurst Green squad who put £150 towards the cause, we can't thank you boys enough for your donation.

There was just two changes to the side who bested Hurst Green in the semi finals the day prior, as Ben Fletcher and Lewis Richmond to the XI.

Whilst Town were the better side, Fulwood came very close to opening the scoring and there's a high chance they would've if not for Jack Anderton.

Spencer Lucas was clean through after just three minutes, only for Anderton to come sliding in out of nowhere to pull off an outstanding last ditch tackle.

This seemed to get the Ridge right up for the clash, as just over one minute later Town took the lead.

Van Wyk found his strike partner Atkinson, who promptly rolled into the bottom corner to open the scoring with just four minutes on the clock.

The Ammies looked to respond as they almost capitalised on a defensive mishap just minutes later but Ryan McLean was on hand to block the close range effort.

Lucas looked to get that precious equaliser for Fulwood again but Trialist was on hand to hold the forward's effort from the edge of the box.

Richmond then won it back well in midfield before moving it onto Van Wyk.

The striker immediately looked for his number 2, who he then found.

Atkinson fired at goal straight away, only for Fulwood goalkeeper Jacob Barry to parry it away.

Richmond then looked for a goal of his own, shooting from 25 yards.

It looped high but Barry held.

Town then had the ball in the net via Atkinson poking home from an Anderton cross, however play was pulled back by the referee for a foul on Richmond just prior to the ball going across the box towards the striker.

Van Wyk took responsibility but struck his effort into the Fulwood wall.

However it mattered little, as on the 35 minute mark, the second came.

Richmond slipped it into towards Van Wyk who dummied and left it for Atkinson who had his back to goal on the edge of the box.

Liam spun on a sixpence before rifling the ball into the top left corner emphatically with his so called weak foot to double both his tally and Longridge's.

Five minutes later and it was three.

Atkinson received it on half-way before sending his man for a burger from the pitchside van and sending Van Wyk on his way.

Matty raced into the space and calmly slotted it past Barry.

If it wasn't obvious enough already, these two are becoming a partnership to be feared.

Perhaps it was frustration coming out, but unfortunately the game reached a flash point just before the break.

With a very poor challenge coming in on Anderton, both him and Fletcher were visibly the most frustrated by it.

After all was done, both Anderton and the offender were booked.

At half time, ticket number 9921 won the half time pound for the ground jackpot of £64, drawn out by midfielder Jack Arrowsmith whose injury recovery we hope is coming along well.

A big thank you on behalf of everyone at Longridge Town for the incredible support.

It's brilliant to see how far we are coming as a club both on and off the pitch and it's no small part due to you.

Following wholesale changes at half time, we got back underway.

One of the subs, Luke Smith, came close to adding a fourth on the hour mark, but his 15 yards effort was blocked by Fulwood's Higham.

Atkinson looked destined to have added another, as he met Hewitt's cross firmly with his head, but it bounced off a Fulwood defender who looked to have known very little about it.

He was then close again, but Barry kept him out brilliantly from close range.

A substitute trialist headed at goal from a corner but his powerful header was kept out well by the reactionary legs of Barry.

A different Trialist then fizzed an effort just inches past the far post from the edge of the box as Town kept up the search of the fourth.

The same Trialist then claimed for a penalty after Barry dived at his feet to prevent another one-on-one effort, however the referee correctly pointed for a goal kick.

However, it was then the Longridge goalkeeper who had to do some work in the dying stages to keep his clean sheet intact, parrying away a far post header from Jonty McDonald.

The Trialist striker on Town's team blazed over our final opportunity to grab that fourth, after Atkinson hoisted it over to him.

The attacker got everything right apart from the finish.

Referee Archie Banks then blew the full time whistle, confirming Longridge Town as the champions of the 2025 George Melling Tournament.

The lads were then awarded their medals and the trophy.

However just prior to that, we presented last season's supporter of the season Freddie Woan with a framed photo of his picture with the players.

A very well deserved award. We all hope you had a great weekend Freddie!

It was then that George Melling's father presented the Town players with their medals and trophy.

Undoubtedly a fantastic weekend of football at Inglewhite Road.

Thank you to everyone involved and to the brilliant supporters of each side.

Another thanks to Hurst Green for raising funds for cause, absolutely incredible from you boys.

Below is the final standings of the 2025 George Melling Tournament.

1st: Longridge Town
2nd: Fulwood Amateurs
3rd: Chipping
4th: Hurst Green

Once again a big, big thank you from everyone at Longridge Town to you all.

The weekend was only so good due to your incredible support.

We hope that we remembered George well.

Also, everyone else connected with the football club who is no longer with us.

They will never, ever be forgotten.

The Goals

Longridge: Atkinson (5' 34'), Van Wyk (39')

Fulwood Amateurs: N/A

The Teams

Longridge first half: Trialist, Marshall, Trafford, McLean, Anderton, Fletcher, Richmond, Trialist, Hewitt, Van Wyk, Atkinson

Longridge second half: Trialist, Trialist, Marshall, Trialist, Cunningham, Greaves, Dainty, Smith, Trialist, Trialist, Atkinson

Fulwood Amateurs: Barry, Kirnon, Botes, Higham, Hooper, Imadiyi, Braithwaite, Rezaei, Shields, Rimmer, Lucas

Fulwood subs: Aiton, McDonald, Riciceriby, Jackson, Steel