North West Counties Football League Division One South

St Martins 1

Barnton 2

A KARL Bailey first half goal was not enough for St Martins as Barnton came from behind to steal the three points.

The Saints took the lead through Bailey in the 35th minute after starting the game well.

However, Barnton were the better side after the break, with a Connor Anderson strike and a Samuel Houghton penalty late in the afternoon turning the game on its head.

Barnton had a number of chances early in the game when Houghton struck his free-kick goalwards, only for Jack Perry to divert it with a good save.

Moments later Joshua Crofts nearly put his side ahead, but again Perry matched him.

St Martins grew into the game after soaking up some pressure and started creating chances of their own.

They were rewarded for their efforts with 10 minutes of the half remaining when Bailey found himself enough space to fire his effort into the net to open the scoring.

A strong finish to the first half saw the Saints take a lead into half-time.

Barnton responded after the break however as they instantly went looking for an equaliser.

A decision to introduce Luke Sutton into the game for Barnton proved to be a good one from the manager, as he instantly got involved with the game to set up Anderson for a simple tap in to make it 1-1 with 30 minutes remaining.

The game looked to be heading for a draw until the referee pointed to the spot for Barnton with minutes remaining.

Houghton stepped up and kept his nerve to fire past Perry and give his side the lead.

St Martins looked to respond, but the hosts ran out of time and had to settle for another defeat, making it seven consecutive losses for the side.

They will look to turn things around on Saturday when they travel to face Abbey Hey in the league.

FA Vase second round Gresley FC 3

FC Oswestry Town 2 By David Figg

AFTER an impressive first round victory, FC Oswestry Town were sent out of the FA Vase competition after being narrowly beaten by Gresley.

Visiting the team who sit one step above them in the football pyramid, Town faced a difficult task as they looked to head into the third round of the competition.

An Albert Lansdowne brace in the second half proved vital in the outcome of the game, with the two goals giving the side the breathing space needed after the Oswestry men scored a very late goal.

The hosts started well in front of a home crowd and put themselves ahead in the eighth minute.

James Bennett-Tindall worked well out on the wing to deliver a good cross to meet the onrushing Jamie Haines who fired his right-footed strike home from 12 yards.

Despite the difference in leagues, there proved to be very little difference in the quality of the two sides on the pitch with both sets of players battling well in an evenly-matched contest.

Town had reason to celebrate at the very end of the first half as they scored from a free-kick struck by Mike O’Reilly to draw level before the break.

Both sides started well in the second half with chances passing by either side.

However, the game’s next goal came after the hour-mark when a good six-minute spell for the hosts saw Oswestry slump to concede two goals.

A free-kick hit by Haines took several deflections before falling nicely for Lansdowne who got his first of the afternoon.

The forward then doubled his side’s lead and his tally for the afternoon with an effort shortly before the 70th minute which he placed past Mason Springthorpe to make it 3-1.

A glimpse of hope came for the Oswestry men late in the afternoon when Dave Howarth turned in his effort after a Steve Evans header, to make the score 3-2 in the 94th minute.

Gresley were able to hold onto their lead in the final few minutes of injury time to take the win and send them through to the next round.

FC Oswestry Town return to league action on Saturday against Wythenshawe Town.

FA Welsh Trophy

Second round

Llanuwchllyn 2

Chirk Town 1

CHIRK Town made the long trip to face Llanuwchllyn – a team two tiers above them in the Welsh football pyramid – and came away with a narrow defeat.

Town fell behind in the first half to a Sam Evans goal for the hosts, before pulling a goal back through Lewis Penrose.

However, it took a spectacular effort to separate the sides with a looped effort from Llanuwchllyn’s Dave Prysor from 50 yards found its way into the net.

Chirk started brightly and played some good possession football in the early stages, but were restricted to long-range efforts early on.

Despite the positive start, the opposition took the lead after Evans found the net with a scrappy goal after a set piece.

The goal did not deter the Taverners’ approach as the side kept probing and pushing for an equaliser.

Town were rewarded for their efforts when Penrose struck a superb free kick from 30 yards into the net to send the teams into half-time with the score at 1-1.

Similar to the first half, the second half began with Chirk starting strongly and kept their hosts at bay.

That was until a bizarre moment saw Llanuwchllyn take the lead through centre back Prysor who struck an effort from the halfway line and watched it fly over the head of the Chirk stopper and into the net to make it 2-1.

Town again looked for an equaliser and came close through several chances, including an effort from Tom Freeman coming close.

Despite their efforts, Town could not find a goal and the final whistle confirmed their exit from the Welsh Trophy.

Chirk performed well against their opponents from higher up the pyramid, but will be disappointed to lose their 100 per cent unbeaten record at the start of the season.

They will look to get back to winning ways on Saturday against Bradley Park in the North East Wales Football League. Chirk will then take on Brymbo Victoria on September 28.

Welsh Trophy

Second round

FC Queens Park 4

Chirk AAA 1

CHIRK AAAs were knocked out of this year’s Welsh Trophy by fellow Welsh National League side FC Queens Park.

The Colliers took the lead early in the game through Niall Freeman to stun the hosts.

FC Queens Park showed exactly why they were league champions last season however, and went on to strike back with four goals in reply.

Chirk, who won the competition in 2017, went ahead after a great start with a well-worked move rounded off by Freeman in the fourth minute.

They held onto their lead until the 33rd minute when Queens Park equalised through Ben White.

Their first goal spurred them on to look for more goals and they were successful in doing so after Rhys Hughes found the net shortly after the break.

Chirk gave as good as they got in the second period with Joe Roberts going close, but Queens Park doubled their lead in the 75th minute through White again.

The Colliers had a chance to reduce the deficit by a goal when they were awarded a penalty, however Roberts was unable to find the net.

Queens Park knew they had been handed a lifeline and ensured they would put the game beyond any doubt by scoring a fourth late in the game courtesy of Luke Hughes.

Chirk AAA return to league action at home against the same opponents on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).

Shropshire Premier League

Premier Division

St Martins Village 1

Wellington Amateurs Development 4

ST MARTINS Village were handed their first defeat of the season as they were comfortably beaten by a well-organised Wellington Amateurs Development side on Saturday.

The Wellington men put themselves three goals ahead within half an hour before Village pulled a goal back before the break.

With a large period of the second half seeing Village struggling to find an equaliser, Wellington made the afternoon worse for the St Martins side when they rounded the game off with a late fourth goal.

Village started the game slowly and Wellington capitalised on this to score their first early in the afternoon.

Two quick-fire goals followed, but Village finished the half strongly with Zach Ward firing home a penalty.

St Martins came out after the break in search for a second goal, and began to look like the stronger side.

They were left to rue missed chances however, and Wellington punished them for this with a late goal.

St Martins Village now sit seventh in the league table.

Village next face Madeley Sports at home on Saturday.

Shropshire Premier League

Premier Division

Madeley Sports 1

Gobowen Celtic 4

A BRACE from Ed Rogers got Gobowen Celtic back on track with a win over Madeley Sports.

Celtic moved second in the table with their third win of the season.

It was a good performance for the visiting Celtic men, who had Rogers to thank for his two efforts which proved to be the difference at the end of the game.

Central midfielder Jay Hickman grabbed a goal for Madeley to give themselves a chance of getting a result, but Celtic held on to take the three points.

The result means Gobowen are now second in the table with just one point between themselves and leaders Wrockwardine Wood Juniors. Celtic face St Martins Village on September 28.

North West Counties Football League Division One South

Alsager Town 2

Ellesmere Rangers 2

ELLESMERE Rangers will be looking to build on their first point of the season after a draw in their game last Tuesday against Alsager Town.

Rangers have endured another tough start to the season, but are finally off the mark after a late equaliser ensured they took a point from the game.

The game looked to be heading the same way as all of Rangers’ matches so far this season, with Ben Boyne scoring twice in the opening 15 minutes to give Alsager a two-goal advantage.

Despite the poor start, Ellesmere started to settle into the game and created a handful of chances in the first half, but they were unable to find an all-important goal which would put them back in the game.

After half-time, Rangers came out determined to not make it eight defeats from eight in the league so far this season.

After 20 minutes of pressing for a goal, the Ellesmere men got their reward when Jack Briscoe found the net to make it 2-1.

The rest of the evening was played out with Rangers looking the better side and coming close to scoring on several occasions.

Their persistence paid off in the 84th minute when they grabbed a vital goal.

Keiran Barry found himself in a great position to fire home and ensure his side avoided defeat.

After a tense few minutes, the referee called a stop to the game and Ellesmere took their first point of the season.

Rangers were in action again last night as they hosted Abbey Hey.