By David Figg

Playermatch.com Cup first round

Steeton 0

FC Oswestry Town 0 (Oswestry win on penalties)

FC OSWESTRY Town scraped past Steeton away in the opening round of the Playermatch.com Cup with a win on penalties.

It was a worthwhile trip to Yorkshire for Town who made it three wins from three since their first and only defeat of the season so far.

Both sides came close early on with Steeton’s Ben Clarkson firing his headed effort just wide after two minutes.

Town then threatened with a chance of their own in the 12th minute when Connor Courtney’s corner reached Dave Howarth at the far post who failed to make enough contact with the ball to guide it towards the goal.

The visiting Oswestry men enjoyed more of the ball and more chances in the first half with chances from Howarth, Chris Seargeant and Gareth Partridge all going close.

After the break, the tide changed slightly with Steeton coming close with a handful of early attempts.

First was Jack Richmond’s strike which was stopped well by Mason Springthorpe, before Richmond found space in the area again minutes later, but fired his shot way over the crossbar.

Springthorpe was busy until the 65th minute when Oswestry started to grow back into the game.

Mike O’Reilly went close with a long-range free-kick 15 minutes from time, before Partridge struck an effort just over the bar as the game headed into the final 10 minutes.

With neither side able to find the net before the final whistle, the tie would be decided by a penalty shootout.

Seargeant and Simon Smith scored the first two Town penalties while Clarkson bagged the first Steeton penalty.

Springthorpe stopped Richmond’s penalty, before Partridge kept Town in the lead. Kayle Price scored for Steeton, Lewis Jarman converted his kick, before Andy Boote scored his.

O’Reilly was the last up and fired his effort home to secure victory for Town.

FC Oswestry Town were in action last night against New Mills.

Shropshire Premier League Premier Division

Albrighton 0

St Martins Village 5

ST MARTINS Village made it two wins from two in style with an impressive performance away at Albrighton.

Goals from Luke Riley, Lee Morris, Zach Ward and an own goal from an Albrighton defender were enough to put themselves out of reach in the game.

Village now have six points from six in the league after starting a little later than other teams.

The five-goal victory means the St Martins men have scored 11 in their opening two fixtures.

Despite the result, the home side started strongly and had Village on the back foot in the early stages of the game.

However the visitors composed themselves after soaking up the pressure and holding together a tight back line. After growing into the game more and more, a quick counter-attack for St Martins culminated in a thunder-strike from Ward which bounced off the woodwork and into the path of Riley who fired home to make it 1-0.

The goal came at a great time for Village who started to create more chances and managed to double their lead just before the break through Morris.

At the start of the second half, Albrighton applied pressure on the St Martins back line again, but for all their pressure they were unable to find a way through the defence.

The visitors grew into the second half and in similar fashion to the first half, got a goal to set their hosts back further.

A Jonny Mitchell header from Daryl Davies cross was guided into his own net by an Albrighton defender for the third goal of the afternoon.

Village grew stronger and soon made it 4-0 when Ward grabbed his first goal of the day.

Moments later, he was in the goals again when a well-weighted pass through from Harry Dunn was met by Ward who calmly finished to make it 5-0.

The result means village move to sixth in the table after winning two from two.

Their next fixture will take place at home on Saturday when they face fourth-placed Wellington Amateurs Development.

The Playermatch.com Cup first round

Abbey Hulton United 4

Ellesmere Rangers 1

ELLESMERE Rangers were sent out of the Playermatch.com Cup in the first round after being beaten by Abbey Hulton United.

Rangers fell behind early in the game but pulled a goal back after United’s second.

Despite only trailing by one goal for most of the game, United showed their quality by grabbing two late goals to confirm their place in the next round.

The scoring opened in the fourth minute of the game when United, who had started well, found the net through defender Mark Groom.

The goals set Rangers back early on and things went from bad to worse in the 11th minute of the game when Ashley Colclough doubled his team’s lead.

A second United goal came as a wake-up call for Rangers who pulled one back through William Wells to make the score 2-1 before 20 minutes of play.

The remainder of the first half was quiet with few chances for both sides – Rangers looked for the equaliser but could not find one before half-time.

However, the second half saw a difference in the teams as United began to take a hold on the game.

Colclough doubled his tally for the afternoon in the 70th minute with a goal to restore his side’s two-goal lead.

Then in the 83rd minute, United wrapped up the game when Kristian Parsons scored a fourth to make it 4-1 and knock the Ellesmere men out of the cup.

Rangers have now lost nine consecutive games in all competitions since the start of August.

They return to league action away at Alsager Town on Saturday.

North East Wales Football League

Premier Division

Pennyffordd Lions 2

Chirk Town 2

CHIRK Town kept their unbeaten start to their inaugural season running after sharing the points with Penyffordd Lions on Saturday.

The result makes it three wins and one draw from their opening four games this season.

With a number of players missing, Chirk had to find a way back from two goals down to salvage a point.

The side left it late with two goals in the final 10 minutes ensuring their unbeaten start continues.

Up against a side just one place below them in the league table, the Chirk men started slow with their hosts looking well-organised and preventing Town from playing football.

As far as goal-scoring chances are concerned, the first half was a quiet one until the 40th minute when the referee awarded Penyffordd a penalty for a foul by Caleb Davies, despite the visiting side claiming the tackle was made outside the penalty area.

The Lions scored from the spot and took a one-goal lead into the break with them.

After the break, the hosts looked to double the lead and were able to do so in the 55th minute when a long free-kick was not cleared by the Chirk back line and the home team were able to find the net from the edge of the area.

This prompted a response from the Taverners who pushed to find a way back into the game.

Centre-half Jason Williams pushed up-front to cause some problems for the Penyffordd defence – a decision which proved to be a good one as they scored soon after through Naz Farhat who fired home to reduce the deficit to one goal with 10 minutes to play.

Town used the momentum gained from Farhat’s goal to throw everything they had at the stubborn home defence.

Several chances fell for the Chirk men as time began to run out.

They had reason to celebrate in the 90th minute however – after being awarded a corner, the ball was sent into the area by Tom Roberts and met by Farhat at the front post and guided past the keeper with a great header.

The full-time whistle blew leaving Chirk to feel as though it was a point gained rather than two lost.

Chirk Town will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Llanuwchllyn away in the FA Wales Trophy (kick-off 2.30pm).

Playermatch.co. Cup first round

Wythenshawe Town 2

St Martins 0

A GOAL either side of half-time for Wythenshawe Town handed St Martins a narrow defeat in the opening round of the Playermatch.com Cup to send them crashing out of the competition at the first hurdle.

The Saints faced tough opposition who have started the league season well, sitting in fifth place in the North West Counties Football League Division One South table.

Michael Clarke got off the mark for his team in what was a good all-round performance for the hosts.

The result was all-but confirmed when Town grabbed a second of the day through Brad Byrne.

It proved to be a difficult afternoon for St Martins who struggled to get into the game. Despite playing some nice football at times, the home defence seemed impenetrable as they soaked up everything Saints had to offer on the day.

It took half an hour for Town to put themselves in the lead after an array of chances went begging for them.

Jack Timmons got himself a yard and floated a ball into the penalty area which was met by Clarke at the back post and nodded into the net.

St Martins managed to keep the deficit to just one goal, with Town frustrated at being unable to double their lead for some time.

Saints keeper Jack Perry was on hand to deny forward Stu Wellstead a place on the scoresheet on several occasions, much to the striker’s frustration.

Wellstead was replaced late in the afternoon by Scott Spencer who came on and offered something different for the St Martins defence to think about.

This proved a good decision from the home team’s coaching staff as Spencer was the provider for their second goal when his lay-off allowed Byrne to bag his fifth goal in all competitions for the season.

The result means six straight defeats for St Martins.

They will hope to turn things around in their next game at home to Barnton on Saturday.

Shropshire Premier League

Premier Division

Wrockwardine Wood Juniors 2

Gobowen Celtic 0

GOBOWEN Celtic’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end on the weekend after a narrow defeat at Wrockwardine Wood Juniors.

The match itself was far from important for the Celtic players who held a minute’s silence before the game dedicated to former player Dan Oakley who died earlier in the week.

The game itself was decided by goals from Kain Leusby and Owen Shedden who found the net for Wrockwardine.

Celtic’s defeat means they lose their unbeaten start to the Shropshire Premier League season after winning two and drawing one beforehand.

Gobowen Celtic FC posted on Twitter: “The result wasn’t to be today for GCFC but credit to those that played and gave their all in difficult circumstances.

“But today we reflect and remember that there are far more important things than football.

“Thanks to Wrockwardine Wood for an impeccably observed minute’s silence.”

Wrockwardine Wood FC also posted on Twitter saying: “Another win for our lads today in a tough battle with good opposition, fought till the end.

“But today wasn’t about the result, hats off to Gobowen to fulfilling their fixture, and our thoughts are with your club.”

Celtic return to league action on Saturday when they face Madeley Sports away.