North East Wales Football League President’s Cup

Brymbo Victoria 3

Chirk Town 4

CHIRK Town edged out a seven-goal thriller in the preliminary round of the North East Wales Football League President’s Cup against league leaders Brymbo Victoria.

The Taverners rushed to an early two-goal lead, before conceding on the 30-minute mark.

They went in at the break 3-1 up, before Matthew Cooke extended their lead early in the second half.

However, another two goals for the home team set up a nervy end to the afternoon for Town, but they were able to hold onto their one-goal advantage until the final whistle.

With two of the league’s top sides facing off, it would have been no surprise if they had cancelled each other out, but this was not the case.

The scoring was opened after just two minutes of the game when Shaun Morris rounded-off a fast-paced Chirk counter-attack to put the visitors ahead.

With the home team stunned, Chirk took advantage of their good start and doubled their lead just 10 minutes later. Cooke grabbed his first of the game when his run into the box was just about quick enough to tap home a Tom Freeman cross.

The hosts found their feet soon after and pulled a goal back through Calum Williams after 30 minutes.

Chirk were not finished for the first half however, and regained their two-goal lead when Freeman got in on the act with a good finish after latching onto a Naz Farhat pass.

After half-time, Chirk were quick out of the blocks again with Cooke opening the scoring to make it 4-1.

With three goals separating the sides, Brymbo knew they needed to turn things around and started to do so when they were awarded a penalty with 30 minutes remaining. The penalty was scored, and the hosts scored a third goal five minutes from time.

Despite their efforts, stopper Zac Bebbington produced an excellent save in the dying moments of the game to keep his side ahead.

Chirk go through to the next round and face Borras Park Albion away in the league on Saturday (kick-off 2pm).

North West Counties Football League Division One South

FC Oswestry Town 1

Abbey Hulton United 0

A LATE Jamie Hands strike was enough to secure three points for FC Oswestry Town as they hosted Abbey Hulton United on Saturday.

The former St Martins player came on as a substitute and got the all-important goal to keep his team hot on the trail of Vauxhall Motors at the top of the league.

An evenly-contested match saw the hosts enjoy the majority of the best chances throughout the afternoon, but the vocal visiting supporters were acting as the 12th man for United.

The score remained 0-0 through the first half, before the game followed a similar pattern after the break with Town looking the more likely of the two sides to grab the game’s opening goal.

They had to wait until the 89th minute until they had the ball in the back of the United net.

Hands came on and was in the right position to scramble the ball over the line and into the net to put Oswestry ahead with just stoppage time left to play.

With minutes remaining, the game changed and it was the visitors who were on the front foot as they looked for a way to draw level and salvage a point.

Despite their efforts and the crowd’s support, they were unable to find an equaliser, and the Oswestry men took all three points.

Town boss, Nathan Leonard, said he felt his side was deserving of the three points.

He said: “I think overall, we deserved the three points; we dominated possession, but we weren’t clinical enough and made it hard for ourselves at times.

“[With us] scoring so late, Abbey will feel hard done by, but fair play to the lads for doing the right things and not giving up.

“You can see that in the team now, it’s starting to click and even with four big players missing again, we still found a way.”

Oswestry move to just one point behind league leaders Vauxhall Motors, however they have played three more games so far this season.

The victory means it is now four wins on the bounce in all competitions for FC Oswestry Town. They will look to keep that run going when they face Stone Old Alleynians away on Saturday.

North West Counties Football League

Division One South

Ellesmere Rangers 1

Stone Old Alleynians 5

ELLESMERE Rangers’ nightmare week continued after they shipped five or more goals for the second time in six days, as Stone Old Alleynians ran riot at Beech Grove on Saturday.

Connor Courtney and Richard Brown’s men had been in great form in recent weeks, moving off the bottom of the First Division South and out of the relegation zone.

But after Monday night’s 6-1 thrashing by Maine Road, the co-managers would have been expecting a huge response from their side.

However, within five minutes, the Meremen were up against it after Sam Wilson put the visitors ahead.

Five minutes later, Jack Tomlinson had double Stone’s lead leaving Rangers up against it, and things went from bad to worse for the Sky Blues when on the half-hour mark, Jacob Vernon made it three.

But Ellesmere were thrown a lifeline five minutes before the break when an own goal reduced the arrears and sent Rangers into the half-time interval feeling much happier.

Any further comeback would have needed to be instant but Stone kept the home side at bay for much of the second half before extending their lead further.

Substitute Matthew Thomas grabbed what was to be the first of a double on 70 minutes, adding his second seven minutes from time to leave Rangers well-and-truly beaten in front of a 64-strong crowd.

Rangers were given an instant opportunity to bounce back last night as they hosted Wythenshawe Amateurs at Beech Grove.

The defeat leaves Rangers still seven points above north Shropshire rivals St Martins who occupy the solitary place in the drop zone, and three ahead of Barnton, with all having played 24 games.

On Saturday, Rangers will welcome former captain and goalkeeper Richard Cowderoy as his Cammell Laird side make the trip to Beech Grove.

Laird have been in rollercoaster form over the last few months, and Rangers will hope to take all three points to take a step closer to safety.

It is a 3pm kick-off at Beech Grove on Saturday.

Welsh Cup

Fourth round

The New Saints 4

Aberystwyth Town 0

SCOTT Ruscoe said his side’s impressive performance going forward against Aberystwyth Town was matched by their defensive efforts as they kept a clean sheet on Saturday.

Saints got off to a flying start as they took a two-goal lead within the opening 12 minutes of the afternoon.

The two first half goals were added to after the break when Ruscoe’s men scored twice again to put a four-goal gap between themselves and the visiting Aber side.

TNS did not have it all their own way however, as the back four and Paul Harrison were called into action on several occasions throughout the afternoon.

Ruscoe was quick to praise the defensive display, and said it was good to see quality on show at both ends of the pitch.

He said: “We played really well going forward, but also at the back.

“They had a few chances as well, so it was nice to get the clean sheet.

“At one point it wasn’t looking like we were going to because we cleared a few chances off the line, and they had a couple of set pieces they went close with.

“But overall, we’re happy with how it went; we had plenty of good opportunities to score and our football was very good also.”

Ryan Brobbel scored the opener in the fourth minute after showing good footwork and curling his effort into the far corner of the goal.

Kurtis Byrne, after going close in the 10th minute, helped the side double their lead in the 12th minute after threading a pass through to Danny Redmond who tapped home from close-range.

The first chance of note for Aber came in the 23rd minute, and required a last-ditch clearance by Keston Davies to prevent the ball from crossing the line.

The Seasiders threatened again 10 minutes later when they had another chance cleared off the line; this time, Chris Marriott made the vital block.

After the break, Paul Harrison was called into action to deny Matthew Jones, before Saints rushed up the pitch to add a third goal and all-but seal the win.

Brobbel turned provider for the third goal as he put the ball on a plate for Dean Ebbe who finished well.

Then, with 10 minutes to play, Greg Draper rounded off the win with a neat acrobatic finish.

The action did not finish there though, as Aberystwyth were awarded a penalty in the final few minutes of the game.

Determined not to concede, Harrison stood tall and denied Jones from the spot to keep a clean sheet and see his side through to the final whistle and the next round of the competition.

Ruscoe said he felt the early goals for TNS helped the side to a comfortable win.

“It obviously helps getting the first goal – it was an excellent, trademark finish by Ryan,” he said.

“That helped to settle us down a bit, and allowed us to push on and get that bit of a buffer with the second goal.

“We went in two goals up at the break, and then we knew coming out after the break that as soon as we got the third goal, the tie was almost over.

“They had a penalty which was a bit dubious at the end, but it was saved well. Although it was a cup game, it was nice to get a clean sheet.”

The result sees his side through to the fifth round of the competition as defending champions.

They will now turn their focus to the league as they prepare to face Newtown in their first phase two fixture of the season.

The game will take place at Park Hall Stadium on Friday, February 7 (kick-off 7.45pm).

Shropshire FA Tom Farmer Cup

The New Saints Ladies 18

Bishops Castle Town 0

IT WAS a night to remember for The New Saints Ladies as they put 18 goals past Bishops Castle Town in the Tom Farmer Cup.

Saints began their defence of the cup in style as they rushed to an early lead, and kept the goals coming right through until the end of the game.

The scoring was opened early on in the evening by Taylor Davis who bagged her first of three.

Next on the scoresheet was Laura Pennington and Yasmin Evans with the pair making it 3-0.

Pennington grabbed a second before skipper Pheobe Davies made it 5-0.

Kim Bebbington continued the trend of scoring with her head to add a sixth, before Davis scored her second and Jess Jennings made it 8-0.

Bebbington scored her second to make it 9-0, before Katie Doster got in on the act scoring her first goal of the afternoon.

Zoe Griffiths was introduced off the bench and scored a double almost instantly, before Davis completed her hat-trick and Doster scored twice to complete her hat-trick.

Evans found the net again to make it 17-0, before the rout was rounded off by Lucy Brown who made it 18-0 and sent her side through to the next round of the competition.

Manager Lawrence Wilson was quick to give credit to the opposition on the night.

He told TNS TV: “We got off to a great start, it’s a good result.

“In fairness to Bishops Castle, they never gave up and never looked like giving up.”

TNS Ladies face Sporting Khalsa at home in the league on Sunday (kick-off 2pm).

Welsh National League Premier Division

Brickfield Rangers 2

Chirk AAA 5

AFTER a heavy defeat away at Cefn Albion, Chirk AAA returned to action in fine form to overcome Brickfield Rangers away.

A brace from Joe Roberts, as well as goals from Adam Jones, Phil Pearce and Jordan Owen helped secure the three points and move the side eight points away from the foot of the table.

Chirk now have eight points after winning two games and drawing twice so far this season.

They host Mold Alexandra on Saturday (kick-off 2pm).

Shropshire Premier League

Hopesgate United 0

Gobowen Celtic 8

GOBOWEN Celtic cruised to victory against Hopesgate United to make it two league wins from two.

A hat-trick from Sam Nash, two goals from George Hughes, and contributions from Ed Rogers, Harry Kerr and Ben Pierpoint gave the side an eight-goal advantage against Hopesgate.

Gobowen now sit third in the table with eight points between them and league leaders Shrewsbury Juniors.

Celtic face Madeley Sports away in the cup on Saturday (kick-off 2pm).