For the second week in succession, the weather won hands down in decimating the MSC Express West Cheshire League’s fixture programme but fortunately, the FIFA World Cup has provided a welcome distraction for many of us.
Nevertheless, a handful of fixtures managed to defy the arctic conditions as artificial surfaces once again came to the rescue.
On the minus side, the postponements have given league Fixture Secretary, Mark Ford, an extra workload in having to re-jig games lost to the weather.
The previous weekend, one game surprisingly got underway, with the rest of the programme cancelled, and it was celebration time for last term’s undefeated Division Two champions, Marine U23s, who recorded their eighth top-flight victory from seventeen starts when Alex Northover and Regan Rhodes applied the finishing touches in a 2-1 victory over Maghull, who had Robbie McDonald on target.
On Friday evening, the Mariners were back in action but despite goals from Northover, Rhodes, and Konstantinos Misios, the hosts were denied elevation to fourth place in Division One by Litherland Remyca Res., who emerged with a point after Kieran Hughes (2) and Josh Rice replied in a 3-3 stalemate.
Mersey Royal assumed pole position in Division One, and served a warning of their intent to retain the title they lifted for the first time last season, following a 5-0 decision over Heswall, inspired by a smart double from Kieran Cartwright. Further efforts from Liam Driscoll, James Ludbrook and Oliver Lloyd cemented the win.
In Division Two, a late consolation from Fenton Cavanagh was all Mallaby had to show for their efforts against an excellent Bootle Res. who were full value for their 5-1 victory, confirmed by efforts from Baf Djabi, Cam Grant, Paddy Kennedy, Joao Gomes, and Jamie Edwards. Bootle’s youngsters show great promise but in the long run, the handicap of seven defeats to date, may weigh against their outside chances of promotion.
Only one other fixture took place on Saturday, and it was thumbs up for Poulton Vics Res. who progressed to the second round of the West Cheshire Shield after Neal Ellison (2), Mick McStein, and Dylan Doyle shared the goals in a 4-2 result over Heswall Res. who had Jack Samuel and Dan Paesler in reply.
At Thursday’s Wirral DFA meeting, attended by the League Secretary, although one quarter final is still outstanding, draws were made for the District cup semi-finals which produced the following pairings :
- Wirral DFA Senior Cup – Mersey Royal v Vauxhall Motors
- Wirral DFA Amateur Cup – Black Horse/Hooton v West Kirby Res./Ashville Res.
- Wirral DFA Junior Cup – Poulton Victoria v Hooton Vets.
With the seasonal break now in session, play is scheduled to resume on Saturday 7 January.
First Division
| POS | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mersey Royal | 14 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 36 |
| 2 | FC Bootle St Edmund’s | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 32 | 34 |
| 3 | Newton | 14 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 34 |
| 4 | Mossley Hill Athletic | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 28 |
| 5 | Marine U23s | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 27 |
| 6 | Vauxhall Motors Res | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 27 |
| 7 | Maghull | 14 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 24 |
| 8 | Rainhill Town | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 23 |
| 9 | Capenhurst Villa | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 19 |
| 10 | Marshalls | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -10 | 15 |
| 11 | Litherland Remyca Res | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -18 | 13 |
| 12 | Chester Nomads | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | -9 | 11 |
| 13 | Aintree Villa | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | -10 | 11 |
| 14 | Ellesmere Port Town | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | -20 | 10 |
| 15 | Heswall | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | -24 | 9 |
| 16 | Prescot Cables Res | 15 | 1 | 2 | 12 | -44 | 5 |
Second Division
| POS | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Poulton Victoria | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 39 |
| 2 | Sutton Athletic | 17 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 39 |
| 3 | Ashville Res | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 28 |
| 4 | Helsby | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 24 |
| 5 | Maghull Res | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 23 |
| 6 | Runcorn Sports | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 21 |
| 7 | Mallaby | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 21 |
| 8 | South Liverpool Res | 13 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 9 | Bootle Res | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 15 |
| 10 | Mossley Hill Athletic Res | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 | -9 | 15 |
| 11 | Cheshire Lines | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -14 | 11 |
| 12 | West Kirby | 14 | 3 | 0 | 11 | -29 | 9 |
| 13 | Poulton Royal | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | -10 | 7 |
| 14 | South Sefton Borough | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -25 | 4 |
| 15 | Marshalls Res | 14 | 1 | 0 | 13 | -28 | 3 |
Third Division
| POS | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aintree Villa Res | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 40 | 34 |
| 2 | Hooton | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 30 |
| 3 | Neston Nomads | 15 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 29 |
| 4 | Runcorn Sports Res | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | -8 | 28 |
| 5 | Higher Bebington Kelma | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 27 |
| 6 | South Liverpool Third | 14 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 25 |
| 7 | Helsby Res | 17 | 7 | 3 | 7 | -2 | 24 |
| 8 | Poulton Victoria Res | 15 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 23 |
| 9 | Capenhurst Villa Res | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | Chester Nomads Res | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | -13 | 15 |
| 11 | Ellesmere Port Town Res | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | -20 | 14 |
| 12 | Heswall Res | 16 | 2 | 5 | 9 | -16 | 11 |
| 13 | West Kirby Res | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | -19 | 11 |
| 14 | Groves Athletic | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | -22 | 11 |
| 15 | Rainhill Town Res | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | -19 | 10 |
Youth Division
| POS | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mossley Hill Athletic | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 26 |
| 2 | Poulton Victoria | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 24 |
| 3 | South Liverpool | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 19 |
| 4 | Vauxhall Motors | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | -1 | 16 |
| 5 | BRNESC | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 15 |
| 6 | Ormskirk West End | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | -9 | 12 |
| 7 | Runcorn Linnets | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | -11 | 12 |
| 8 | Victoria Colts U18 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | -10 | 10 |
| 9 | City of Liverpool | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -4 | 9 |
| 10 | Maghull | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -26 | 0 |
Why not follow birkenhead.news on Facebook and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to news@birkenhead.news
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter