Thanks to efforts from Adam Smith, Kieran Cartwright, and Zac Holland, reigning champions, Mersey Royal took over at the top of the MSC Express West Cheshire League’s Division One following Saturday’s 3-0 eclipse of Capenhurst Villa.
Previous leaders, Bootle St. Edmunds, dropped to third place after they capitulated 3-0 to second placed challengers, Newton, who confirmed the victory with goals from Liam Smith, Joe Walsh, and Ross McDowell.
Ellesmere Port Town were on the receiving end against Marine U23s, Lewis Waller, Thomas Hewlett, Harrison Denton, and Alex Northover applied the finishing touches in a 4-0 triumph.
A hat-trick from Lewis Jarvis anchored Marshalls to a 3-2 result over Litherland Remyca Res. who had Elliot Taylor and Kieran Hughes in reply, and it was celebration time for Rainhill Town, who pulled off a fine 3-2 win at Mossley Hill Ath., inspired by a Dave Kelly double. Eddie Hawthorne was the other marksman with Owen Cassidy and Paul Pearson on target for the hosts.
Lewis Shaw netted for Heswall but it was Maghull who profited, Jay Hooper (2) and Simon Peers sharing the goals in a 3-1 win.
Elsewhere, Matty Beaman and Zak Catesby bagged a goal each as Vauxhall Motors Res. overcame basement outfit, Prescot Cables Res. 2-1. Ryan McMahon scored Cables’ consolation.
Poulton Vics‘ domination of the Division Two scene continued, and their twelfth consecutive league victory was confirmed when goals from Steve Forbes and Sam Turner secured a 2-1 decision over local rivals, Poulton Royal, who hit back via Ben Hawitt.
The Turkington brothers called the shots for Runcorn Sports who beat Bootle Res. 7-4. Lee struck six times with John also on target for the victors. Cam Grant (2), Mamadou Djabi, and Joao Gomes netted the visitors’ consolations.
Efforts from Ellis Byrne, Tom Black, and Fenton Cavanagh had Mallaby 3-0 up after 16 minutes at Helsby before a strong second half performance from the hosts during which they replied through Courtney Bushell, Will Mowbray, and Owen Kucharski to earn a deserved point.
A solitary effort from Mark Doran was enough for Maghull Res. to take all three points from their trip to West Kirby, while second placed challengers, Sutton Ath., were indebted to goals from Lee Ludgate, Joe Ferneyhough, and Matty Hall for their 3-1 result over Marshalls Res. Farid Hatimi netted for the visitors.
Saturday’s Division Three action saw an effort from Capenhurst Villa Res.‘ Harley O’Brien-Williams negated by a reply from Poulton Vics. Res.‘ Neal Ellison and that result edged second placed Vics a point nearer current leaders, Aintree Villa Res.
Evan Perry bagged the game’s only goal as West Kirby Res. accounted for Heswall Res. and Ethan Hansen followed suit when his goal saw Runcorn Sports Res. triumph at Rainhill Town Res.
John Skipsey scored for Ellesmere Port Town Res. who went down 2-1 at Chester Nomads Res. and despite efforts from Scott Fogg and George Finlay, Groves lost 6-2 at home to goals from South Liverpool 3rds Mike Thomas (3), Joe Ferguson, Jack Bryant, and Alex Yates.
Youth Division, leaders, Mossley Hill Ath. had Asher Duncan on target but came unstuck at fourth placed Vauxhall Motors, who sealed a 2-1 win, courtesy of a smart double from Simon Cubbin. That result enabled second placed South Liverpool to take advantage which they duly did, and posted a 3-0 result over Maghull, Kian Skinley (2) and Niall King finding the net.
Zach Comer and Jake Hill were on the mark for Runcorn Linnets, but failed to harness an attack-minded Poulton Vics who romped home 7-2 thanks to efforts from Kian Hamm (3), Noah Kerr, Scott McCready, Jack Bentley, and Matt Barclay.
Ormskirk West End‘s third win of the season saw Charlie Hogan, Adam Procter, and Sam Erinle on the mark in a 3-2 verdict over City of Liverpool who responded though Lucas O’Brien and Adam Lyons.
First Division
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Mersey Royal | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 5 | 32 | 30 |
| 2 | FC Bootle St Edmund’s | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 42 | 13 | 29 | 28 |
| 3 | Newton | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 10 | 27 | 28 |
| 4 | Mossley Hill Athletic | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 22 |
| 5 | Vauxhall Motors Res | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 23 | 4 | 21 |
| 6 | Maghull | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 26 | 23 | 3 | 21 |
| 7 | Capenhurst Villa | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 36 | 31 | 5 | 19 |
| 8 | Marshalls | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 22 | -4 | 15 |
| 9 | Marine U23s | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 21 | 1 | 14 |
| 10 | Rainhill Town | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 27 | -12 | 14 |
| 11 | Litherland Remyca Res | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 25 | 38 | -13 | 12 |
| 12 | Aintree Villa | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 22 | 29 | -7 | 11 |
| 13 | Ellesmere Port Town | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 30 | -6 | 10 |
| 14 | Chester Nomads | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 22 | 32 | -10 | 8 |
| 15 | Heswall | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 28 | -20 | 6 |
| 16 | Prescot Cables Res | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 57 | -41 | 5 |
Second Division
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Poulton Victoria | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 6 | 24 | 36 |
| 2 | Sutton Athletic | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 37 | 25 | 12 | 27 |
| 3 | Ashville Res | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 22 |
| 4 | Helsby | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 21 |
| 5 | Mallaby | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 39 | 26 | 13 | 21 |
| 6 | Maghull Res | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 20 |
| 7 | Runcorn Sports | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 28 | 14 | 14 | 18 |
| 8 | Mossley Hill Athletic Res | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 27 | -5 | 15 |
| 9 | South Liverpool Res | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 27 | -3 | 13 |
| 10 | Cheshire Lines | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 20 | -7 | 11 |
| 11 | West Kirby | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 32 | -22 | 9 |
| 12 | Poulton Royal | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 22 | -7 | 7 |
| 13 | Bootle Res | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 27 | -9 | 6 |
| 14 | South Sefton Borough | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 32 | -21 | 4 |
| 15 | Marshalls Res | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 38 | -27 | 0 |
Third Division
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Aintree Villa Res | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 9 | 37 | 31 |
| 2 | Poulton Victoria Res | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 23 |
| 3 | Neston Nomads | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 23 |
| 4 | Higher Bebington Kelma | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 23 |
| 5 | South Liverpool Third | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 34 | 25 | 9 | 19 |
| 6 | Runcorn Sports Res | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 19 |
| 7 | Hooton | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 23 | 7 | 18 |
| 8 | Helsby Res | 14 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 42 | 43 | -1 | 18 |
| 9 | Capenhurst Villa Res | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 21 | 22 | -1 | 18 |
| 10 | Chester Nomads Res | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 15 |
| 11 | Groves Athletic | 13 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 29 | -10 | 11 |
| 12 | West Kirby Res | 14 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 24 | 35 | -11 | 11 |
| 13 | Ellesmere Port Town Res | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 34 | -17 | 11 |
| 14 | Rainhill Town Res | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 31 | -16 | 10 |
| 15 | Heswall Res | 13 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 8 |
Youth Division
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Mossley Hill Athletic | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 9 | 24 | 22 |
| 2 | South Liverpool | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 16 | 9 | 19 |
| 3 | Poulton Victoria | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 9 | 16 | 15 |
| 4 | Vauxhall Motors | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 15 | 6 | 13 |
| 5 | Ormskirk West End | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 9 |
| 6 | BRNESC | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 9 |
| 7 | Runcorn Linnets | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 28 | -8 | 9 |
| 8 | City of Liverpool | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 8 |
| 9 | Victoria Colts U18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 4 |
| 10 | Maghull | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 31 | -24 | 0 |
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