West Midlands Regional League

Premier Division

Ellesmere Rangers 2 Bewdley Town 0

ELLESMERE’S young side showed emerging maturity to see off the physical challenge posed by Bewdley Town in this spicy encounter.

Rangers’ resolute defence denied Bewdley any clear-cut chances and keeper Mason Springthorpe had a relatively untroubled afternoon with defender skipper Grant Butler earning his man of the match award.

Ellesmere went close to breaking the deadlock on the half hour mark when Carl Bailey’s close range header from a Jack Broscoe corner struck the bar before bouncing down on the line and was scrambled away.

Bewdley keeper Joe Sidaway looked vulnerable under the high ball and it led to Rangers taking the lead on 35 minutes as a high bouncing ball was only pushed out as far as Harry Morris who drilled the rebound through the keeper’s legs and into the net.

Rangers had to withstand more Bewdley pressure in the second half but always seemed to get a block in at the crucial time while Bailey and Anwar Olugbon were always a threat at the other end.

It was the latter who sealed the win two minutes from time as Olugbon met a Connor Hughes cross from the right after outmuscling his marker to float a header over the wrong-footed keeper and into the net.

The hard-fought victory closed the gap between the two sides to two points with seventh-placed Rangers having two games in hand over their sixth placed opponents.

On Tuesday Rangers take on fifth placed Wednesfield at Beech Grove with a 7.45 pm kick off before travelling to Cradley Town on Saturday with a 3pm kick off.

nDivision One

St MARTINS were without a fixture on Saturday but return to action tonight as they hunt down a place in the top two in Division One.

Saints sit four points behind second-place Gornal Athletic though Newport Town are a point behind with two games in hand while Wem Town are in place to win the league.

Saints also have two games in hand on Gornal and can close the gap tonight at Park Hall against Willenhall Town, kicking-off at 7.45pm.

They then host Wem Town, who may have already sealed the title, a week later, again at 7.45pm.

Hallmark Security League

Division One

FC Oswestry Town 4-0 Holker Old Boys

FC Oswestry Town picked up a first league win since January when they smashed four past Holker Old Boys on Saturday at Park Hall.

Holker, who recently thrashed Oswestry's fellow north Shropshire side Whitchurch Alport, were on the back foot straight away when Sam Spridgeon gave Town the lead on 13 minutes.

The Park Hall men's lead was doubled 16 minutes later when Joe Newton scored to give Oswestry breathing space after a recent run of mixed results.

Any hope Holker had of a comeback was dashed when Tom Rowlands grabbed his second in three games to make it 3-0 to the hosts while Brendan Price added a fourth with 12 minutes to go.

Tomorrow marks the start of three consecutive away games in five days for Town at Sandbach United, Stockpot Town and Nelson respectively.

Welsh National League (Wrexham Area)

Chirk AAA 2 FC Nomads 0

Chirk returned to winning ways yesterday with a comfortable home win over FC Nomads.

It was a dour opening half with few chances for either side but in the second period Chirk secured the points with goals from Liam Sklenar and Matty Thomas.

One down side of the game was the injury to midfielder Jack Edwards who dislocated his shoulder. The club sends its best wished to Jack and hope for a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, Chirk's Reserves had a bad day at the office with a 5-0 away defeat at Gresford.

Next game for the second string is a home fixture against Mold Alex tomorrow night with a 6.30pm kick off while on Saturday, the first team travel to Buckley Town, hoping to record back-to-back wins.

JT Hughes Montgomeryshire League

Four Crosses proved to have too much for Trewern in Division One when they scored twice in the second half to seal a 5-3 win on Saturday. The title hopefuls were being held 3-3 at the break but goals from Gareth Jones and Jamie Evans sealed the win.

In Division Two Llanfechain grabbed a 2-2 draw at Welshpool Town Res but Llanfyllin Town Res were thrashed 9-1 at Forden United while Llanymynech crashed out of the Boys & Boden Ltd Cup in the third round with a 3-0 home defeat to Maesyrhandir. Trefonen were also in cup action but result not yet published.

Shropshire Premier League Division One Cup semi-final

Albrighton 1-2 St Martins Village (AET)

A last-gasp winner from Aaron Coulson gave a below-par St Martins Village the chance to seal a league and cup double at Albrighton on Saturday.

The Villagers, who sealed the Division One title and promotion the previous week, thought they were heading to a penalty shoot-out when they were forced into extra-time by an Albrighton side that more than match their confident opponents.

Officials from the Villagers felt their hosts had a more than necessary physical approach and that the referee could have offered more protection.

However, the win was sealed with a corner kick from hero of the day Coulson, who curled it into the far corner of the net which was in the last minute of the game.

The Villagers will be straight into the final as they travel to Bucks Head on Saturday, April 28 for a 3pm kick-off, with John Smout's men hoping to add another trophy to the cabinet alongside the league.

Premier Division Cup

Gobowen Celtic 1-4 Oakengates Rangers Youth

Celtic crashed out of the cup with a heavy home defeat to Rangers Youth at the Playing Fields on Saturday.

This week, they host Shifnal 97 at 3pm.