North West Counties Football League Division One South

Stockport Town 2

Ellesmere Rangers 2

ELLESMERE Rangers picked up their second point of the season after a hard-fought draw with Stockport Town on Saturday.

After taking an early lead, Rangers conceded two second half goals to fall behind on the scoreline.

It was left to Tawanda Melusi to grab an equaliser in the final minute of the game to save the side from suffering a 10th league defeat of the season.

Rangers almost took the lead in the opening few minutes when William Wells capitalised on a defensive error and found himself one-on-one with the home goalkeeper, but Dimeji Willan stood strong to deny the forward.

Wells was on target shortly afterwards however, when he broke through again and made sure he found the net to give his side the lead.

All was going well for the Ellesmere men, who looked as though they would double their lead before the break.

Brendon Price drilled an effort through a crowd of players, but Willan caught it well, before Seth Ellis had a long-range effort denied.

They held on until after half-time, but they were only able to hold onto their clean sheet for nine minutes of the second half.

Reece Skelton restored parity with his strike in the 54th minute.

The game was very lively with both sets of players looking as though they had lost some discipline, and this showed when Stockport’s Joshua Robinson was dismissed for a foul on the hour mark.

This did not deter his side though, as they continued to put pressure on Rangers and were rewarded with a goal.

Connor Bass fired his effort home with 10 minutes remaining.

With Rangers looking set for another defeat, they were thrown a lifeline in the last minute of the game when the referee awarded a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area.

Melusi stepped up and fired a powerful effort into the net to salvage a point for his team.

Rangers remain bottom of the table and sit four points from safety after 12 games.

They are next in action on Saturday, October 12, when they travel to face Cammell Laird 1907.

Welsh Cup

Second Qualifying Round

Cefn Albion 4

Chirk AAA 5 (AET)

AN EXTRA-time goal from loanee Harvey Edwards helped Chirk AAA knock out last season’s FAW Trophy winners, Cefn Albion.

The 16-year-old gave the Colliers the lead before half-time, then Louie Middlehurst doubled the team’s lead on the hour.

However, a late push from Albion saw them score two goals in the final 15 minutes to take the game to extra-time.

A dramatic 30 minutes proved an excellent watch for the neutral, and an even better watch for Colliers fans after Edwards grabbed the winner to send his side through to the next round.

The local rivals both got off to a god start, with Albion having more possession in the opening exchanges.

They failed to open the scoring despite seeing more of the ball, and they were punished for doing so when Edwards, on loan from The New Saints, broke through and fired home the game’s first goal to give the Chirk men a one-goal lead.

The Colliers held onto their lead until half-time, and soon after the break, they found themselves two goals up.

Middlehurst latched onto a pass from former Albion player, Callum Taylor, and fired past the home goalkeeper to double the lead for Chirk.

But with all going well for Chirk, a late push from the hosts saw goals from Torne Samuels and Kien Morris, with the latter scoring in the 95th minute to force another half-an-hour of football to determine the winner.

With players on both sides struggling with knocks after a full 90-minute game, Chirk lost Middlehurst and Toby Nash to injury.

In Middlehurst’s place was Alex Edwards, who scored the goal of the game in the first half of extra-time with a 35-yard strike to put his side back ahead.

Taylor then rounded the keeper shortly afterwards to regain a two-goal lead for Chirk.

In the second-half of extra-time, Albion showed great spirit again to draw level through Alex Williams and Sean Jones, to make for a dramatic final 10 minutes.

With the game looking set to go to a penalty shootout, youngster Harvey Edwards broke through and fired home again with five minutes remaining to claim a win for the Colliers.

Chirk AAA are next in action on Saturday when they host Holywell Town in the Premier Division League Cup.

North West Counties Football League Division One South

FC Oswestry Town 2

Barnton 1

STEVEN Evans and Michael O’Reilly got the game defining goals for FC Oswestry Town against Branton to send Town back to the top of the table.

The pair scored either side of half-time to give the hosts a comfortable lead, but the side had a late scare when Barnton pulled one back with minutes remaining.

Matt Burton’s men held on to the lead to take three points and put some space between themselves and Vauxhall Motors at the top of the table.

It was all one-way traffic early in the first half, with Town pushing for an opener.

First, Liam Parry struck an effort just wide, before Simon Smith had his strike blocked.

The visiting side grew into the game momentarily, and had chances of their own through Luke Wilson-Jones and Luke Sutton.

It was Town who opened the scoring however, when a corner floated towards Evans who towered above everyone else to send a header into the net.

Town continued to look the stronger team after the break, but the visitors were doing enough to stop them from grabbing a second.

Good defending by the Barnton men saw Town’s chances limited for some time.

It took a piece of magic from O’Reilly to make it 2-0, with the midfielder striking an unstoppable free-kick past the visiting stopper.

Both sides knew the next goal would be vital, as Oswestry looked to put the game to bed.

However, it was Barnton who scored next to give spectators an interesting watch as the game drew closer to an end.

Sam Houghton matched O’Reilly’s effort by scoring a free-kick to make it 2-1.

Town were soaking up a lot of pressure in the dying moments, but a lapse in concentration saw their visitors nearly bag an equaliser in added time, with Macauley Clifton’s effort hitting the inside of the post before being cleared.

Despite Barnton’s late efforts, Town held on to tae the three points and move top of the table. FC Oswestry Town are in action again on Saturday, October 5 when they travel to Garstang in The PlayerMatch.com Cup second round.

North East Wales Football League Premier Division

Brymbo Victoria 2

Chirk Town 2

CHIRK Town performed well to take a point away at current league leaders Brymbo Victoria on Saturday.

After taking an early lead, Town looked the stronger side and defended well.

The Taverners conceded early in the second half, but regained their lead 10 minutes later.

But Victoria were persistent and grabbed an equaliser 15 minutes from time to take a point from the game.

Tristan Lloyd opened the scoring in the sixth minute for the Chirk men.

Town held onto the lead until after the break, before Reece Bryan equalised five minutes into the second half.

Shaun Morris then restored the lead for the Taverners as they looked to snatch three points from a difficult away trip to Brymbo.

But it was not to be for Chirk as Adam Lloyd made it 2-2 in the 75th minute for Brymbo, and both sides were unable to grab a third goal to take the win.

Both teams maintained their unbeaten start to the season.

Chirk Town sit third, seven points behind Brymbo with three games in hand.

Chirk next face Bradley Park away on Saturday, kick-off 2pm.