By Steven Oldham Cover photo: Paul Moran Lower Breck vs FC St Helens
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Lower Breck maintain strong run
Lower Breck extended their winning run to six matches in the North West Counties Premier League by cruising to a 5-1 victory over FC St Helens – and remain well in contention for the league title.
Harry Hagan’s own goal set Lower Breck en route, and they went in 2-0 up thanks to Elliot Hughes’ 15th of the season. Jesse Dowling added a third immediately after the restart before a Sam Burns brace completed the rout with 20 minutes to play.
Liam Houghton’s consolation for the visitors will provide little comfort for Mike Smith’s side, who fall to their heaviest defeat of the campaign.
READ MORE: NWC: Bury move 10 points clear after home romp
Bury push on at Gigg Lane
Gary Moore’s second-placed side have two games in hand on leaders Bury and are waiting to pounce on any slip-up from the table-toppers. No such luck for them this weekend – with The Shakers scoring in each half to dismiss Barnoldswick Town 2-0 at Gigg Lane.
Josh Gregory opened the scoring on 14 minutes, with Lewis Byrne netting for the second successive weekend with 25 minutes left on the clock. Dave McNabb’s relentless promotion push sees them win a ninth straight match.
Seemingly not content with being the league’s top scorers – with 115 on the board already – Bury have added defensive steel in recent times with four clean sheets in the last five matches.
Rams return to form with away win
It’s been a rough week for Ramsbottom United, with back-to-back defeats denting their fading title hopes, but Steve Wilkes’ side bounced back with three points and a clean sheet in a 2-0 win at Charnock Richard.
Luke Sephton was the hero for the visitors, scoring both goals in the second half to increase his total to 15 for the season. A third straight defeat for Charnock leaves them with little left to play for in 15th place.
๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ก๐ข๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ-๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ ๐จ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐
— Ramsbottom United (@RamsbottomUtd) March 9, 2025
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
Enjoy the highlights from yesterday's important win for the Rams.
Thanks to Charley and the @RochValleyRadio team for their commentary. pic.twitter.com/U0Q4t1FijH
Squires Gate end 20 game winless streak
That’s certainly not the case for Squires Gate, who are fighting to retain their Step 5 status – and pick up three points for the first time since October with a 3-2 win at FC Isle of Man.
Jack Coop twice gave the Blackpool side the lead – with his first cancelled out by Tom Creer’ equaliser. James Boyd added the third on 56 minutes, before Charlie Higgins set up a nervy final ten minutes with his first goal since December.
Luke Evans’ Squires Gate side may remain bottom of the table and five points adrift of safety – but Sunday morning’s league table looks much better than 24 hours previously. No win in four for The Ravens see them drop out of the top ten.
West survive late scare
West Didsbury & Chorlton won by the odd goal in seven at nearby Cheadle Town – who almost staged an almighty comeback after being 4-1 down with ten minutes left.
Town took the lead through Oliver Putnam after nine minutes – but looked well beaten following a brace from ex-player Jordan Lazenbury and one apiece from Jack Banister and Chris Rowney all before the 50 minute mark.
Ollie Ford almost capped a memorable fightback for Town, but had to settle for two goals in the closing stages as West became the first side in ten matches to better Jake Davies’ men.
Improving Burscough win again
Ten-man Burscough made it three wins in a row while beating relegation-threatened Prestwich Heys 2-1 in their own back yard.
A goal either side of the break from Callum Laird and Sam Sheen were enough to secure another win David Dempsey’s side. Max Bardsley-Rowe’s fourth converted penalty halved the arrears, but that would prove to be as good as it got for Heys, even factoring in Mason Duff’s red card ten minutes from time.
Gardner wins it for Lions
Stockport Town picked up a first win in four while seeing off Pilkington 2-1 at SSV. Toby Green’s fourth in a month opened the scoring before the half hour mark, but Pilks were level before the hour thanks to Nathan Salisbury.
It would be Callum Gardner who won it for the home side with just his second of the season – and The Lions move back into the top ten thanks to his 78th minute effort. Pilkington have slipped to 21st, but remain seven points clear of the drop zone.
Wins for AFC Liverpool & Abbey Hey
AFC Liverpool cruised to a 3-0 victory over Longridge Town with three first half goals from Adam Moorcroft, Caleb Jones and Liam Paton. Abbey Hey snatched all three points at Glossop North End deep into added time, with Joel Ankers bagging all three points for the visitors.
Colne take a precious point
Colne will be the happier of the two sides to take a point in a 2-2 draw at Irlam, who ended the game with ten men following goalkeeper Jack Buckley’s dismissal. Irlam were 2-0 up thanks to goals either side of the break from John Johnston and Jack Mitchell, but Dominic Richmond pulled one back within a minute of Irlam’s second.
Buckley’s red card on 77 minutes left Irlam vulnerable and so it proved, with Jack Holt levelling past makeshift goalkeeper Alex Francis seven minutes later.
Chaddy battle back to draw
On Friday night, Chadderton grabbed a point in a 3-3 draw with South Liverpool, despite being reduced to ten men while trailing 3-2 after Jordan Schofield’s red card.
South were two goals to the good through Stephen Milne’s first half efforts before Kain Dean and Harry Lynn drew the hosts level in the first 15 of the second half. Milne completed his hat-trick on 63 minutes, with Schofield taking an early bath five minutes later.
Despite being a man light, Ethan Sutcliffe managed to bag Chaddy a point, although his side’s run without a win has now stretched to five matches. South Liverpool climb above Pilkington on goal difference.
Finally, Litherland REMYCA and Padiham played out a goalless draw.
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