Faber keeping feet on ground as Wrens keep up momentum

The South Shore side are seven games unbeaten and have moved into third in the table thanks to John Hay’s 32nd minute effort at Lightfoot Lane. (All pictures kindly supplied by Steve Taylor)

Faber’s red men have quietly progressed up the table and followed their 3-0 win over Whitehaven last week with another clean sheet against Tony Hesketh's much-fancied Fulwood.

Faber said: “We’ve done OK this season, we’re obviously in a decent position.

“We got beaten badly by Thornton and we’ve really turned a corner since then. After beating the champions and keeping a couple of clean sheets on the trot, we’re very happy.

“We’re taking it one day at a time at the moment, just trying to keep this good run going. There are two good teams above us but we’re confident that we can mix it with them.”

The flip-flopping at the apex of the Premier Division continued as Thornton Cleveleys and Euxton Villa continued trading blows in the race for first-place.

Villa found themselves top on goal difference following the last round of fixtures, but a 1-1 draw with 13th-placed Turton has seen them slip to second.

It could have been worse for Villa, as they found themselves trailing right up until the end, Ethan Darr was the eventual hero for the away side, scoring an 89th-minute equaliser to cancel out Luke Bradbury’s opener.

Thornton Cleveleys had no such drama in their match against Hurst Green. The final result was 6-2 to the table-toppers with Dom Lawson providing the catalyst for the win with a hat-trick.

Dan Stoney also scored two for the home side with Lewis Walmsley the other Thornton goalscorer.

Danny Mort’s second and third goals since the beginning of September added some respectability to the scoreline for Hurst Green, who currently sit firmly in mid-table.

Vickerstown are the team best-placed to wreak havoc on the league order, with two games in hand on the rest of the top five, but they were unable to continue their starting momentum with an away draw to Burscough Richmond.

The away team must have thought that they had the points tied up as the game neared its end, thanks to Kirk Robinson’s second-half finish, only for Ade Kirkbride to bag a leveller in the 87th-minute and send the visitors back home frustrated.

At the other end of the table, Southport Hesketh picked up a dramatic first win of the season thanks to a last-gasp penalty goal from the boot of Danny Singleton.

Fellow strugglers Poulton were the opponents on this occasion and, though the home side managed to equalise through George Byrne after Matthew Howard had put Southport ahead, they were powerless to stop the away team from heading home with the three points.

Elsewhere, Tempest United bettered Lytham Town 5-2 away from home. Lloyd Patton bagged twice for Lytham with Jordon Coop, Aaron Thorpe (2), Joel Shorthouse and Tom Booth scoring for Tempest in a great result for the 12th-placed team.

Coppull United notched up another good result with a 3-2 win over Slyne with Hest.

Nathan Lindley, Jordan Bentham and Alesio DeGrassi scored for the winning team to send them up above their opponents in the league. Reece Pearce and Robert Slinger scored for Slyne.

Whitehaven Amateurs were the other Premier Division winners on Saturday, recording only their second win of the season with a 3-1 win over CMB, despite falling behind initially to a Will Archer gaol.

Bobby Carter set the comeback rolling in the 40th-minute, Travis Fyfe then put his side in the proverbial driving seat before Carter finished the game off with his second goal of the match.

To Division 1 then, where the race for top-spot is confused by only two of the top six having played the 11 matches of early pace-setters Milnthorpe Corinthians, who scored six in the first half to stun Croston Sports.

The home side managed to get two back courtesy of Jordan Freeman and Connor Davis in the second half, but the first period goals of Brandon Crosskill-Robinson, Steven Yawson (2) and hat-trick hero Ricky Ball were more than enough to secure the win.

Wyre Villa are currently two points behind Milnthorpe but have also played two games fewer and they kept the pressure up with a tense 3-2 home victory over Lostock St Gerards.

An Oliver Evans double set the home side up well for the victory and it was Harvey Close who got the eventual winner, rendering the goals of Jordan Wignall and Carl Marrow of Lostock irrelevant on the day.

Eagley, who sit third, only have one game in hand over Milnthorpe Corinthians, but their professional 2-0 execution of the Crooklands Casuals ensured that the home team would continue to be in the title race for now.

Jake Hurst and Cole Collins were the scorers on this occasion.

Haslingden St Mary’s returned to form against a struggling Kendal County side, knocking five past the visitors without response. Marshall King and Lewis Hanley both got doubles in that game after Alfie Edmundson had bagged the opener.

Hesketh Bank had scored 13 times in their last two fixtures but were forced to wait until the 88th-minute of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Hawcoat Park to get on the scoresheet, Adam Chippendale cancelling out Brandon Collin’s opener to ensure that Hesketh held their grip on fifth place.

Millom and Stoneclough also played out a 1-1 draw on Saturday. Jamie Pattinson opened the scoring in the 40th-minute before Stoneclough became the beneficiaries of an own-goal in the 60th.

Finally, Ulverston Rangers became the latest team to beat Horwich St Mary’s Victoria, who have still only picked up one point this season.

Sam Pinnegor, Reis Sharpe and Matthew Lawler scored for Ulverston with Matthew Hancock getting a consolation goal for the away side.

In Division 2, the game week has been skewed by a number of postponements due to a lack of match officials.

Furness Rovers triumphed 4-3 over Chipping in a dramatic game that saw the visitors move above their opponents and up to third in the table. Rick Coar (2) and Luke Conti scored for Chipping whilst Jordan Chubb (2), Jason Corkan and Reece Vaughan got the goals for Furness.

Cartmel and District vs Charnock Richard Reserves also ended 4-3 to the visitors. Karl Davidson put Cartmel 1-0 up initially before Lewis Thompson and Alex Neil reversed the advantage.

Will Guy levelled things just before half time but it was Lewis Thompson and then Ross Ellison who secured the points for Charnock, despite Ryan Patterson’s 60th-minute goal.

Carnforth Rangers beat Freckleton 5-1 thanks to goals from Cameron Holmes (2) Jonny Ash, Jordan Darby and Thomas Knight. Jack Robinson was the goalscorer for a Freckleton side that now find themselves only three points above the bottom of the league.

The final result in Division 2 saw Burnley United defeat Garstang 2-1. Michael White and Reid Wolstenholme put Burnley 2-0 up within 10 minutes before Freddie Mason converted from a penalty to ensure that the last five minutes would be anything but comfortable for the home team, who hung on to move up to eighth place courtesy of this win.

In Division 1 Reserve, Harry Dixon scored four times in CMB Reserves’ 6-2 thumping of Burscough Richmond. Michael Ford and Steve Jones scored the other two for the home side whilst Brian Flynn and Raj Uppal netted for Burscough.

There were a couple of high scoring players also in Blackpool Wren Rovers Reserves’ 10-1 victory over Tempest United Reserves.

Harvey Walford and Charlie Allan both getting three in that game, adding to goals from Aiden Burrows, Tony Pearson, Conor Taafe and Jack Birch.

One would imagine that Danny Ashcroft will not be overly fussed about netting Tempest United’s consolation.

Adding to the list of Saturdays’ personal success stories is Matthew Sillett, who scored three times for Poulton Reserves in their 3-0 win over Stoneclough Reserves.

Eagley Reserves picked up their first win of the season with an emphatic 7-3 away win against Horwich St Marys Victoria Reserves. This game reduced the gap between the two sides to only a couple of points.

Euxton Villa Reserves kept their grip on top spot thanks to goals from Ryan Thompson and Liam Fielding in their 2-1 win over Fulwood Amateurs reserves in a tense clash between first and second in the table.

Hurst Green moved up to fifth in the table thanks jointly to their 3-2 win over Thornton Cleveleys reserves and Lostock St Gerards reserves 4-1 loss at the hands of Turton reserves.

James Nightingale, Aaron Davis and Zac Foley scored for Hurst Green, which was enough to triumph over the goals of Owen Bridge and an own goal.

Lostock’s Finn Bolton got their goal but it was Andy Lane who stole the headlines with a hat-trick for Turton Reserves, George Mikolajewski scored their other goal in that game.

In Division 2 reserves the battle for top-spot goes on between Coppull United Reserves and Wyre Villa Reserves.

Coppull United triumphed over a good Hesketh Bank side 1-0 thanks to Lee Richardson’s goal but were left looking over their shoulder at Wyre Villa, despite a healthy four-point separation, due to the nature of Wyre’s decimation of Fulwood Amateurs A.

Wyre Villa Reserves, who were away from home, won 7-0 at Fulwood thanks to goals from Curtis Roskell, Reece Wilkinson and Andrew Lockhart, as well as doubles from both Rob Norton and Sam Bowling.

Wyre now have a better goal difference than Coppull United, so attention must turn purely to capitalising whenever the table-toppers drop points.

Galgate Reserves won 3-0 against a visiting Carnforth Rangers Reserves team. Connor Sleigh, Jimmy McLennan and Cain Blows getting the goals in that match-up.

Lytham Town Reserves responded well to going behind against Milnthorpe Corinthians Reserves.

Caine McCartney converted within five minutes of the start to give the home team the advantage, but goals from Finley Best and Matthew Nelson tied up a 2-1 win for the visiting side.

Rossendale Reserves saw off Storeys Reserves 3-0 to keep pressure on the top two. Jonathan Booth, Oliver Williams and Martin Tricket ensuring that Rossendale didn’t slip up against the team propping up the rest of the league.

Finally, Thornton Cleveleys A drew 1-1 with Chipping Reserves. Kieran Rimmington equalising for Thornton after Oscar Middlebrough had put Chipping ahead on 15 minutes.