WILLASTON’S battle to climb from the base of Carlsberg West Cheshire Division One received a terrific boost thanks to their 1-0 defeat of fifth-placed Ellesmere Port.

The strong wind largely benefited Willaston in a first half that they dominated but they had to wait until the 38th minute for the deciding goal to arrive when Jamie Gardner capitalized on a defensive slip before firing home.

Play after the break was more even and Willaston keeper Kieran Burnett pulled off two superb saves to deny the visitors late bid for an equalizer.

With Newton slipping to a 2-1 defeat at Chester Nomads Maghull regained second spot as Michael A Boyle and Bradley Smart steered them to a 2-0 success at Marine Reserves.

Regular marksman Craig Cairns was on hand late in the game to hit the only goal of the contest for Vauxhall Motors Reserves at Mossley Hill Athletic while Heswall were indebted to Dave Forbes, Dominic Holden and Matt Johnson as they overcame Blacon YC (Ross Broadbent) 3-1.

Marshalls (Jay Nilson) and Christleton (Steve Finlay) shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw while defences won out in the goal-less encounter featuring Upton AA and Cammell Laird Reserves.

Cheshire Amateur Cup holders lost interest in this season’s competition when going down to a 1-0 defeat at West Kirby.

In a game of few incidents Adam Lea emerged as the home hero when taking advantage of a goalkeeping error to bag the game’s only goal just before the interval.

An Owen Davies brace and a Sean Sullivan single were instrumental in Bronze Social securing a Haworth and Gallagher Bowl semi-final place at the expense of Manor Athletic (Chris Tolley) and joining them are Runcorn Linnets Reserves whose Lewis Buckley made the vital contribution in the 1-0 win over Beb Athletic.

Also in the last four are Maghull Reserves after free-scoring Baqar Parvas led the way with a double in a 4-1 triumph at Prescott Cable Reserves and Heswall Reserves (Ian Colligan, own goal) went through on penalties following a 2-2 draw at Capenhurst Villa (Jack Sheppard 2).

Richmond Raith Rovers continue their rise up the Division Two table and Rob Madine starred with a hat-trick as they outgunned Marshalls (John McGovern 2, Nathan Powell) by the odd goal in seven while Peter Wright and Rob Black bagged a brace apiece as Ashville Reserves slipped into the runners-up spot after finding the net seven times without reply against struggling Mallaby.

Hale’s Graham Friday and New Brighton’s Paul Lindfield were on target and the sides lie third and fourth respectively following their 1-1 draw at Harrison Drive.

In a full Division Three programme leaders South Liverpool (Tom Kinsella, Alan Woodcock) just got the better of lowly Neston Nomads (Nick Jones) by a 2-1 scoreline but second-placed Helsby (John Coady 3, Ian Cox) had matters more to their liking when overcoming New Brighton Reserves 4-0.

Shock result of the day saw Belfry (Mark Brady 2, Liam Langley 2, Colin McDonald) defeat Mersey Royal (Tom Povall) 5-1.

Mossley Hill Athletic remain third after Phil Duncan (2) and Mike Forshaw netted as they got the better of hosts Christleton Reserves 3-1.

The result caps an excellent month as Rob Wells becomes the League’s Manager of the Month for November.