Oxton end campaign on a high note

Mar 28 2007 by Birkenhead News

OXTON completed their Northern Premier League programme with a 5-2 victory away to Timperley last Saturday.

The Wirral side had to wait until just shy of the half hour mark to take the lead courtesy of Trevor Merrick.

Anthony Willis doubled his tally for the season and Oxton's advantage five minutes later with a close range shot.

Oxton deservedly went into the interval two goals up – although Si Dolan, who was in goal, played his part with some neat saves.

Barely three mintues of the second half had passed before Richard Sutton marked his comeback with a goal.

He slapped the ball into the open net following good work down the right before Dave Edwards made it two in three minutes when he smashed home Oxton's fourth.

With the game effectively over, Timperley showed great character and began to exert some pressure.

But Oxton had the ball back in the net again when Gordon Moore deflected Merrick's flick in.

Moore was to be left disappointed, as the umpires ruled it out for dangerous play.

Then a flurry of penalty corners for the home side put some pressure on Oxton and their perseverence was rewarded with a goal 10 minutes from time.

Oxton shrugged off this minor setback and grabbed a fifth through Dave Bailey. Timperley added a second with two minutes to go, but the final whistle went shortly after and Oxton ended the campaign on a high with a fourth consecutive victory.

Having only lost three league games since Christmas, Oxton will be hoping that a similar good run of form next season will see them challenging for the national league promotion spots.

Following earlier relegation fears, the fourth team continued their good run with a 3-1 win against Rhyl II.

Meanwhile, Neston South Wirral completed their league programme with a 0-0 draw at Didsbury.

Ben Coppack struck an upright for visitors and probably could have had another hat-trick had he been more composed in front of goal.

A draw was probably a fair result, but the scoreline mirrored Neston's season. They finished with one of the best defensive records in the division, but the worst goals scored tally to end the season in seventh place.

This Sunday, Neston will hope to raise their game when they entertain Hampshire side Andover in the semi-final of the National Vase at Neston Recreation Centre (1pm start).

Elsewhere, the second team all but secured promotion when they trounced Alderley Edge 6-0 while the fourth team also retain a mathematical hope of promotion after Chris Troake grabbed five goals in a 11-0 thrashing of Chester.