Hat-trick hero Wes keeps Hindsford in pole position
9:13am Tuesday 8th January 2013 in Headlines
HINDSFORD kicked off the new year in championship form with a comprehensive 5-1 victory over bottom club Monton.
The Premier Division champions go into the second half of the season four points clear of their nearest rivals in the title race and in a rich vein of form.
Barry Massey’s side produced an impressive footballing performance at the weekend to see off a Monton side that is bottom of the table but which put up determined and, at times, feisty resistance.
Top scorer Wes Bancroft gave Hindsford a 1-0 half-time lead, but Monton made a bright start to the second half and grabbed an equaliser.
But there was no stopping the home side and they rammed home their superiority with Bancroft completing his hat-trick and Tony Valentine and Aaron Smith getting on the scoresheet in a game which Monton ended with nine men after two players received straight red cards.
Second-bottom Leigh Athletic, who have been playing better football than their lowly position suggests, lost 4-3 at home to Prestwich Heys after storming into a 3-0 lead.
James Dooley, Andy Miller and Chris Hopwood got the goals that appeared to have put the Latics in control.
But Martin Love pulled one back for Heys just before half time and they went on to dominate the second half, getting back on terms with goals from Nathan Ardayfio and Ben Lever before substitute Matt Jolly grabbed a late winner.
In Division One, Breightmet United boss Simon Wilcox hailed an impressive all-round team performance after seeing his side come from behind to beat mid-table Hollinwood 2-1 at Moss Park.
“There were no outstanding individual performances but it was a good team performance from first minute to last,” he said.
“They were out on their feet in the last five minutes on the heavy pitch but they’d put so much into it.”
A goal down after 20 minutes, Breightmet were level at half time through skipper Carl Bancks, who headed the equaliser from a corner and were rewarded for their efforts when fellow centre-half Colin Brooks headed the winner in similar fashion.
Ben Hardcastle overcame the disappointment of missing a penalty by scoring one of the goals in Pennington’s 3-1 home win against Elton Vale.
Chris Holt scored twice for third-placed Pennington who dominated the game and will be looking to step up their promotion challenge when they host second-placed Dukinfield on Saturday.
click2find
