Winsford United 3 Congleton Town 0

North West Counties League Division One

Saturday, September 22

NOT for the first time this season, Blues should have won by a street, but at least victory puts them back on the road to promotion.

There's no doubt United have made more progress than Cheshire neighbours Congleton since both suffered relegation from the UniBond League last season, and this was reflected in the untroubled manner of the win at Barton Stadium.

But for a while, it looked like being the same old story as Danny Worthington and Les Miranda were both guilty of missing early chances.

However, once they found their shooting boots, they shared the goals between them to ensure Winsford made it three wins out of four in the league.

Congleton goalkeeper Tim Mullock denied Worthington when he was clean through in the ninth minute, while Miranda was wide with a couple of volleys.

The breakthrough came in the 27th minute, but not before Miranda appeared to have wasted the opportunity by being tackled when he should have squared to an unmarked Gary Laird.

However, Dougie Pitts whipped the ball straight back in and Miranda guided a left-foot volley past Mullock.

Town showed little in the final third of the field throughout, apart from a brief spell midway through the first half when Matt Conkie had to save from Darren Baker and David Shaw.

But with Wes Simpson back in the Blues defence, there was certainly never any danger of a repeat of the FA Cup embarrassment against Harrogate Railway the previous Tuesday.

Worthington went to the top of the NWCL Division One charts in the second half by scoring twice.

He raced on to Miranda's weighted pass five minutes in and drew Mullcok before sliding the ball past him.

Laird then sent Miranda away, but he was guilty of the miss of the match when, with all the time in the world to pick his spot, he fired wide.

The points weren't safe until Winsford added a third, Pitts again the provider by taking the Congleton defence part and crossing low for Worthington to finish from close range.

Winsford: Conkie, Attuquayefio (Mayes 78), Lloyd, Reilly, Simpson (Duckworth 85), Rose, Pitts, Lowe (Gwinnett 72), Worthington, Laird, Miranda. Attendance: 162. Star man: Dougie Pitts.