Announcements

A FOOTBALL league’s new structure to contend with Covid-19 has been localised.

The Warrington and District Football League has now been split into St Helens, Warrington and Widnes sections to allow the season to continue with minimal travel for teams and in a bid moving forward to avoid disruption should different areas have varying tiered Covid restrictions set by Government.

The league’s traditional format, from Premier Division down to Division Four, has been scrapped for the remainder of this season.

The new-look structure: Warrington A, Warrington B, St Helens A, St Helens B, Widnes A, Widnes B.

League secretary Steve Lyon said: “Because of the Covid issues and swapping of tiers, we decided to put teams into local groups.

“So, any Warrington teams in the Premier Division and Division One went into Warrington A and any other Warrington teams went into Warrington B and likewise with the other areas.

“It’s to provide an equal opportunity just to get them to play football.

“We’ve just had the first weekend and we had six cancellations because of the weather, but all other games were played.

“Saturday went well, everybody thanked us for what we’ve done to get them back playing football. People just want to play football.”

Wins for Penlake and Sidac opened St Helens A while Haydock versus Rainhill and New Street against Shevington both finished up a 4-4 draw.

St Helens B saw a thumping 17-0 win for Westgarth over Bold Rangers.

Mitchell McNally netted seven of the goals, with Kyle Ennis and Dean Francis each notching four.

There were wins for Eccleston Arms and Penlake.

In Widnes A, Avon, Halton and St Michaels secured home successes, while St Michaels Development and Halfway Rangers won on the road.

St Michaels 3rd made it a good day for the club by beating Halton Borough 4-3 in Widnes B.

Other wins were racked up by Runcorn and Avon Villa, while a 1-1 draw for Widnes Dragons and Moorfield rounded of the much-awaited return to football.

Croft jumped straight into top spot in Warrington A when a hat-trick from Callum Douglas helped them to a 5-3 victory over Bruche Athletic.

Woolston and FC Tale shared a point with a 3-3 draw, while Sankey Vale grabbed an 8-5 home win against Pierpoints with Jonny McDonough netting three times.

Hatton and Eagle also shared a point with a 2-2 draw.

In Warrington B, there were home wins for Bruche, Eagle and Woolston.

The Village Club grabbed a 2-0 win at Austins.